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We’ll create Choir Church from local singing groups
THESE children love singing so much that they are part of two choirs – a school choir and one connected to their local church.
Pupils from Bosmere Junior School rehearse choral music at lunchtime and perform in school and in the nearby St Faith’s Church, Havant. They call themselves ‘Faith in Harmony’.
And it seems entirely normal that they should sing about Jesus’s death or fine-tune their version of the Magnificat. After all, their teacher is Graham Kidd, the director of music at the church.
Now the school and church would like to increase their collaboration as part of our diocese’s plans to launch a series of Choir Church initiatives. These are ways of creating brand new worshipping communities for families, based on a love of music, and are part of our diocesan strategy to revitalise our parishes.
At Bosmere Junior School, ten Year 4 children were recruited to join the Faith in Harmony group last September, alongside around 15 Year 6 pupils who were already involved in regular music practices and performances.
And they’ve helped to lead worship at St Faith’s – the most recent occasion was on Ascension Day, but they were also in church for its carol service just before Christmas.
Florence Greenway, aged nine, said: “I enjoy coming here because it helps me to express my emotions and to be myself through singing. If I’m sad, it makes me feel better, and if I’m scared, I can sing a song. I do like singing and I’ve been doing it since I was about one. My favourite is the Magnificat.”
And Fearne Bathaud, also nine, said: “I like singing, and I’m in the school choir and this choir. I do like performing the songs and I also like dancing, because it makes you feel proud of yourself for doing it. I like Were you there when you crucified my Lord? because I think the tune is really good.”
Graham Kidd teaches the children about articulation of words, pacing and pitch among other things as he leads the lunchtime sessions – one week with the Year 4s and the next week with the Year 6s.
He hopes the diocese’s new focus on Choir Church means that his involvement with the school can increase.
He said: “We are exploring the possibility of a new ‘youth choir’ rehearsing after school, to give a singing opportunity to the Year 6s once they have left Bosmere. The end product of this is very unknown at the moment, which adds to the excitement! We are also exploring the possibility of a boys choir to rehearse on alternate weeks to the girls at Bosmere on Thursday lunchtimes.”
Teacher Sally Smith, from Bosmere Junior, said: “Bosmere embraces every opportunity to light up our children with the joy of singing, and our little church choir are thoroughly enjoying benefitting from the extra dimension Graham brings to their music through Faith in Harmony.”
For centuries, singing in choirs has been a way in which children and adults have been drawn into congregations and learnt more about the Christian faith. Many of those in our churches can trace their involvement back to singing in a choir as a child, and this method is still in evidence at churches such as our cathedral and St Mary’s in Fratton.
The ‘Choir Church’ concept aims to make this form of evangelism and discipleship more intentional. The idea is that our parishes work in partnership with local schools, offering pupils the chance to learn choral techniques. Those newly-formed choirs could then help to lead worship in their local church, as those from Bosmere Junior have been doing.
As they learn more about worship and the Christian faith, their families can be drawn into those congregations, perhaps even launching their own ‘church plant’.
The first Choir Church was planted by St George-in-the-East in 2016. Since then, the concept has been used in churches across the country. In our diocese, we initially experimented with Choir Church based at St James, Milton, and supported by those from our cathedral. Alastair Ross was employed from 2018 as a pioneer minister and project leader to recruit singers from local schools and create new choirs.
Now the plan is to create up to four new Choir Church projects in partnership with local parishes from this September, with potentially another cohort to follow in September 2025. That includes the expansion of what’s already happening at St Faith’s, Havant, and the chance to build on existing links between churches and schools elsewhere.
In Paulsgrove, the vicar, the Rev Hugo Deadman, already visits Beacon View Primary Academy in Allaway Avenue to lead assemblies regularly, and is the current chair of governors. They'll be starting their own version of Choir Church - entitled ChoirClub@StMichaels, on Friday 13th September, in partnership with Beacon View, Victory Primary Academy and St Paul's RC Primary School.
Children from Year 2 to Year 6 can meet from 3.30pm to 4.40pm each Friday for something to eat, to learn something fun to sing – and then to show off their talents to our families. There's also a 'come and sing' morning with pizza from the new pizza ovens at Beacon View Primary on Thursday 29th August from 11am to 1pm, to give potential new recruits an idea of what to expect.
Fr Hugo said: “It is a great way for the pupils to be involved in their local community, it gives them new skills and it develops their social and spiritual lives. From the church’s point of view, we’d love to welcome any newly-formed children’s choir into our church. I could imagine their singing enhancing the liturgy and worship in our existing services.
“I’d also be really pleased to see some kind of separate congregation launching, if that was appropriate - with the children bringing their friends and family to see them participate in our worship, and then our normal friendly welcome absorbing those families into the life of the church. It’s an exciting prospect.”
The Choir Church project in our diocese is being led by Dr David Price, our cathedral’s organist and Master of Choristers. He said: “Music has always been a great way for people to learn about the Christian faith, and being part of a choir is one way to experience life in a Christian community.
“Choir Church is actually a rebranding of something that has been happening quietly through many generations. A midweek worshipping community based on singing, food, games and activities for children of a primary school age is something that can draw families in. It can build on established links between parish and school, or it can help to create new links.”
For more details, see www.choir church.com and www.portsmouth.anglican.org/choirchurch