A Perthshire church minister is planning a hymn-a-thon, playing hymns continuously to his flock until he has completed every single one in the hymn book.
Canon Ian Young MBE, rector of All Saints’ Church in Glencarse, is an experienced musician who studied as a music scholar at the Conservatoire in Edinburgh - and so will have no difficulty in playing all 600 or so hymns.
On February 24 and 25 he has invited members of the local congregation and any other people curious to see his nimble-fingered feat to sponsor him so he can raise funds for an Anglican primary school in rural Eswatini that was destroyed by an arson attack.
In the country of Eswatini in southern Africa, the Luhhumaneni School was burnt down but has no funds to rebuild.
Headmaster Abel Thomo and his staff were left struggling to keep the school operating. No funds have been available to carry out essential repairs or replace damaged furniture, books and other classroom materials.
The Anglican Diocese of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) has strong companionship links with the Episcopal Diocese of Brechin which Glencarse comes under and asked if All Saints’ could help.
Canon Young enjoys a bit of novelty - last year he invited pets to come to church to be blessed and 27 dogs attended the service with their humans - and hopes that his hymn-a-thon on Friday from 9am-3pm and Saturday 9am-1pm will be a successful fundraiser.
“Before I went into the church I was teaching music and had a spell with the National Youth Choirs of Scotland,” he explained to the Perthshire Advertiser.
“Now I’m a retired minster who has come back to help run Glencarse, acting as the rector.
“On Friday 24 and Saturday, February 25, I hope it will be a fun event while I’m playing the hymns, it will be nothing like a church service, with people coming in and out and having a blether. We will have tea and coffee, it’s bound to be a happy atmosphere.
“I’m working on the basis of playing one hymn a minute, there are around 600 in the book so we anticipate 10 hours of activity split over two days.
“My favourite hymn would have to be ‘Love divine.
“I’d be delighted if some people chose to sing along but I will restrict myself to playing the music.
“Please share this far and wide and see if we can raise the amount required to rebuild the school and allow the children to return to their safe haven.”
Anticipation for Ian’s hymn-a-thon has been building up all week and so far £2399 has been pledged for his act of musical worship.
Anyone wishing to support his cause can donate at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/SwazilandHymnathon
If you would rather donate in another way, contact the Diocesan companion link officer, Mrs Pat Millar, on 01382 532972 or email patriciamillar2509@gmail.com
