Buchi Atuonwu, popularly known as Buchi,  a Nigerian reggae gospel artist is set to hold the first-ever national hymn festival at the University of Lagos Sports Complex on November 19, 2022.

The event will feature some top gospel singers such as Dr Panam Percy Paul, Joe Praize and Ada Ehi, among others.

Delegates of the Catholic Church, the Pentecostal fellowship, the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) and the white garment churches have been chosen to constitute the 2,022-person National Hymn Festival choir.

The singer said the initiative is his way of ensuring that “the great hymns that built us up and sustained our faith inspired us to do things and live for Jesus Christ, are not allowed to die”.

He added, “I am doing this as a patriot. God speaks to the one who cares, and He spoke to me about doing things that could unite the church. I know that the unity of the church is not about belonging to an association, as beautiful as that may be. That is not what the Bible means by the church’s unity.”

Buchi further explained the vision, “With the National Hymn Festival, we will not only revive the singing of hymns, we will bring together the churches of Jesus Christ under one roof. Every song has a spirit, has a story, has its essence. It is time to unite the church through hymns. On one leg, we are revitalizing our worship through hymns. On the other leg is the unity of the church.”

He noted that the denominations have also assembled their choirs to chase the top prize of N2 million and a trophy. Also, cash prizes, plaques, trophies for the second and third place with consolation awards for every participating choir will be up for grabs.

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