In Harmony – Free Church Choirs is keeping alive an important tradition, and a great experience, Stephen Tomkins discovers

It seems that being in a community choir has never been more popular. The Big Choral Census in 2017 found that 2.14 million people in the UK regularly sing, in 40,000 choirs. Singing has been shown to improve our sense of wellbeing and build social bonds, reduce tension, relieve pain and strengthen our immune system. According to the Radio 4 programme Just One Thing, ‘singing could have similar effects to cannabis’.

So it is a shame that, at the same time, local churches have been finding it harder and harder to sustain choirs. As the number of church members has declined, the community that kept choral singing going for centuries is being rather left behind by the community choir movement…

Stephen Tomkins is Editor of Reform. The Festival of Church Music is at Coventry Cathedral on Saturday 11 October at 6pm. For more information and to join the choir, visit freechurchchoirs.org.uk

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This is an extract from an article published in the Issue 5 – 2025 edition of Reform

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