Salvation Army outdoor service first in over 60 years for Sidmouth’s Connaught Gardens

A DIFFERENT band will play in Sidmouth’s Connaught Gardens on Sunday, August 22, and it could be the first time in more than 60 years it has played at an outdoor service in the town.

Churches Together in Sidmouth, which organizes the summer Hymns in the Park events in the gardens, has arranged for the Salvation Army to take the service and it will be led by Captain Steven Watson.

Army members from Ottery St Mary, Exmouth and Exeter will join together with a band of 20 instrumentalists for an hour-long service, starting at 4pm.

Mike Edgecumbe, chairman of CTiS said: “The Salvation Army is such a wonderful example of Christian care and compassion, admired throughout the world, and we are so pleased to have them come.”

He described the service as special because, as far as he knows, it is the first time the Salvation Army has held an outdoor service in Sidmouth within his lifetime “of nearly 67 years.”