A CELEBRATION of the life of a church composer will take place in East Yorkshire next month.

More than a dozen hymns written by the Rev Caryl Micklem will be sung at All Saints' Church, Pocklington, on Sunday, August 3, at 3pm.

Mr Micklem was an influential figure in the United Reformed Church and his ministry encompassed broadcasting, music and ecumenical work.

He retired to Pocklington in 1990 and was planning a celebration of his music when he died, aged 77. His funeral took place at All Saints' last month.

His widow, Ruth, decided to go ahead with the musical event. She said: "Caryl had been talking about it and looking forward to it and was pretty delighted that it was going to be happening. We thought it would be too much of a shame to let it go."

The hymns will be punctuated by prayers and readings. The more challenging songs will be sung by a choir, the rest will be sung by both congregation and choir.

Mr Micklem was chairman of the Hymn Society and the Free Church Musicians' Guild. He also edited and contributed to several books of contemporary prayers.

In television, Mr Micklem was Free Church religious adviser for ATV from 1958 to 1968.

The celebration of hymns will be led by the Rev Chris Simmons, parish priest of Pocklington, and the organist will be Michael Cooper, Mr Micklem's son-in-law.

All are welcome to the public event and refreshments will be served afterwards in the dining hall of Pocklington School.

Updated: 08:57 Thursday, July 24, 2003