{"id":25303,"date":"2026-01-21T18:15:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T18:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/?p=25303"},"modified":"2026-01-21T20:59:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T20:59:30","slug":"glasgow-adventist-choir-ministers-to-inmates-in-scotlands-largest-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/glasgow-adventist-choir-ministers-to-inmates-in-scotlands-largest-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Glasgow Adventist Choir Ministers to Inmates in Scotland\u2019s Largest Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

8 January 2026 | Glasgow, Scotland [Adina Lupu, Scottish Mission and tedNEWS<\/em>]<\/p>\n

The Glasgow Adventist Gospel Choir (GAGC) entered a new chapter of ministry on 14 December 2025 by performing for the first time inside HM Prison Barlinnie, following an invitation from the Church of Scotland Chaplaincy. The choir presented an Advent-themed concert during the prison\u2019s Sunday service.<\/p>\n

The service included gospel songs and traditional carols, interspersed with Bible readings reflecting on the birth of Jesus. A notable moment came when an inmate volunteered unexpectedly to accompany the choir on the piano for two carols. During the performance of Amazing Grace, several prisoners were visibly moved, a response the chaplain later noted as common, describing the hymn as one of the most cherished during services.<\/p>\n

To conclude the service, Prison Chaplain Reverend Jill Clancy read the lyrics from Life is a Blessing, a song performed by the choir and arranged by GAGC musical director Maestro Samuel. He also thanked the choir, describing their presence as a \u201cblessing\u201d for the prisoners and noting that many had commented on how uplifting the service had been.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the year, a choir member described 2025 as \u201cfruitful and exciting,\u201d highlighting the ministry opportunities in care homes, hospitals, charity events and community celebrations, culminating in the choir\u2019s first prison outreach. \u201cWho would have thought, when we stepped out in faith at the start of the year, that God would provide such meaningful opportunities to share and serve?\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

Pastor Claudiu Popescu, the minister of Glasgow Seventh-day Adventist Church who established the partnership with HM Prison Barlinnie and coordinates the choir\u2019s initiatives, reflected on the church\u2019s wider mission and community engagement. He said a question he first encountered two decades ago, \u201cWould your community miss you if your church no longer existed?\u201d, has continued to shape his approach to ministry.<\/p>\n

Popescu said the church seeks to prioritise outreach that \u201cchanges things, where people\u2019s lives are touched and impacted and the surrounding community notices that they matter.\u201d Describing the work so far as \u201ca humble beginning,\u201d he added that the church remains committed to continuing the journey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

[Photos: Courtesy of the Scottish Mission Communication Department]<\/em><\/p>\n

The original version<\/a> of this article was posted on the Scottish Mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Combining gospel music with Bible readings centred on the birth of Jesus<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":25304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1577,1588],"tags":[1424,980,773],"class_list":["post-25303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-organisational-updates","category-united-kingdom-ireland","tag-choir","tag-glasgow","tag-scotland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25303"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25309,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25303\/revisions\/25309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}