What is Choir Church?

Choir Church is a model for new worshipping communities, built around children’s choirs in schools, led in partnership with local churches. It offers worship, musical excellence, and spiritual formation designed to build and grow congregations, working for social justice. While it is principally school-based, its worship is open to the wider community of parents, teachers, neighbours and friends.

The first Choir Church was planted by St George-in-the-East in 2016. St George’s has now been designated a Resource Church – working with the Centre for Theology and Community to help other congregations to renew and grow. One of the ways we are doing that is by supporting those who want to plant their own Choir Church.

Since Choir Church Shadwell began, other parishes and Dioceses have begun to adapt Choir Church to their own context, and you can read more under Partnerships.

Choir Church is open to partners across the country. We are particualrly interested in hearing from parishes that want to embed worship and social justice deeply in their schools and communities.

Choir Church works with the Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication, and was initially given impetus by the Bishop of Islington, +Ric Thorpe. It has grown to develop in Anglo-Catholic to Liberal contexts, and is open to different denominations.

Choir Church has four elements:

1. Local school Choir Church builds a new congregation around a children’s choir based in a school, which may or may not be a church school

2. Eucharist A children’s choir sings in a Eucharist which is open to all – parents, teachers, and neighbours, including a ‘planting team’ of existing worshippers

3. Choral excellence Children learn a wide range of liturgical music, with the English Choral Tradition at its heart, equipping them musically for worship and life 

4. Social justice The congregation is built and developed using the practices of community organising, so it can work with its neighbours to act on Jesus’ command to challenge injustice

The Choir Church Foundation has been established to support those wishing to plant Choir Churches in their own context. ‘Choir Church’ is an official trading name, and is registered by the Intellectual Property Office. Its name and logo can be used by partners by permission of the Foundation.

Choir Church is a trademark registered with the UK Intellectual Property Office. It can only be used in agreement with the Choir Church Foundation.