Mayor of Birmingham joins Birmingham Stake for Charity Carol Concert
The Birmingham Stake hosted the mayor of Birmingham at a Christmas charity event on 10 Dec. 2022.
The event consisted of an adult choir from the Wolverhampton Ward, a children’s choir from the Harborne Ward, and piano and cornet solos from missionary elders Ioan Berry and Jon Wright (both from the Burton-on-Trent Ward). Plus, the congregation was blessed with a beautiful duet from Becky Morgan and Aisling MacIver (of the Lichfield and Harborne Wards), along with traditional carols and readings from members of the congregation.
The stake was excited to have other faith leaders from the local area attend. Violet Owen, senior advisor of Birmingham Council of Faiths and member of the Baha’I faith, shared a beautiful message to all on the gift of light. Her thoughts fit perfectly with the Church’s Christmas theme of ‘light the world’.
Mayor Councillor Maureen Cornish also spoke in the concert about the great welcome she and her consort felt amongst the congregation. She remarked “As soon as we entered, we felt such a feeling of warmth, belonging and feeling part of something very special.”
Mayor Cornish also spoke about how wonderful it was to see the rising generation and different faiths working and pulling together, stating “In these hard times when life isn’t easy, this is what we need worldwide communities working and achieving so much together.”
Over the last few weeks, the members have been collecting various food items and clothing to donate to Let’s Feed Brum, a charity whose aim is to be part of the solution to homelessness in Birmingham.
Andrew Currah, trustee and treasurer for the charity, was overwhelmed with the generosity of the members of the Church, saying, “On behalf of the many service users whose lives you will have touched, a huge and heartfelt ‘thank you’ for the generous donations in kind which will go towards the work of Let’s Feed Brum as it seeks to make a lasting difference to those experiencing, and at risk of, homelessness in Birmingham.”
Lesa Cope, the Birmingham Stake Relief Society president, shared a beautiful message of the importance of charity and the pure love of Christ during the Christmas period and all year round.
The Birmingham Stake president, Matthew Peedle, was delighted with how the evening went. “The Christmas carol concert was something I had been looking forward to for a long time as I wanted to be able to bring the stake together, to celebrate the Savior’s birth and bring together our friends from Birmingham’s interfaith forum and Let’s Feed Brum. We were able to celebrate with choirs and individuals sharing their talents that made it a joyful, wonderful evening.
“With the Light of Christ being ‘the divine energy, power, or influence that proceeds from God through Christ and gives life and light to all things’,1 we look forward to celebrating with friends & family at this important time of year, and even though we agreed that we may celebrate Christmas differently, we have a shared belief that our faiths are foremost in our lives, bless our lives and encourage us to look outward to bless the lives of others which we will continue to do as a new stake, our families and our new friends.”
The congregations of the new Birmingham Stake look forward to working in the new year with Let’s Feed Brum, and enjoying future events with the mayor and their interfaith friends.