If British school children were exposed to the "Harry Potter quality" of Evensong, the glorious sound, beautiful buildings, and the admirable discipline of boy and girl choristers their own age, the experience might have quite an impact. It might also have the effect of bringing alive their Religious Studies syllabus.
And this doesn't just apply to Evensong. Schools could also organise day trips to the various other religious temples of this land, mosques, synagogues, monasteries etc. This way children could be allowed to make up their own minds about religion as practiced, rather than as read about in books.
Children would also learn a lot about the history associated with the buildings. Having said that, too often modern visitors of holy places, churches etc. are bombarded with historical dates and facts, a kind of obfuscation that distracts them from engaging with the place in an appropriate way, such as attending a service!
They could also have a go at the singing themselves, and many of the Cathedrals and ‘Greater Churches’ have initiatives such as ‘be a chorister for a day’, sometimes culminating in the children performing in a full evensong, like in RSCM London’s Young Voices Festival (Sat 12 March 2016, Finchley Parish Church). Many of the Cathedrals already have an Education Department, so the infrastructure is already in place to raise awareness of Choral Evensong in young minds.
After the Evensong, the children could have a catered tea in the church, so they can talk about what they have just experienced, or just have fun.
2018 Update:
It is worth saying that Evensong happens at the same time as the school bus run, and therefore it is difficult to organise the transport. Perhaps cathedrals could charitably invest into transporting children to Evensong, given that the few hours between the end of school and end of Evensong is often a tricky time for families, when parents aren’t yet home. Also, to make sure the children can join in the hymns, some ‘school-based advance prep’ might be needed.
A group led by Jane Capon of the Choir Schools Association and Cathy Lamb of Lichfield Cathedral are currently creating a ‘Choral Outreach Online Directory’ that will list all the choral outreach teams operating in cathedrals and info to make this school visits idea easier.
