Bishop stops church concert and tells choir to get out of ‘my house'

Telegraph

28-07-2025

A bishop interrupted a church concert in his dressing gown to order everyone 'out of my house'.
Footage shared online shows the City Academy Voices Choir and audience watching on in confusion as the lights suddenly turned off during their performance.
Some members initially feared a power cut, but then the Right Rev Jonathan Baker, the Bishop of Fulham, appeared onstage and ordered everyone out.
'You are in my house and that's it,' he could be heard saying in a recording of the stand-off, which was shared on social media.
'It's gone past ten and this is a terrible racket. Goodnight. Thank you. Goodnight. You are in my house. You can leave it now, please. Thank you, it's over, thank you.'
The bishop was booed off the stage of St Andrew's Church in Holborn, London, by the 300 or so people in attendance.
Concert slightly overran
Leigh Stanford Thompson, the choir director, told The Guardian: 'It was so bizarre. I've never experienced anything like it.'
'A lot of people thought it was some weird thing that I had organised, like a parting thing, but I knew exactly what was happening.'
The concert had been slightly delayed because of technical difficulties and was on course to end shortly after its allotted 10pm finish time.
The bishop's interruption came at roughly 10.07pm, but it didn't stop the choir continuing to perform an a-capella rendition of Abba's Dancing Queen.
However, a church employee then took the microphone and said: 'This is a residential home. I must ask you to leave quietly. Thank you for your attendance.'
'Everyone was in astonishment'
The concert had been held as a 'celebration' to mark Mr Thompson's final concert directing the choir.
'A lot of people thought it was some weird thing that I had organised, like a parting thing, but I knew exactly what was happening,' he said.
The director said the unexpected a-capella ending was 'really lovely and quite moving'.
'We all went out to the pub afterwards and took it all in,' he continued.
'Everyone was in astonishment really.
'I do find it funny. I'm not particularly upset. We had a really good concert, but I think it's a real shame that we didn't get a chance to finish. But now looking back, what a way to go out.'
A choir member said of the bishop's exit: 'We were singing away. Then, all of a sudden, the lights went out. At first I thought there may have been a power cut. But then the instruments were still playing.
'We were picking back up to sing when all of a sudden everything went quiet. I could see this guy in what looked like a dressing gown talking to the audience on the mic.
'There were boos and everything, it's just really disappointing.'
A diocese of London spokesman said: '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 earlier technical difficulties.'