Students from Abbots Bromley School for Girls have been crowned the BBC Radio Stoke / Diocese of Lichfield ‘Congregation of the Year’ after impressing judges and the public in this year’s Songs from the Aisles contest.
A special choir created by Staffordshire’s Youth Service specifically for an event at Lichfield Cathedral won the junior category.
The Abbots Bromley School should have been entered in the junior category, but the judges involved in selecting the finalists decided the quality of their singing was so high they should be judged alongside the all-age congregations.
The winners were decided by votes split between a panel of judges and Radio Stoke’s listeners. Lamont Howie, the weekend breakfast presenter at Radio Stoke hosted the Songs from the Aisles sing-off; and said: “Songs from the Aisles highlights the best of our regions congregational voices. BBC Radio Stoke receives so many positive comments about our regular broadcast church services that it's an absolute delight to hear the best competing for our annual prize.
“The talented choir from Abbots Bromley School shone brightly on the evening we recorded our Final, emphasising what the competition is about - to sing the praises of the Lord and to share that joy with a wider audience. Congratulations.”
BBC Radio Stoke has broadcast a weekly act of worship on Sunday mornings ever since the station was launched in 1968. The service is recorded in churches, schools, military bases and even prisons in the Radio Stoke area.
Songs from the Aisles invites the four best congregations each year to a sing-off final at Stoke Minster - the winners being crowned Congregation of the Year.
