Easter garden ready to be revealed

The Easter garden at All Saints Church is ready to be revealed at services tomorrow on Easter Day. Here is a sneak preview of a detail only. Thanks to the group of children who let Flower Guild members work with them to produce this colourful resurrection scene.

Palm Sunday celebrated in art and music at All Saints

The nave altar at All Saints Parish Church on Palm Sunday 2014

Yesterday parishioners processed through the local neighbourhood singing hymns of praise to re-enact symbolically the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem remembered on Palm Sunday.

The congregation at the 9.30am service saw an audio-visual presentation of the Passion of Christ from Matthew's gospel based on a reading by the Ridings Lights Theatre company and images from well-known artists.

At the evening service, in preparation for Holy Week,  All Saints Church Choir led a meditative service of music and readings from the Bible recounting the final days of Christ's suffering. Music included pieces by Byrd, Handel, Stainer, and Tavener.

Concert programme launched at All Saints Church

Music at All Saints — what are we doing?
At All Saints Church we believe that our beautiful building and the talents of our musicians are there to be shared, in concerts, services and community projects. We also believe that we have a responsibility to nurture spirituality and musical gifts, particularly among our children and young people.

We have been blessed with a fine robed choir which, under the directorship of choral specialist Richard Smith, has started a number of training programmes for aspiring musicians. This has included outreach work with primary school children and choral scholarships for young singers. We have also established an annual conducting scholarship which provides for a year of study leading to a professional diploma qualification.

But we want to do more! As part of our development project we are establishing a Wednesday evening singing club for younger children and plans are in place to provide many more music-making and training opportunities. Through our concert series we are also offering performance opportunities for particularly talented young professionals at the start of their careers.

We want to see All Saints Church continue to grow as a centre of excellence in church music, singing and choral conducting. As a church we know the value of good music in worship. We also recognize that this country’s musical culture in general — particularly it’s choral tradition — has always been invigorated and sustained by the musical life of the Anglican church. This is both a privilege and a responsibility.

How you can help.
Firstly, and most importantly, come and enjoy the music! By staging concerts and recitals, we are opening our doors and filling our beautiful church with music. We want you to share it with us, and by buying tickets and telling your friends you will be making a real contribution to our work. We hope you will also come to hear the results of that work, too, particularly by supporting the children as some of them lead our services of Choral Evensong.

Joining the Friends of All Saints music is a great way to stay in touch with us and provide more practical support. Also, we maintain an Education Fund which was established by a generous gift from Esme Few in 2013 and we would be pleased to hear from donors.

Finally, remember to spread the word, particularly about the opportunities we offer for children and young adults in the form of our Wednesday singing sessions and our scholarships,