It’s now quite common for churches, whether grand or small, to host secular music events. But, not so long ago, this would have been unthinkable. The idea that churches should confine their activities to respectful worship is strongly rooted in centuries of tradition. And it is only in the past 10 to 20 years that a warm welcome has been more widely extended to people visiting a church for an event that is primarily for entertainment.
This is actually a return to the ways in which a church originally served its community. To find out why this happening, and what it means for a typical parish church, I speak to the Reverend Mark Nash-Williams, whose parish of Alston Moor covers much of the South Tyne valley, whose church of St Augustine’s in Alston often hosts secular music events in addition to its many religious services and community-focused activities.
The bells that you can hear at St Augustine’s are played by Josephine Dickinson with a carillon rather than ropes. In this episode, she plays a tunes from a large repertoire that includes a wide range of religious, classical and popular music.
