— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
Last year I received a few posts on social media of a guy named James Partridge, a music teacher. What started out as a family in-joke really took off for him during the COVID-19 lockdown. While teaching online, a friend suggested he try TikTok, and after posting some educational content, he uploaded a video titled “Top 10 Primary School Assembly Bangers” that he thought would just amuse his family and friends. Instead, it went viral across multiple platforms, gaining him around 10,000 followers almost overnight and catching the attention of radio stations across the UK.
He developed this into a full show called “School Assembly Bangers,” and when he came into my social media feed, he was performing at one of the largest multi-day music festivals in Britain, Glastonbury. This was in 2024, and it marked a significant milestone in his unexpected career transformation. He had a stage with hundreds of people singing along to him and his electronic keyboard, with performances that quickly went viral online. What caught my attention was not the crowd or his setup but the songs he was singing. He had taken the mid-nineties classic church songs and repackaged them as primary school assembly songs – tracks like “Give Me Oil in My Lamp,” “Lord of the Dance,” “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” and “Cauliflowers Fluffy.” These were songs that an entire generation of British schoolchildren had sung while sitting cross-legged on assembly hall floors.
He’s still able to fill theatres – performing over 50 sold-out shows in 2024 alone – and got invited back to Glastonbury as well as to other festivals. His 2025 shows are also selling fast! He’s even appeared on major television programs like BBC Breakfast, This Morning, and The One Show, cementing his status as more than just a viral sensation.
By repackaging these Christian songs as assembly bangers, James B Partridge has achieved something remarkable: he’s reintroduced explicitly Christian worship music to thoroughly secular audiences at festivals, theaters, and bars across the country. Mass participation in worship has become not only acceptable but actively celebrated at his shows, even though many in the audience don’t realize they’re engaging in congregational singing. What might feel awkward in a church becomes joyful and uninhibited when framed as childhood nostalgia.
Whether intentional or not, Partridge has created a unique cultural bridge. He’s made Christian content accessible to a generation that has largely distanced itself from institutional religion. The irony is striking: in increasingly secular Britain, one of the most effective ways to get hundreds singing worship songs together isn’t through evangelism, but through the simple invitation to remember being a child in assembly. In doing so, he’s proven that these songs still carry power – the sincerity, hope, and communal spirit embedded within them transcends their religious context, reminding us that some truths resonate regardless of whether we call them sacred or simply unforgettable.
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 