Some of our new sanctuary furniture including choir seating
A few weeks after our church services resumed, we have a live choir again. Not only that, but our new choir furniture arrived on the day of our first rehearsal, to join the altar, lectern etc. which appeared earlier in the summer. Usefully, we went for individual seats rather than stalls, so we are carefully separated by 2 metres. I have a seat directly behind the altar, giving me a view out through our glass doors (the previous major project in church), and also a glimpse of the bell-ringer who tolls after the others have come out of the ringing chamber.
The wooden platform the choir stands on has been built out, partly in order to accommodate larger ensembles in concert, and this together with the removal of soft furnishings in church means we also now enjoy a more resonant acoustic. (Although when runners and kneelers return post-pandemic it may dampen down again.)
We sang a hymn, a congregational communion setting (without congregational participation) and a straightforward anthem. Our congregation for the first choral service was not far short of its normal Sunday size and clearly appreciated having live singing even if they couldn’t join in.