Jonathan Thomas talks to a range of musicians as he explores the stories and the wonderful associations behind some of our favourite Christmas carols.

Andrew Gant, a former choirmaster at the Chapel Royal, is the author of 'Deck the Hall' exploring some of curious histories of certain songs. Caroline Sheen from Caerleon is a much loved star of musical theatre on the West End stage, and she recalls happy memories of singing the descant to O Come All Ye Faithful when a member of her school choir. The Welsh plygain tradition of carol singing may possibly predate most English-language carols. Arfon Gwilym and Sioned Webb recount how they first attended a plygain service and were bowled over by the wealth of carols they heard for the first time. Harpist Tom Parry recalls his time living and working near Bethlehem, whilst composer Ben Heneghan (whose credits include Fireman Sam!) talks about his carol arrangements. Finally, Rhian Jackson from Corwen recalls the snowy sixties in her village, where her father was vicar.

Christmas is the most wonderful time of year, and that usually involves carols, nativities, candlelight services and plenty of tradition. But not everyone is following these well-worn paths this year. Many are exploring creative ways of spreading the Christmas message. In this programme we’ll meet Christians and churches who are trying to do something a little different this advent. First up we meet Dai Woolridge, spoken word poet, storyteller, and creative specialist at the Bible Society. We also speak to American author, singer, and songwriter, Andrew Peterson, who is bringing his Christmas Show to Cardiff. Finally, we visit two different churches in Cardiff, who are looking at new ways to take the old Christmas story to their communities: Judith Holliman and the members of Radyr Methodist Church, and Sarah Roberts from the Bridge Church, Pontprennau.

With the coldest season of the year upon us, Azim Ahmed hears how faith groups across Wales are helping homeless people through the hardest winter months. It’s estimated that nearly 3000 people each year sleep rough in Wales, but being homeless also includes people who are living in temporary hostels or night shelters, or lodging temporarily with family or friends. Nearly 10, 000 households in Wales are classified as at risk of being pushed into homelessness due to poverty and insecure housing.

Across Wales people of faith do what they can to alleviate the hardship of living without a home, and today we’ll meet some of these individuals and hear about the personal efforts they make. We begin at the Victoria Fish Bar in North Cardiff where one Muslim family, Mohammad and Jawad Nazakat, head up an initiative to give out free fish and chips to the homeless each Christmas. In Wrexham Housing Justice Cymru’s Citadel project helps foster community for the people they support over the Christmas period. They work in collaboration with Hope Street Church, who gather together volunteers to pack ‘Bags of Kindness’ for those in need at Christmas. It’s part of a national initiative, ‘Love Christmas’ encouraging organisations to spread kindness during the festive period. We visit the Hare Krishna ‘Atma Café’ in central Cardiff which gives out free vegan food to those in need. We hear from Father Dean Atkins and Salvation Army chaplain John Stark who have organised a memorial service at St. Mary’s Butetown to remember those who have died homeless. The service is accompanied by the ‘Choir with No Name’, a choir which builds joyful singing communities with people impacted by homelessness and marginalisation.

Advent is a time of reflection and of waiting in expectation. Roy Jenkins talks to four people with very different experiences of waiting. They include Timothy Cho, one of very few people to successfully escape from North Korea, although not before experiencing some terrifying times in a North Korean and a Chinese prison. Tanya Marlow is a bedbound mother and writer who has had to think deeply about waiting, having suffered from a chronic health condition (ME) for many years since her teens. Retired solicitor and vicar Lindsay Ford talks about the vision he received in a Caerphilly church whilst he was going through a long period of waiting. And children's charity worker Neil Davies talks about the plight of the children whom few people wish to foster or adopt, and who may wait up to two years for their forever home.

As part of the BBC “Be Scam Safe” campaign, Rosa Hunt and guests examine the impact the growing scale of scams has on the way we see the world around us. A recent survey by the Good Faith Partnership and the University of Birmingham’s Jubilee Centre found that honesty is the most important virtue for all religious groups, yet on a daily basis we are encouraged to be suspicious that the text messages, phone calls or emails we receive could be fraudulent. It’s estimated that in the UK ten billion pounds each year are stolen by fraudsters. But what impact does learning to be distrustful have on us? Are people of faith more susceptible to being scammed?

Rosa is joined by three guests: Professor Keith Jones leads the national research into financial fraud and scams with the Trading Standards Institute and their National Scams Team. He’s a Christian, has a background in social work and specialises in the safeguarding vulnerable adults. Katharine Gray is the founder and director of Friends First, a Christian dating agency, and she shares insights into how to prevent romance fraud. Phil Swann explores the theology around honesty and trust. Phil is the pastoral director of the Evangelical Movement of Wales and the pastor of Llanelli Free Evangelical Church.

We hear from Trading Standards officer Sarah Thomas-Grant who shares the current scams identified in Rhondda Cynon Taf. Steve Bumford, a Safeguarding officer in the Major Investigations Team in the Vale of Glamorgan, offers insights into a case of romance fraud. Reverend Mae Christie shares her personal experience of con artists stealing £138, 000 from her church in South London.

At the end of this month, MP’s will debate and vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Kim Leadbeater, the Labour member behind the proposal, says that the current ‘status quo is not fit for purpose’ as it leads to people ‘having very harrowing, very distressing deaths – both for themselves and for their family.’

But, is the legalising of assisted dying the best answer to this dilemma? Would there be adequate safeguards? And when traditional Christian teaching has always affirmed that human life is sacred, how much of the argument is still swayed by religious faith?

In the studio to discuss these issues are Dr Idris Baker, a palliative medicine consultant in Swansea and a Church elder; Kathy Riddick – Wales coordinator for Humanists UK; and Rev Simon Walkling – a United Reformed Church minister and former hospice chaplain.

Jonathan Thomas looks at the history and work of the Salvation Army in Wales as it celebrates 150 years since its first mission to Cardiff, followed later by missions to Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare and many other towns around Wales.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Roberts is the Army's current leader in Wales, and he gives his account of some of the movement's early days, as well as outlining its work today. Captain Canon Kathryn Stowers is the Army's Ecumenical Officer for Wales, and she talks about the organisation's radical views on the empowerment of women - it was women who led the Army's early missions to Merthyr, for example. Professor Paul O'Leary of the University of Aberystwyth has studied street processions in Wales, and explains why evangelising on the streets was such a provocative initiative that challenged Victorian notions of respectability. Historically the Salvation Army's uniform has been a huge part of its identity, but as Jennifer Le Zotte explains, there is more to this than meets the eye: in reusing second-hand clothing there was something challenging about this uniform. Even more intriguing is the special uniform for the so-called 'Slum Sisters' who tended to the needs of the very poor. She describes this as 'cross-class drag'!

For many of us the Salvation Army is synonymous with brass bands, and Jonathan visits the band of Canton Cardiff Corps to speak to their bandmaster, and to make his own practical contribution!

This programme was first broadcast in November 2024.

Roy Jenkins looks at the life, work and continuing influence of Isaac Watts, the great hymn-writer who was born in Southampton 350 years ago.

Of the six or seven hundred hymns he composed a good handful are sung each week in services across the denominations, and some have become fixed points in worship for Easter, Christmas and even Remembrance Sunday. Ironically, some have made their way into Anglican hymnaries, despite the fact that Watts and his family faced severe privations for not worshipping at an Anglican church - his father was imprisoned on several occasions for being a 'dissenter'. Certain hymns (notably 'Joy to the World') have been translated into many languages, including Cherokee, German, French, Zulu Welsh. Celebrated in his day as a profound thinker, poet and logician Watts' influence is felt far and wide for introducing the practice of making emotionally expressive hymns an integral part of worship.

Delyth Liddell meets writer, gardener and amateur ecologist Carwyn Graves at the heritage apple orchard at the Bishop's Park in Abergwili, Carmarthen. They discuss faith, Carwyn's passion for Welsh food and why it matters to preserve Welsh heritage apple varieties.

'Tir: a History of the Welsh Landscape', Carwyn's latest book, explores Welsh history and landscape from the ffridd, or mountain pasture, to the rhos, or wild moorland. They discuss why rewilding has become such a divisive topic in Wales, and explore Carwyn's perspective that it is the human story that is crucial to the landscape of Wales.

Carwyn shares his love of Welsh food with Delyth, from Lava bread to Welsh Cakes, and how this has inspired a new venture 'Cegin y Bobl' or the 'People's Kitchen.' He is a founding Trustee for the charity that launches this autumn, teaching cooking skills to community groups and primary schools. https://www.ceginybobl.co.uk

Restoration of the Walled Garden and heritage apple orchard in the Bishop's Park is managed by the Tywi Gateway Trust, https://parcyresgob.org.uk

It's Prisons Week, when Christians are encouraged to pray for all those affected by the criminal justice system. But is prayer alone the answer to the problems facing prisoners, their victims, and those working in prisons? Rosa Hunt discusses some of the issues with a panel of guests, including Rev Nick Sandford, managing chaplain at HMP Cardiff; Julia Houlston-Clark, CEO of Wales Restorative Justice Partnerships; and criminal defence barrister Andrew Taylor.