Children’s Praise

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150: 6

In November last year, St Mary’s Timaru Parish welcomed on board a new Director of Music, Catherine Anderson.

Catherine was previously the Director of Music at a different St Mary’s in London! As part of her new role here, in Timaru, a Children’s Church Choir was part of the remit, the previous one having disbanded when the Director moved on.

So now the Children’s Choir, for ages 7 to 12 years, is underway. Early in May rehearsals started and Catherine aims to work with the voices for a couple of months before they attend any church service. It is envisaged that the choristers will be rostered on for the 10am morning service the first Sunday each month (when the adult choir sings at evensong). This ‘permanent’ slot allows the choristers to be a fullyfledged part of the church, and indeed the choristers will be inducted into their roles by the parish once their regular services begin, hopefully in August or September this year.

We look forward to hearing the children’s voices lead worship at St Mary’s later this year. Congratulations to them all.

The chorister's prayer

Bless, O Lord, us your servants, who minister in your temple. Grant that what we sing with our lips, we may believe in our hearts, and what we believe in our hearts, we may show forth in our lives. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Rev’d Ben Randall says:

“It’s been a joy to see how Catherine has taken the local vision and enthusiasm for this new initiative and has grown and run with it. The choir allows us to reach out to children and families in our local community, to introduce a new generation to faith, to welcome them into the congregation, and to engage them in the active worship of our Anglican church. My prayer for those who will join our choir, and our St Mary’s family, is much like the prayer Dean Lawrence Kimberley expressed in his sermon when introducing the Girl Choristers at the Christchurch Cathedral in 2020, that, as you sing the words of our faith and the words of scripture, let that Word (Jesus Christ) make a home in your heart as well, let it speak to you, transform you, and show you the depth of Godís love and care. God’s love and care for you and for all creation.”