CHURCHGOERS in Darlington will be treated to an imaginative re-telling of the story of Christ, when an American youth choir pays a visit.

Members of the youth choir of the University United Methodist Church (UUMC), in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, will visit St Andrew's Church, in Haughton, this month.

They will perform Cotton Patch Gospel, which is billed as 'an amazing telling of the story of Jesus’ life, as if he lived in the south eastern US'.

The modern day and southern culture references are poignant and the lively blue grass style music is by Harry Chapin.

The cast is a group of 30 teenagers directed by Tim Baker, who has taken them on tours recently to California, Hawaii, British Columbia, and Germany.

For this tour, which includes performances in England and Scotland, the choir will be joined on guitar by Paul Ryan, the worship leader from St Andrew's, who attended UUMC for two years while living in the US.

This will be the choir's second visit to Darlington – in 2003 they gave a highly-praised performance of "Godspell" at the former Haughton School.

On more recent tours, performances have included Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Narnia, the Musical.

It was the youths themselves that wanted to share Cotton Patch Gospel with British audiences.

The performance will be at 7pm on Saturday, June 27, at the church.

Tickets, available at the door, cost £5/£3 concessions, to include the first drink and nibbles.