Screening - The First Hymn
Friday 28th November - 6pm
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Join us for the UK premiere of The First Hymn. Having breathed new life into this ancient song, this historic documentary will be screened charting the story of the hymn's journey from discovery to performance. |
About the event
In the ancient ruins of Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, archaeologists unearthed a papyrus scrap containing the earliest known Christian hymn, complete with both its lyrics and musical notation.
Analyzed at Oxford University, this discovery challenges traditional views of church history by revealing the rich musical practices of early believers. Hosted by Australian historian John Dickson, the feature-length documentary “The First Hymn” chronicles the hymn’s journey from its desert origins to its modern resurrection, as acclaimed composers Chris Tomlin and Ben Fielding transform the ancient melody into a contemporary worship piece, culminating in a live concert performance.
Wycliffe Hall has set itself the modest task of fostering a New Renaissance of Christian scholarship, leadership and culture. As a key component of this vision, an innovative new project starting in autumn 2025 will help us to equip the Church to engage intelligently, creatively, winsomely, humbly with our society again, and to offer it a better song to sing. We will provide a unique formation experience to cultivate theological depth, artistic excellence, and multi-dimensional diversity in congregational music- and worship-leaders.
Event details
Date: Friday 28th November 2025
Time: To start promptly at 6pm
Venue: Curzon Cinema, Westgate Centre, Oxford, OX1 1NZ
Getting here: Nearby parking: Curzon Oxford is located in the Westgate Shopping Centre where there is ample underground parking.The Westgate Centre is also on most major bus routes, and walking distance from Oxford train station.
Photography and filming: This event will include photography and filming: please contact us directly if you have any questions about this: conferences@wycliffe.ox.ac.uk.
All are welcome: the event is open to the public and free to attend, but you must have a ticket.
Curzon Cinema has been hired as the venue for this event and this is not part of the Curzon programme. They are not involved in the ticketing or content of the screening.
