‘Flash mob’ choir fails to make the malls
HOPES of a ‘flash mob’ choir singing carols in Meadowhall have disappeared in a flash.
A Sheffield vicar said this week he believed it was because the centre did not want to show any religious bias – but managers insisted it was because they had been given too little notice at the busiest time of year and did not have the space.
The Rev Julian Mann, vicar of Oughtibridge, said he had seen online footage of a ‘flash mob’ choir singing the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah in the food court of the Seaway Mall in Ontario, Canada. “The joy on the faces of the singers and the surprised delight of the shoppers are profoundly moving.”
But Mr Mann, a member of the Church of England’s Reform group, said he had been rebuffed by Meadowhall. There was “no room in the food court for the King of kings and Lord of lords because the centre management must not be seen to favour one religion over another”. He added: “It must be ‘impartial’. In the Siberia of political correctness the Hallelujah chorus is frozen out.”
However, a Meadowhall spokeswoman said there was no objection to flash mobs or to events with a religious flavour – a band had played carols last weekend and there has been carol singing. “The main issue is the timing. He contacted us five days before Christmas and this is the busiest shopping week of the year.”
There were only six spaces in the centre for promotional activities and other events and they were already booked up. “If he had contacted us earlier it would have been a different story.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Thursday 23 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 8 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: West
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.