HELP is at hand for churches wanting to set up, strengthen, or rebuild a junior choir. The new Young Voices Toolkit, from the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM), is a step-by-step guide to involving children and young people in leading music in worship: a means of engagement, it believes, to which they readily respond.

“Do we have to turn off our personal music devices?”

“Music has that unique power,” the director of the RSCM, Hugh Morris, said. “We can harness this to bring a new generation into the life of the Church and ensure a bright future for church music. Many churches are currently experiencing a resurgence here, driven by new ways of working, and there are plenty of good examples and success stories in the Toolkit to inspire us all.”

The kit, which RSCM members can download, draws on the experience of others who have built junior choirs in their churches, and contains case studies and practical guidance on recruiting, retaining, and developing young singers. It has been created by David Fawcett, a composer, and the assistant director of music at St Mary the Virgin, Swanage, in Dorset; and the RSCM’s Junior Choirs Project Officer, Oliver Walker.

Mr Fawcett started his own junior church choir after Covid lockdowns in 2022. It now has 16 members, singing alongside the adult choir in two choral services each month. “For a long time, I thought it was too difficult to involve children and young people in my church choir,” he said. “But then I saw that others were succeeding, and I decided to learn what I could from their work and experience.”

The RSCM will celebrate its centenary in 2027. Taking the view that relatively few primary schools are equipped to deliver musical experiences and pathways into a life of music-making, it is investing in the current generation. “While the challenges can seem daunting, with fresh thinking it is possible to put children and young people back at the heart of music ministry,” Mr Morris believes.