We enjoy singing and meet on a Friday evening at 7.00 p.m. to practise the hymns for Sunday. Some of us like the old hymns better than the newer choruses, but then some of us are quite old. Hornby is positively ancient at 94 but still has a loud, strong voice and keeps us in order during rehearsals. I once worked out that the combined age of the fifteen choir members was more than 1,000 years! So, we could do with some younger voices. If you enjoy singing please think about joining us. We have room for a few more. Please think about it.

Why do we wear those funny black and white robes? Well, it’s part of tradition and it saves us worrying about what to wear in church. What some of us wear underneath our cassocks sometimes might be distracting. At St Luke’s we are trying to preserve the best of the old whilst introducing the best of the new. Our organ, for instance has recently been replaced. We got rid of the old pipe organ and replaced it with a computerised version of a pipe organ. It’s much larger in scope and variety of sound. David Holroyd, our organist, is a professional musician and there isn’t much that he can’t play. So, together with our worship band of flute, clarinet, bassoon, piano and guitars we can produce a variety of sounds to lead the worship and set the right mood for each service. If you haven’t heard our Phoenix organ come along, you’re in for a treat.

We recently performed Captain Noah and his floating Zoo. It’s a fun piece about Noah’s ark and the flood. (see Genesis chapter 6). David accompanied with the help of bass and drums played by students from Merchant Taylor’s School. David played some exciting organ pieces at the same concert and as usual the organ was a big attraction. It was free to get in and donations were invited. We raised £400 for our 150th Anniversary celebrations. We are planning some more concerts this year and hope to sing “Night of Miracles” – the Christmas story, in early December.

The choir also has a reputation for running charity auctions. The last one was a joint venture with Rotary last September. That raised enough money to complete the rebuilding of the Maternity Hospital in Shyira, Rwanda. It’s hard work but the rewards are worth it. Rotary have asked us to do another auction. We are thinking about it but don’t want to tread on the toes of other local churches trying to raise money the same way. We’ll let you know as soon as we’ve arranged something.

Our musical tradition at St Luke’s is nothing special but our worship band, choir and organ to lead the singing are important. We do need more singers and musicians, so please, if you have any musical talent or just like making music, please think about doing it to the glory of God.