ST MARY the Virgin Church in Olveston held an outdoor service to enjoy the last of August’s sunshine during the bank holiday weekend.

An impressive 120 worshippers were joined by the Portishead Concert Band who gave some of the well-known hymns a bit of swing.

The event was a first for the church, but also for the band who were playing hymns for the first time in Cromwell Court, opposite Olveston Stores.

The Rev Roly Bain, associate vicar and full-time clown for the last 25 years, helped deliver a fairly normal morning service; excluding his slack rope performance which he used to help deliver his ‘keep your eyes on Jesus’ message.

At one point he was even juggling during his performance on the rope.

Mr Bain, speaking after the service, said: “It was nice to get out of the building. It’s something that was a bit different and the weather was great so it’s something that we’ll have to repeat.

“We’re very grateful to Nigel and Julie Dawes for allowing us to use their backyard and to Linela Embroidery for letting us use their sockets for our equipment.”

Angus Macaskill, Olveston’s talented painter, has also addressed recent concerns at a lack of artwork on his gates by announcing that ‘Priest on a Rope’ will be his next gate painting.

Previously paintings including former Bristol MP Tony Benn and a celebration of the royal wedding have taken pride of place on his gates.

He said: “The service was brilliant, it was a very nice day which I think helped and the band was very impressive. There was quite a party atmosphere about the whole thing.

“I haven’t had a painting on my gates since March and some people had started asking me if there will be a next one. I’ve almost finished ‘Priest on a Rope’ so hopefully it will be on my gates soon.”

The church’s first outdoor service was a resounding success and it is now expected to become an annual event for the August bank holiday weekend.