More than 220 singers took part in the Hymnathon in St Michael & All Angels Church at the weekend, raising more than £24,000 for the church’s Heritage Conservation Fund. 150 hymns were sung to mark the 150th anniversary of Bedford Park and the event seems certain to beat its £25,000 target when cash donations and gift aid pledges have been taken into account.
‘Hymnathon 150’ started at 11am on Saturday March 1st, and ended almost nine hours later with the singing of ‘Guide me, O thou great Redeemer’, the hymn that raised the most money from donations (helped by the fact it was St David’s Day). A flurry of last-minute giving saw the leadership change hands several times in the last hour. ‘Thine be the glory’ came a close second and ‘Dear Lord and Father of mankind’ was third. See final top 20 chart attached.
The singing was led by the Choir of St Michael & All Angels Church with support from other local choirs, including West London Chorus, Hogarth Singers, Hounslow Community Choir and two other Chiswick churches – Our Lady of Grace & St Edward and St Paul’s Grove Park. It began with an hour of the best-known Christmas and Easter hymns and ended with a countdown of the top 100.
Six organists accompanied the singers across the day, including Jonathan Dods, the church’s director music, and Oliver West, who organised the first St Michael’s Hymnathon in 1987. In addition, violinist David Juritz accompanied the Top 10 hymns.
Volunteers provided refreshments throughout the day, including tea, coffee, a delicious hot lunch, afternoon tea, home-made cakes, muffins and sandwiches and a bar. Biscuits and snacks from McVities and Jacobs were kindly donated by the brands’ owner, Pladis Global, which has its headquarters in Chiswick Park.
Fr Kevin Morris, vicar of St Michael & All Angels said: “It was a most joyful, life-affirming day, singing hymns, and it was wonderful to see so many of the local community coming along.
“I had several conversations with people who were despairing after the Trump-Zelensky press conference the day before. They didn’t know what to do with the very strong feelings that it evoked. So they came along to the Hymnathon to be with people, to do some singing and try and think about other things. In doing so, they began to feel better about life, renewed their faith in the goodness of people and went home again hopeful that we can make the world a better place. The Hymnathon worked on so many levels and for this I thank God.”
Torin Douglas, one of the organisers, said: “This was our sixth Hymnathon, and it went even better than we’d hoped, in fundraising as well as singing. Lots of people were competing to push their favourite hymn up the chart and the lead changed hands several times in the last hour. We hope there may still be a few more donations, as in previous years, from people who couldn’t be there on the day or who want to remember loved ones and help preserve the church for the community.”
The former poet laureate and heritage campaign Sir John Betjeman was remembered with a special hour of hymns which he selected for his 1975 Radio 4 series on hymns, later published as The John Betjeman Hymnbook. Several members of the Betjeman Society took part in the Hymnathon (see photograph).
Jonathan Ranger of the Society said: “The Betjeman Society was thrilled to be so closely involved with the Hymnathon in this special 50th and 150th Anniversary Year. Our table was busy throughout, and several of our Members attended lengthy sections of the day. Singing and organ playing were superb, including an organ student worth watching out for – William Brooke. The Society will be forming stronger links with SMAAA and the Bedford Park Society from now on, as this will be an ideal Centre for our new London Branch. Congratulations to Torin Douglas, Jonathan Dods, Chris Bradley and Rev Kevin Morris for an exciting and entirely successful event at such a wonderfully friendly, inclusive and welcoming church and community centre – which is what churches are supposed to be … aren’t they?”
Other Bedford Park names remembered in the hymn-singing marathon included the dancer and Cats choreographer Dame Gillian Lynne, the poet WB Yeats, the actor Richard Briers and the former vicar of St Michael’s, Canon Jack Jenner, who founded the Bedford Park Festival – as well as more recent names. Donations can still be made on the JustGiving website: https://www.justgiving.com/page/hymnathon150
