On Saturday 15 April, an event at the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral showcased some of Bill’s new hymns which are due to be published soon on the Progressive Christianity website.

Bill’s hymns have appeared in 13 different denominational hymn books and 17 other hymn collections. Additional worship material has been included in 15 different anthologies.

At the event, Bill introduced the genesis and development of 11 new hymns to the gathering of friends, family and colleagues, who joined in singing excerpts from a selection of the hymns supported by pianist Sue Lennon and organist Denis Guyan.

Christchurch soprano, Courtney Hickmott, sang verses from three of the hymns while Bill’s daughter, Dr Alison Isadora, played violin solos of two of the most popular original tunes used in Bill’s hymns.

After the event, Rev Brian Turner, former President of the Methodist Church, reflected on how Bill’s work had changed over the years, recalling how as Director of Christian World Service, Brian had encouraged Bill to attend his first conference to Asia, a region which has continued to influence Bill’s writing. “There were some great hymns today, and I think in comparison to some of his earlier ones these are much more mystical,” Turner said.

Rev Jill van de Geer, former General Secretary, Vice President and President of the Methodist Church, agrees Bill has started to write some of his deeper works in recent times. “Bill’s earlier work was more focused on justice and spoke more of everyday things,” she said.

Jill suspects those more grounded words had made it hard for some people to decipher the spiritual content that was there in some of his earlier hymns. “I think as he’s got older Bill’s hymns have become much deeper, more spiritual, and more reflective. There’s a deeper sense of mystery in his theology.”

On Sunday 16 April, Durham Street Methodist Church welcomed Bill for a service created around his hymns that picked up on key themes in his work including fire, passion, cosmos, justice and silence, all emphasising the need to de-centre the human ego from both worship and understandings of God.

Carol Barron, National Coordinator of the Methodist Alliance, who attended both events appreciated Bill’s ongoing emphasis on social justice, and the interconnection of science and spirituality in his writing. “I enjoyed ‘From the Mystery All Things Came’ because it’s telling the creation story from a scientific view: Gravity gave birth its stars, Giving planets each their space. When the face of earth had cooled, Life evolved at its own pace …”

After Sunday’s service, Minister of Durham Street Methodist Church, Rev Philomeno Kinera blessed a plaque celebrating the sculpture created and donated by Bill which sits at the centre of the Aldersgate Centre garden. The accompanying plaque acknowledges the gift of the sculpture from Rev William L. Wallace and his wife Barbara Aspell-Wallace.