CHURCHES across our diocese will celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with celebration services, street parties and special events.

Worshippers from St Thomas Elson, with their bunting

The Rev Timon Singh and his daughter Tabitha in the recording studio with their backing singers

Portsmouth Cathedral will welcome Outnumbered star Hugh Dennis to open their Diamond Jubilee summer fete, Newport Minster is holding a whole week of special activities, and St Jude’s Church in Southsea has been invited to lead four days of celebrations for the community.

Many churches will include special prayers for the Queen on June 3, and then host a Big Lunch, inviting members of their community to join them for a celebratory meal.

Worshippers across the diocese have also been signing a Big Thank You card, which will be sent to Buckingham Palace to congratulate Her Majesty on her 60-year reign. Pupils from church schools within the diocese have been taking part in a competition to design the front of the card. The winner and their family will receive a VIP tour of HMS Warrior, and 24 runners-up will have their designs displayed in Portsmouth Cathedral.

One clergyman has composed a special song for the Queen to mark her six decades on the throne. The Rev Timon Singh, who is curate at St George’s Church, Waterlooville, wrote ‘60 Words of Love’ with his family. He’ll be sending a CD of the track to Buckingham Palace and has released the track via iTunes to raise funds for a military charity.

He recruited backing singers from local churches and recorded four versions of the track in the studios at Paulsgrove Community Centre. Timon sang the main vocals alongside his daughter Tabitha. The proceeds will go to ABF: The Soldiers Charity which helps those injured in the line of duty and the families of those killed in action.

“It’s important that we celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee and this was my way of doing it,” he said. “I have written poems for other royal occasions and have received replies from the Duke of Edinburgh, and from William and Kate when I wrote something for their wedding.

“I’d love to be able to hand over the CD personally to the Queen at some event, but I may just have to send it to Buckingham Palace. I hope we can frame the lyrics and send them alongside the CD.

“As a Church we are always offering our prayers for our troops serving in the difficult places, as they are trying to bring peace in the difficult situations. This is my way of showing prayer into action, God will do the rest.”

Ben Bentley, briefing officer for ABF: the Soldiers’ Charity, who came to watch the recording, said: “I’m very humbled by this. Word has gone out within the charity and people are very excited. If this gets big, it could be a real phenomenon. And it’s great that it’s helping soldiers, ex-soldiers and their families. We are the army’s national charity and we receive no government funding whatsoever, so this kind of initiative is very welcome.”

Timon has already presented CDs of the song to the Mayor of Havant and the MP for East Hampshire. You can buy the song via iTunes. Search for ‘Timon and Tabitha’ in the iTunes store to find it.

A week of activities at Newport Minster will begin with a Civic Service at 5pm on May 28. Bishop Christopher will preach at the service and then launch a sponsored Bible reading event. The two-day marathon has been organised by the Friends of the Minster and will continue until around 6pm on May 30.

People will be sponsored to read the Bible for 20 minutes at a time. Last time the Friends organised such an event, it raised £3,500. The Festival Week will continue with concerts and bell-ringing.

Portsmouth’s Anglican Cathedral will launch its celebrations with a Festal Eucharist at 10.30am on June 3, at which Bishop Christopher will preach. It will then combine its Big Lunch with a summer fete. Comedian Hugh Dennis will launch the fete at 12.15pm on Cathedral Green.

Visitors can book a table for a sit-down meal with friends, enjoy a barbecue, cream teas and ice-creams. There are free rides on board an open-topped bus, a royal-themed fancy dress contest, grand draw, bouncy castle, face-painting and games. There are also performances from Victoryland Theatre Company, a brass band and a ukele band. The day finishes with an ecumenical Evensong at 6pm.

Worshippers from St Jude’s Church in Southsea were asked to organise Diamond Jubilee celebrations for the whole community from June 2-5. A team led by Claire Hoskins from the church will run four days of celebrations in the church and shopping precinct.

Palmerston Road will host a traditional church fete for all four days. The church will also host a children’s party from 2.30pm on Saturday (June 2), a Jubilee tea dance from 3.30pm on Sunday (June 3) and a grand ball for the whole Southsea community from 7.30pm until midnight on Monday (June 4).

It’s part of the church’s vision to get involved with the Southsea community, which also saw the creation of a welcoming glass-fronted church entrance in 2010.

Churchgoers from St Thomas the Apostle Church in Elson, Gosport, will be among those inviting the community to a Big Lunch. They’ll host a 10am service on June 3 involving churches of different denominations. Then they’ve invited 500 people from the local community to lunch outside the church, with bands, a barbecue, games and sport.

Members of one church group called CAMEO (Come and Meet Each Other) have knitted triangles of bunting for the occasion. They hope to create the longest single line of bunting as part of the Big Bunting Competition, which is part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The bunting triangles may be sewn together to become blankets for the homeless after the party.

St Peter’s Church in Titchfield will host a flower festival, and the community centre will display an exhibition of the village over the past 60 years over all four days of the celebrations. There’ll also be a children’s party in the parish room on June 2.

Christians in Stubbington will hold an open-air civic service in the centre of the village from 11am on June 3, with the Lions, local traders, councillors and uniformed organisations. It will be followed by a street party in Vicarage Lane from 12.30pm. St Edmund’s Church will host a flower festival from June 8-10.

St Blasius Church in Shanklin will hold an exhibition to mark the Jubilee from June 2-10. There will be flower displays, and a celebration of the past 60 years in photos, newspapers, programmes, books and music. There are also activities for children and ‘memory books’ in which people can write their own Jubilee stories.

And there’s also a flower festival at All Saints Church in Newchurch from June 22-24. Its theme will be ‘60 Glorious Years’ and there will be refreshments, stalls and a raffle too.

Bellringers on the Isle of Wight are planning to ring church bells to mark the occasion. For the full list, click here.

Preparations are underway for a traditional afternoon tea party at St Cuthbert's Church, Copnor, to celebrate the Jubilee.Worshippers will serve cucumber sandwiches, cakes and hot and cold drinks at the free street party-style celebration in the vicarage garden in Lichfield Road on Tuesday June 5, between 2 and 4pm.

The garden will be decorated in Union flags and bunting and guests are invited to dress in red, white or blue. People of all ages will be able to relax and chat whilst listening to a mixture of live piano music and recorded patriotic songs and hymns.

Guests will be encouraged to make their own paper chains, which will be used to decorate the inside of the church for a community barn dance at 6.30pm. Cowboys and girls are asked to dress in patriotic colours. There will be a bring and share supper and guests are asked to provide their own drinks.

Tickets for the barn dance cost £3 and are available from Sally Harry on 02392 340894.

And members of Churches Homeless Action which helps local Christians to respond to homelessness issues, have suggested that worshippers bring a tin or item of dried food to their celebration on June 3. Those contributions can then be taken to the nearest Foodbank or similar provider of food for those in need.

For more details of activities in our diocese connected with the Diamond Jubilee, see: www.portsmouth.anglican.org/jubilee.