Rock-N-Rolling In The Aisles

“God gave rock ’n’ roll to each and every one of us,” the Rev. Bob Hollings told The Daily Express, after spending £60,000 ($93,182) ripping out pews and putting in a stage, speakers and lights.

The 62-year-old self-confessed hippy and Jimi Hendrix fan has already attracted stars such as folk legends Pentangle, The Strawbs, and Gordon Giltrap to St John’s Church in Newhall, Derbys.

“I’d love to get Bob Dylan, Neil Young or Fairport Convention to play here,” he said. “That would be a real coup. The acoustics are brilliant – we even had one brass band record in here because they are so good.”

“God is in all the arts, so the idea the sacred happens in the church and the secular outside is total rubbish,” he added.

The church still holds a service at 10 a.m. every morning, with parishioners sitting on chairs instead of pews.

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