Church youngsters hold online performance to thank NHS staff at St Thomas’ Hospital
Lockdown may not have changed bedtime, but it has changed the way people of all religions gather to celebrate the stories that unite them.
Every evening of Lent at St. Anselm’s Church in Kennington, people are congregating online to hear bedtime stories written and performed by young parishioners.
Youth minister Suzette Aagaard said: “Not seeing each other in person every Sunday has really started to take its toll on many members of our congregation.”
Mrs Aagaard started the video project ‘Night Night God Bless’ to alleviate the loneliness of lockdown and bring the congregation together in the lead up to Easter.
The young authors are all aged between three and 14-years-old and their tall tales have made St Anselm’s grown-ups laugh and cry.
Mrs Aagaard said: “We are very blessed with wonderfully imaginative young people and I thought it would be a lovely idea for the children to read a bedtime story to the adults as a way of lifting their spirits.”
The church’s young people also performed a new song dedicated to staff at St Thomas’ Hospital, composed by Becky Chambers, leader of the St Anselm’s Young Voices Choir.
‘Our Prayer For You’ was written with the children’s own words of thanks to hospital staff for their hard work and service to the community during the pandemic.
St Anselm’s is an Anglican church with a congregation of over 150 people, located at 286 Kennington Road.
The Parish covers a large area of North Lambeth, serving a diverse community in Kennington, Lambeth and Vauxhall.
The video bedtime stories are published at 7pm every evening and can be found at: https://northlambethparish.
The Young Voices choir performance is available at: https://youtu.be/VKxsc7ksSNM
Pictured: St. Anselm’s Young Voices Choir performing ‘Our Prayer For You’ dedicated to staff at St. Thomas’ Hospital.
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