Starting a Choir

Several Christian Workplace Groups have started choirs. A Whitehall choir started in the Department for International Development and grew to be Whitehall-wide with members from a range of Departments. A choir was formed for Christmas 2014 at the Passport Office in Peterborough and was the centrepiece of their Christmas event.

If you have a choir teacher then learning songs will be easier, but it is not necessary to have an expert, trained, choir master or mistress! As long as you have someone with some musical knowledge, who knows the music and can bring a group of people together, then you are away!

Invitations to join the choir can be extended widely round the office, and certainly do not need to be restricted to Christians. If the purpose of the choir is to further the aims of the group, then songs relating to the Christian faith can form the backbone of the music the choir sings. But the music repertoire need by no means be entirely spiritual! A choir is an excellent way to get to know colleagues away from work, and as we get to know people better, Christian values can be imparted, and invitations to the group can be extended.

Apart from someone to lead the choir with some musical experience, all that is needed is a room to rehearse (think of the transmission of sound), a musical instrument or a CD/MP3 player for background music. When the choir is ready, invitations to short performances can be extended around the organisation, with the events being held perhaps at lunchtime or immediately after work. If a comfortable venue is available nearby, then so much the better.