Latest news from Roger

This is the latest email Roger has sent out to those on our email list:





Hi Folks

I‘ve almost missed sending my July news!

A lot has happened over the past couple of months! We had a magnificent, albeit short Tour Three of ROCK, to Leicester, Barry, Gloucester and Macclesfield. All productions went very well, all were different, and at every one we were aware of folk really enjoying themselves and many being really blessed by God. We also had a great time in Plymouth, doing ROCK in a Day.

Last week was the Lee Abbey ROCK week. Wow! What a wonderful time! During the week we learned the musical, worshipped and explored the Scriptures. On the last night we had a choir of 50 and an orchestra of 15, and it was a lovely climax to the time we spent it such a beautiful place. Have a look at the photos on: http://s209.photobucket.com/albums/bb229/rogerwjones/LEE%20ABBEY%20Music%20Weeks/

Next coming up is the ROCK Music Week at Willersley Castle. This has been fully booked for months, but you can come and see the final performance on Friday 14 Aug, if you can get in! http://www.christianguild.co.uk/willersley/

At the end of the August (29 Aug – 05 Sep) there is the SAINTS ALIVE! music week at Treloyhan Manor, St Ives, Cornwall. There are just a few places left – ring: Treloyhan Manor Hotel 01736 796240 or email: mhtml:%7B67F37E2F-824B-4EFB-91CC-33635D2044DA%7Dmid://00000046/!x-usc:mailto:treloyhan@christianguild.co.uk or book online: http://www.christianguild.co.uk/treloyhan/bookonline.php

We look forward with great anticipation to ROCK - TOUR FOUR: http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/rocktour4.pdf
(Make sure you have Acrobat Reader 9 – it’s free – go to: http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/ )

Two more ROCK “ROADSHOWS” will take place in the autumn:

Sat 03 Oct – Witney, Oxon
Sat 28 Nov – Ipswich
Booking Form: http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/rockroadshow.pdf or contact CMM.

Tickets are going well for the Massed Choirs finale of ROCK in the Symphony Hall, Birmingham. You can order Choir and Audience tickets from us at CMM (0121 783 3291), email: mhtml:%7B67F37E2F-824B-4EFB-91CC-33635D2044DA%7Dmid://00000046/!x-usc:mailto:events@cmm.org.uk or book online: http://www.cmm.org.uk/products/catalogue/index.php?id=ROCKTICK

We so value your support, in so many ways. Please keep in touch. I hope to see many of you at one of our events in the near future.

Bless you,

Roger

Lee Abbey Music Week 2009

Last week was CMM's annual visit to Lee Abbey for a music week. Once again it was a full house, and a wonderful time was had by all in such beautiful surroundings. The CMM team were Roger, Mary, Annie, Kathleen, Carole and Paul. They were supplemented as always by the Lee Abbey House team who do such a wonderful job integrating with the guests and making sure everything goes smoothly.

There were some great comments:

"Thanks Roger, Mary, Annie, Kathy and team. It was such a joy to participate in "Rock" as well as receive such excellent teaching and fellowship. God really blessed my socks off! Cya soon! X"

"Thanks Roger and team - it's been a great week. See you soon PS Cheryl says how much to remove her photo from Photobucket !! ;-)"

"Thanks for a great week. See you soon - looking forward to our performance of ROCK in Salisbury"

And if you want to see Cheryl's photo on photobucket, scroll down the page and click on the link on the bottom right to 'Roger's Photos'...

Roger writes:

It was a great week. There seemed to be a lot of people getting
really blessed, by the fellowship, rehearsals and teaching sessions.
Barrie managed to sing the Cornelius part, and even put in some “Bill-type”
add-libs! We had 50 in the Choir, and 14 in the orchestra, which was
remarkably well-balanced! All in all, it was a week full of fun,
culminating in a very powerful final production in front of a packed octag.
One person (Annie’s step-mum) said “I think ROCK is Roger’s most exciting
Musical!”

Rock in Plymouth

Last weekend Roger and a team (Ann, Helen, Kaye, Martin, Bill, Bob) travelled to Salisbury Road Baptist Church in Plymouth to spend an afternoon learning Rock with a performance in the evening.

The Plymouth event in the main Rock tour had to be cancelled, so this event occurred instead. A large choir of over 70 people gathered, many of whom had already learnt the musical, but also a few who had never seen it before. The choir covered the music amazingly quickly, and the sound they produced was absolutely fantastic. Helen added a bit on the flute as well as singing the part of Susannah, and she was joined by a local lady called Fenny on the viola.

A lovely feature of the day was that at the end of both the choir training sessions, Roger was able to do a bit of bible teaching to add a bit of perspective to make the story of Peter come even more alive.

After a lovely time of fellowship over the evening meal we held the evening performance. There wasn't a huge number of people in the audience because the weather outside was atrocious and there had been only a couple of weeks to advertise, but those that did come seemed to enjoy it.

The following morning Roger spoke at the morning service at Salisbury Road. He spoke on the Look of Love, and Ann and Kaye sang that song in ministry afterwards. It was a powerful moment.

Roger has been using his Look of Love talk a number of times over the past couple of months. It is a very powerful message, right at the heart of CMM's ministry, which is to "Tell my people I love them". Please pray that God continues to bless this theme and to speak through it.

Ways to Praise - Worthing

Last weekend Roger took a small team to Holy Trinity Worthing to lead a Ways to Praise day. Roger's team included Amy Carter (Rock and Jail Break instrumentalist) on clarinet and vocals, Sarah Moreton (Watford and Hemel Hempstead choir trainer and regular backing vocalist on CMM albums) on guitar and main vocals, and Philippa MacDowell on flute - it was Philippa's first event with us after she was spotted and snapped up at the Rock Roadshow in Crowborough.

CMM has a long history of connections in Worthing, mainly through Jane and George Hicks. Jane trained the Worthing choir for Rock back in March, and she has been involved with us for many years. While on tour, Roger stayed with the vicar of Holy Trinity, Lionel, and it provided an excellent platform for the day's events.

Roger was thrilled to find that the whole worship team for Holy Trinity was present for Saturday's sessions, and also most of the leadership team. It really is wonderful when the whole of a church is behind an event, and eager to grow and develop. Roger could see that God was really blessing people, speaking to them, giving gifts, and creating openings for new things to happen.

The team also contributed to the morning service on Sunday. Roger led worship and spoke, and Lionel used the worship times to invite the Holy Spirit to come on the congregation. The Sunday morning service that usually lasts an hour and a half stretched to 2 hours - hopefully no-one burnt the roast...

Thanks so much to Jane, Lionel and all at Holy Trinity for inviting us to share with you.