CHURCH leaders in Whitehaven will host a Songs of Praise event in the town centre. 

The musical service will take place at 3pm on Sunday, July 21, at St Nicholas Gardens. 

Parishes and churchgoers across Whitehaven will come together for the special summer event. 

Reverend Alison Dobell, of the Parish of Whitehaven, said: "The Mission Community of the churches in Whitehaven have organised the service to try and get the communities together. 

"Somebody from every church has chosen a hymn and they're going to say why it's important to them. It will be an opportunity for everyone to have a good sing of familiar hymns."

The service will take a similar format to the BBC TV programme of the same name, where various hymns are sung with someone giving details about the hymn. 

Churches across the town are hoping to create more of a connection with one another through the service and reach out to the wider community to get involved with the church. 

Reverend Dobell continued: "There's always a need for families with young children to get involved.

"This is why we've included action songs in the service, in hopes that it will get more young people to come along, and as it's an outdoor service it will also be quite relaxed.

"It's been a long time since something like this has been done so it seemed like a good thing to offer through the summer months.

"Many churchgoers have shown an interest, and many will be making cakes which we'll be able to enjoy at the end of the service."