Why Bangor Cathedral Choir must be saved

An anonymous worshipper at Bangor Cathedral

There has been a choir at Bangor Cathedral for hundreds of years. In the last four years under the direction of Joe Cooper, the standard of its singing has been particularly high, as those who have heard it perform at services and at concerts would agree.

It sings seven regular services every week, in Welsh and English, as well as additional services at festivals such as Christmas and Easter. But while it would be easy just to look at the work that the choir does by leading the worship, that would be to overlook the role that it takes on behalf of the cathedral in ministry to its members and others.

The choir contains singers from about the ages of 7 to 70. Children learn and develop musical skills, as well as standards of teamwork and professionalism. They have to learn music in many different styles and for many different occasions.

This is a fantastic opportunity that can give them life-long skills and memories. In order to carry out their role, in music, members of the choir have to work together, and this means that people from very different backgrounds, of all different ages, at different life-stages, all cooperate in a professional manner towards the same goal. Inevitably, this means that there is a sense of closeness and inclusivity.

Students

Choir members include students gaining their independence for the first time; children transitioning from primary school to secondary school, and also going through the major steps – GCSE, A Levels – in their school journeys. The choir is a support for people, whatever they may be going through. It is a friendship group, and non-judgmental. Over the past four years members of the choir have blossomed, and gained in confidence. Since Joe started in Bangor, many children and young adults from the choir have been baptised and confirmed as they discover more about faith through their singing. Families of choir members are also drawn into the cathedral. At a time when the Church as a whole is struggling to get its message across to young people, the choir is already demonstrating what can be done.

Unfortunately, the cathedral as a whole, and the choir in particular, have in recent months been on the wrong end of negative headlines. The real problem is that the Chapter (the cathedral’s governing body) has not been running the cathedral properly. Money was spent without proper accountability or decision-making processes.

Vulnerable

Important policies and procedures were never put in place, leaving visitors and members of the congregation vulnerable. However, members of the choir and parents / guardians of choristers are fully supportive of Joe Cooper, his talent, his vision and his dedication. None of us feel that the choir is an unsafe place, but we do feel that the choir has been left to take the blame for a situation not of its making.

One of the major issues is the lack of communication from the Chapter, and this is something which is felt by the members of the choir, parents of children in the choir, and the congregation as a whole. The policy of silence and not commenting no longer works, and has given rise to suspicion and ill-feeling. To launch redundancy consultations lasting two weeks, as the Chapter has done, is grossly unfair.

There was no prior warning to the congregation of financial difficulties – which were not caused by the choir, of course. Redundancies should never be the first resort and the Chapter has turned down offers to help with fundraising if the redundancy consultations are paused. Sacking low-paid employees from the choir and elsewhere in the cathedral before all other options are exhausted is precisely the sort of behaviour that priests and bishops would condemn if a supermarket or a factory were to propose it. The Church in Wales should be better than this.

Redundancy

This is why the choir walked out during the last hymn on Sunday 31st August. In what several supportive members of the congregation have described as a “dignified” protest, the choir demonstrated its support for colleagues threatened with redundancy in a way that drew attention to the situation without disrupting worship. The choir’s punishment for standing up to the Chapter is that it has been suspended for a month. In other words, for refusing to lead the congregation in one hymn, it has been banned from leading the congregation in any hymns at all!

The redundancy proposals, which include sacking two out of the three singers paid to be there for every service of the year (excepting a few holidays) and slashing Joe’s hours, mean that the choir will not be able to survive in anything like its current form. It will not be able to sing as often, even if people are still willing to sing for a Chapter that does not value music, which will lead to a decline in standards, making the choir less attractive to join, and so the decline spirals.

Losing the choir would be an immense blow to the musical community at Bangor and the wider area, and would be a huge loss to the Cathedral itself and its congregation. That is why we have signed the petition set up in support of the Bangor Cathedral choir, and why we urge people to do the same.

The petition can be signed here.