20 APRIL 1951, Page 5

Reference was made in this column last November to tha

Festival of Christian Arts then being held at Reading. Organised by the Reading Christian Council (representing almost all the churches in the town) it was a pioneer venture, nothing of the kind having been attempted anywhere before. Now a report on the Festival has been issued, a conspicuous, surprising and gratifying feature of which is that while expenses amounted to £974 13s. receipts were £995 10s. 2d. and guarantors (of just over £200) were not called on ; the receipts appear to include donations of £60. It seems quite clear which features of the Festival were popular and which were not. The former included performances of The Zeal of Thy House, Bach's B Minor Mass. the Messiah in the Town Hall, lunch-time poetry readings. an exhibition of contemporary Christian art ; among the latter were literary lectures, a public meeting on the cinema and