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On 'All Things Considered' this week (Sunday 20 September at 8.30am, repeated on Wednesday 23 Sept at 6.30pm), Peter Baker meets composer Scott Stroman, who has been a Professor of Jazz at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has lectured at the London School of Theology. He is on a mission to equip the Church to enjoy and engage with diverse musical styles and next weekend he will be in Cardiff running a worship workshop at Calvary Baptist Church in Canton.

Also in the programme, we look at the 'Back to Church Sunday' initiative. Church going in the UK is in decline, and some would argue it is terminal. For over a generation, more and more of us have been finding other things to do on a Sunday like shopping, leisure, DIY, or hanging out with friends. Maybe we are just as religious as before, but we are no longer interested in the rituals and regulations of organised Church.

So a project which seeks to encourage people to return to a place of worship faces stiff competition, but last year an estimated 37,000 did so as a result of 'Back to Church Sunday'. And next weekend for the first time many churches across Wales will be taking part. Yet in a fast changing culture does Sunday attendance really matter? To what extent do the traditional models of Church need to adapt and if the Church has to advertise itself in such a way, doesn't this suggest the game is up already?

Joining Peter Baker to reflect on the issues are:

Michael Harvey, a founder of Back to Church Sunday,

James Karran, Assistant Minister in Cardiff , and a leader of Solace, the Church in a Bar.

And Lorraine Brown, Director of Amelia Trust Farm in the Vale of Glamorgan, which among other things, helps young people.

For further information:

Jazz in Worship Workshop
Calvary Baptist Church,
134 Cowbridge Road East,
Cardiff,
CF11 9ND
Tel: 029 20224648

Back to Church Sunday
Tel: 0845 859 0006

Solace - a Church in a Bar

The Amelia Trust Farm
Five Mile Lane,
Barry,
CF62 3A,
CF62 3AS
Tel: 01446 782030