A disgruntled bishop in a dressing gown has interrupted a church concert in London – telling singers to stop their “terrible racket” and “leave his house”.
The City Academy Voices choir was coming to the end of their performance at St Andrew’s in Holborn on Friday night when the lights were suddenly turned off.
Footage on TikTok shows Jonathan Baker, the bishop of Fulham, standing barefoot at a microphone – as bemused performers and a 300-strong audience look on.
“You are in my house. It’s gone past 10pm and this is a terrible racket,” he said. “Goodnight. You are in my house – can you leave it now please. Thank you, it’s over.”
Bishop Jonathan Baker
A church employee then asked the crowd to leave quietly and for the musicians to step down from the stage, attracting boos from the audience.
The choir went on to perform one last song, an A cappella version of ABBA’s Dancing Queen, before bringing their show to a close.
Benedict Collins, who was attending the concert with his 10-year-old daughter, told Sky News he initially thought the interruption was a staged joke.
“The church willingly rents out the premises for performances, for money,” he said. “They can hardly be surprised if they take bookings for concerts and there is music in the hall.”
A church employee asks the audience to leave
Mr Collins said the talented choir had “worked like mad” on the performance – and criticised the bishop’s remarks.
“This work deserves respect, not to be disparaged as a ‘terrible racket’,” he added.
“The people here had put their heart and soul into it. The bishop cut them off in midstream, preventing soloists who had worked their hardest from singing – and preventing the audience, which included people of all ages, from enjoying it to the end.”
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The choir performed their last song
A spokesperson for the Diocese of London had told The Guardian: “Bishop Jonathan reached out to the organisers on Saturday to apologise for his late-night appearance at the concert, which he now understands had overrun due to technical difficulties.”
But Mr Collins told Sky News that he felt this statement was “mealy mouthed”.
He added: “I hope the bishop is well and okay. It’s possible he just had a bad day. An unambiguous apology would help, one that recognises why his behaviour wasn’t acceptable.”
