Home » News » Spanz Magazine » All Issues » March 2006 » Presbyterian host for Praise Be

Presbyterian host for Praise Be

By Amanda Wells

Presbyterian minister the Rev Chris Nichol is about to become the new face of Praise Be, Television New Zealand ’s key religious programme.

Wellington-based Mr Nichol succeeds Graeme Thomson, who has been Praise Be’s host since its inception in 1986. Praise Be, which TV One screens 44 times a year on Sunday mornings, features religious music recorded in diff erent New Zealand towns and cities. The programme has been identified with traditional hymns, although some contemporary songs have been introduced in recent years.

Mr Nichol will be introduced to the Praise Be audience by Mr Thomson during two special 20 th anniversary programmes to screen on 5 and 12 March. His first show, which is an on-location special being filmed in late February in Christchurch, will follow on 19 March. Mr Nichol is not a stranger to the programme: he produced Praise Be for three years during the early 90s, when the show was based in Christchurch. He has also been involved in editing its scripts for the past 15 years.

Mr Nichol says Praise Be is a music programme rather than a church service. While it features religious music, like all television its first goal is to entertain its audience. “Good television is always entertainment in some sense.” But music isn’t merely entertainment, he says, because it can cut to the quick of people’s spirituality.

Mr Nichol says Praise Be’s audience at the moment could be described as “older”, particularly in terms of people who would like to attend a church service on a Sunday morning but are unable to. But at the same time, it also has a more diverse audience that uses it as a background to their other Sunday morning activities around the house.

“We want to evolve the audience a little younger,” he says. This means targeting people in their 40s and 50s, which TVNZ has reflected in its the choice of a new host from that age group. Traditional hymns will remain a significant part of the programme, Mr Nichol says, but its scope will be widened slightly to attract this broader audience.

He says TVNZ has demonstrated a real commitment to the programme, with strategic planning that goes beyond its funding cycle. The programme is fully funded by New Zealand on Air, on a year-by-year basis.

Because Praise Be is funded from the public purse, it’s not appropriate for it to be overtly evangelistic, Mr Nichol says. However, he says that the programme is an expression of contemporary Christian communities and “the best evangelism is people living out lives of faith”.

Though he has observed Mr Thomson being approached by admirers, Mr Nichol says he doesn’t expect to acquire a new level of fame. He’s more likely to become a rock star, he quips: his alt-country band, the Dunstan Rangers, is putting out an album in April.

Mr Nichol remains Presbyterian Support Central’s general manager of communications, fundraising and marketing; a position that takes up four days a week.