Hymns: 2020 Memories

Posted on by HiberniaGospel

I began this series with my Hymns: 1980 Memories post, so this is the 40th in the series. As I age, my life seems to get duller, so you mightn’t want to bother reading this 😀.

So, we get to 2020, the first year of the COVID pandemic. I remember hearing about this virus outbreak in China, and later in Italy. Little did I know that it would hit us so hard and so quickly. Church services were stopped for a couple of years, but I enjoyed the online service from Llanelli Evangelical Church in Wales. I did try a few Irish churches, but I simply preferred Llanelli. They did a great job in broadcasting, and it was very much my kind of church. I have happy memories of Wales in the early 1990s.

So, getting back to Ireland, I completed my 26 years with Tipperary Christian fellowship in 2020. I first got involved with them at the end of 1993 while working with Baptist Missions Ireland here in Limerick.

Tipperary town is just 25 miles away. I don’t understand why they say that it’s a long way to Tipperary 😀. Perhaps it would be if you lived in the Soviet Union.

It’s a Long Way to Tipperary

Then, when I went back into secular work in 1998, we decided to continue travelling to Tipperary town and taking a leading role in the little fellowship. Around 2015, I started thinking that it was time to attend a church near our home in Limerick, but I was in no great rush. But when we stopped for the lockdown, we decided that it was time to pull back from Tipperary. Thankfully, the church in Tipperary town got a full-time Pastor in 2021 and is growing larger now. We had a farewell meeting in late 2021. It’s now called Tipperary Bible Church. Its origins go back to the 1980s.

In the church that I attend now, I’m not in any leading role. I’ve had various roles in churches over the years, and I’ve enjoyed them all. Sometimes I wish churches were as they had been in my youth. Everything seems so different, but I’m trying to adjust to the change. But in my home life, I probably avail of resources, such as sermons and hymns from 30-40 years ago more than I use the very modern resources. And the greatest resource of all is over 2,000 years old – the Bible 😀.

What else do I remember about 2020? I had been working from home in my secular job since 2010, so in some respects, the lockdown brought no major changes. One of my daughters lives in another part of Ireland, so we regularly watched films together and played games on my Meta Oculus. I’ve become a big fan of virtual reality (VR) in recent years.

I generally remember annual holidays most vividly. We had none in 2020, but I do remember watching Mandalorian, and baby Yoda was a memorable figure.

Mandalorian

Songs from 2020 include the following. The church that I attend now sings nothing but modern songs, so I am getting more familiar with all these since 2022.

Battle Belongs
The Blessing
My Testimony
Run to the Father

Anyway, here are some music, events, and films/TV shows that would have formed the background to 2020. I don’t necessarily endorse all the songs or films 😀.

10 Songs of 2020

  • Blinding Lights – The Weeknd
  • Rockstar – DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch
  • Watermelon Sugar – Harry Styles
  • Before You Go – Lewis Capaldi
  • Everything I Wanted – Billie Eilish
  • Break My Heart – Dua Lipa
  • No Time to Die​ – Bille Eilish
  • Adore You – Harry Styles
  • Savage Love – Jason Derulo
  • Don’t Start Now – Dua Lupa

10 Movies or TV Shows of 2020

  • Tenet
  • Soul
  • Palm Springs
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7
  • The Croods: A New Age
  • Da 5 Bloods
  • The Father
  • Enola Holmes
  • Bill & Ted Face the Music
  • Mank

Some News Events from 2018

  • COVID-19 pandemic declared by the WHO in March.
  • Global lockdowns and restrictions affecting billions of people.
  • Black Lives Matter protests after the killing of George Floyd in May.
  • Brexit officially happened
  • Australian bushfires devastated wildlife and communities early in the year.
  • Beirut explosion in August killed over 200 and injured thousands.
  • Nagorno-Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in autumn.
  • US presidential election in November, with Joe Biden declared winner.
  • Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped back from royal duties.
  • Italy hit hard by COVID-19 in early 2020, becoming Europe’s epicenter.

Some Famous People Who Passed Away in 2020

  • Dave Greenfield (England) – Keyboardist for The Stranglers, known for “Golden Brown” (died May 3, 2020).
  • Peter Green (England) – Co-founder and guitarist of Fleetwood Mac, blues-rock legend (died July 25, 2020).
  • Steve Priest (England) – Bassist and vocalist for glam rock band Sweet (died June 4, 2020).
  • Larry Gogan (Ireland) – Iconic RTÉ radio DJ, beloved for promoting Irish music (died January 7, 2020).
  • Dame Vera Lynn (England) – Beloved wartime singer, “We’ll Meet Again” (died June 18, 2020).
  • Jack Charlton – Beloved former Republic of Ireland football manager, died July 10, 2020.
  • John Hume – Nobel Peace Prize laureate and key architect of the Northern Ireland peace process, died August 3, 2020.
  • Sean Connery – Iconic James Bond actor (October).
  • Charley Pride – Country singer (December)
  • Little Richard – Rock ’n’ roll pioneer (May).
  • Terry Jones – Monty Python star (January)
  • Bill Withers – Soul singer-songwriter (Lean on Me, Ain’t No Sunshine) (March).
  • Kenny Rogers – Country music legend (March).
  • Helen Reddy – Singer of I Am Woman (September).
  • Terry Jones – Monty Python co-founder (January).
  • Eddie Van Halen – Guitarist and co-founder of Van Halen (October).
  • Seamus Mallon – Former deputy leader of the SDLP and peace process figure, died January 24, 2020.

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