Summer Concert 2024

On July 15th, we held our regular ‘end of summer term’ concert in the Gallery at Christ Church, Woking.

This year, we were fundraising for a cause close to the heart of one of our choir members, the BMJ School Feeding Program in Kenya, and the event raised over £425 thanks to the generosity of those attending.

BMJ stands for ‘Be more Josie’, and is named in memory and celebration of the late daughter of that choir member. Josie was a teacher whose life was cut tragically short, and the cause is a way of making education accessible and viable for children whose circumstances might otherwise prevent them from being at school.

For a number of us, the choir is something of a lifeline: it brings us support in the present and focus on the eternal, so that we can have hope and confidence, whether in the best or toughest of times. We lost another choir member to cancer quite recently, and her mother continues to be a member. Another learned of the death of someone close to the family, on the day of the concert. Others have faced family breakups, illness, injustice, ongoing challenging family situations, and more. But we continue, finding strength in the joy of singing together, sharing life’s journey in our small way, and in voicing lyrics such as:

Praise is what I do, even when I’m going through.
I’ve learned to worship You.
No, my circumstance doesn’t even stand a chance –
My praise outweighs the bad.

‘Praise Is What I Do’, William Murphy III