FAITH IN THE COMMUNITY: We know singing is good for us

I DON’T know how important singing was to you as a child? Maybe you were taken to Fratton Park and were part of those awesome Pompey chants? Maybe you acted in musicals in school? Or maybe you just sung along to your favourite chart acts?

One of the things that many people can say is that performing songs can increase their confidence. That’s true whether it’s at the front of a school assembly, or in a theatre or in a church. There’s also something about being part of a larger group singing that helps – everyone is helping each other to do their best.

It’s something that churchgoers know all too well, as singing has been part of our worship for centuries. And we want to pass on the joy of singing in church to a new generation.

Several of our churches around Portsmouth are running something called ‘Choir Church’. We bring together groups of children from local schools, where their parents are keen for them to join in. We rehearse songs with Christian themes – not always hymns or worship songs – and then we give those children a chance to perform.

That happened recently when pupils from Penbridge Junior School and Arundel Court Primary did an end-of-term performance in St Mary’s Church in Fratton. Parents and carers turned up to support them, as they took on the awesome challenge of filling that huge nave with music.

The way it works for us is that we go into both schools every week. Around 12 pupils have signed up in each school for the extra-curricular club that we call ‘Finding My Voice’. We have a different theme each term, and so practice singing different songs relating to that theme.

At the end of each term, there’s always a chance to perform – at a Christmas carol service or an event like the one we’ve just held.

Giving these children the adrenalin shot of actually singing in front of an audience – and then managing to do it successfully – is an enormous boost to them. And of course their parents and friends can also see what they’ve been up to.

Some of the songs we sing communicate important truths about faith or about life. And we hope some children will consider being part of church choirs as a result. But even if they don’t, we know they’ll have had an exciting opportunity to learn what it’s like to be centre stage.

For more details about Choir Church, see: www.portsmouth.anglican.org/choirchurch