We celebrated our patronal festival with an evening of reflective and inspiring singing centred around the theme of finding rest, refreshment and light in Jesus. The service began with the ringing of the church bell and the hymn “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say” (Kingsfold), inviting everyone to come and rest, drink of the living water, and find light in the darkness through Jesus. This was followed by “Sing We of the Blessed Mother” (Abbott’s Leigh) and an uplifting choral rendition of Psalm 121 set to an Anglican chant (Walford Davies), emphasising the protective care and security that we can find by placing all our trust in God. The Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C minor (Dyson) were sung after the scripture readings before the church resounded with the anthem “Look at the World” (Rutter), inspiring reflection on the beauty of God’s creation and our calling to be stewards of nature. The service concluded with the hymn “Be Still My Soul” (Finlandia), encouraging us to find peace and hope in God’s love, even amidst life’s trials and uncertainties, and reminding us that faith leads to eternal joy and reunion with God.
We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Choral Evensong Society and its benefactors for supporting our inaugural patronal festival choral evensong. It has been a delight to see our choir grow in number and go from strength to strength during the build-up to this event. We are delighted to welcome new singers of a range of ages, genders and levels of experience, and very much look forward to making this service an annual event!
By Christopher West (Choirmaster)
St Anne’s Church East Wittering 