HE IS the organist at two churches in St Asaph diocese, and plays at both every Sunday. Ellis Thomas is 11 years old, and has just started secondary school, and his organ-playing earns him extra pocket money.

At St Cystennin's, Llangystennin, where he plays first, he has a two-manual organ, and at the end of that service his father, Steve, picks him up to deliver him to St Katherine's, another church in the Rhos-Cystennin team ministry, where there is an electronic organ.

He enjoys playing hymns both old and new: the old ones because of their well-known tunes, and the new "because they have a good beat to them". But he also plays voluntaries, and has a particular love of Beethoven.

His mother, Megan, tells me that it all began with a toy saxophone when he was a toddler, and his grandmother, a music teacher, accompanied him on the piano. Since then, he has passed Grade 7 in piano, and he plays the recorder and the violin. Just recently, says the Team Vicar at St Cystennin's, the Revd Peter Walker, he has played his violin at a concert in church, as well as playing with other ensembles. He is a natural performer, Mrs Thomas says, and there is no doubt that he will make music his career.

His eight-year-old brother Callum is also making his mark in church, regularly reading the lesson and taking the collection.