蜜芽传媒

Ethics was engaging, theology was fun, but the bit of training to be a vicar I most struggled with, was singing parts of a church service solo. Whilst I do enjoy singing, I鈥檓 not especially good at it. If I鈥檓 going to stay in tune, I need other, better voices around me, ones I can follow.

Maybe that鈥檚 why the story that grabbed my attention this weekend, is that of a group of people from Wales, all affected by the Horizon Post Office scandal, who have formed themselves into a choir. A few days ago, they made it right to the finals of a televised national talent competition. Members of the group, appropriately named 鈥淗ear Our Voice鈥�, describe how their choral efforts have helped rebuild shattered confidence, and brought back joy into lives wrecked by wrongful prosecutions and convictions. At the same time, the choir has projected the message of their continuing fight for justice well beyond what any single voice could reach.

I鈥檝e come across similar stories in other places. In Manchester I鈥檝e enjoyed many performances by a choir drawn from survivors of the Arena terrorist attack, whilst nationally, one made up of partners of British military forces then serving in Afghanistan, famously achieved a number one hit. In each case, a diverse group of people join together, first to offer mutual support and second to promote a common cause. As they do so, they discover how singing takes it all to a new level. What鈥檚 more, in an age of rampant individualism, the particular discipline of a choir demands its members sacrifice something of their own self-expression for the common good.

Singing together has long been a part of many people鈥檚 way of supporting and expressing their religious belonging. The Hebrew Scriptures contain notes as to the long lost tunes that accompanied Psalms sung on particular occasions. Later, St Mark, in his Gospel, describes how the final thing Jesus and his disciples did together, before heading to the place where he would be arrested, was to sing a hymn.

I know from my own experience, not only in church but also at many sports events, how being part of a congregation or crowd, singing together, can be hugely uplifting, with no great technical ability required. Whether it鈥檚 my faith or my football, like those members of the choir born of the Post office scandal, both my sense of belonging and my commitment to the cause, are enhanced by being one voice among many, singing, as the old saying has it, from the same hymn sheet.

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