Thursday 29 May 2014

17 May 2014 Worship Works in Birmingham

On Saturday 17th May Helen and a team went to Carrs Lane Church in the centre of Birmingham to hold a Worship Works morning for the Birmingham Methodist Circuit.  Helen is already a preacher in that circuit, so it was great to be able to share Worship Works with the preachers and worship leaders there.

Helen's team consisted of Amy, Jane and Ellen, and they were all amazing - Amy sang, played clarinet and pressed play and pause on the backing tracks.  Ellen played trumpet and treble recorder, and also sang some of the harmonies.  Jane prayed and read and danced.  It was also great to have Helen's husband James join in on guitar for one of the blocks of praise.

The Methodist Church has recently compiled a new book - 'Singing the Faith' - to replace their old book 'Hymns and Psalms'.  The main difference is that Singing the Faith also includes songs, so Helen took the opportunity to teach about psalms, hymns and songs, and the role each type plays in worship.  For the second half of the morning Helen took the theme of tabernacle, and used this to talk about how as preachers and worship leaders we should be bringing congregations into the Most Holy Place.

A massive thanks to all of the team, and also to Janet for her organisation.

10-11 May 2014 Worship Works in Lechlade

In mid May Roger and Annie and a team travelled to Lechlade in Gloucestershire for a Worship Works day.  They were joined by Simon, Kathleen, Paul and Ruth.  The day was organised by Gordon Land who has spearheaded a couple of CMM Events in the area already, although Lechlade was a new venue for him this time.

There were a good number present at the day, and that was really encouraging to all involved.  It meant that part way through the day Roger and Annie were able to take separate workshops.  One of the highlights of the weekend for Annie was being able to talk in some depth to a couple of people about having a personal relationship with Jesus.

The team also shared in the service on Sunday morning, and the church was packed, including a few people who had come along specially.  Having covered topics such as 'Being a worshipper' and 'Psalms, hymns and songs' on the Saturday, the Sunday service followed the theme of the tabernacle, encouraging the congregation to enter into worship with thanksgiving and praise, and then to come into the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus.  God moved powerfully in a couple of people after the service who received prayer.  We are so blessed to have team members who are experienced and willing in prayer ministry.

Roger was really delighted with the whole weekend, and we have already had some messages from people saying how blessed they were.  There really seemed to be a movement of the Holy Spirit.  Thanks so much to Gordon for all your hard work, and thanks to to all of the hosts who looked after the team on Saturday evening.


12 April 2014 Two Sisters and a Funeral in Westward Ho!

Bob and Ann
In early April Roger, Devon, Yvette, and Ann travelled down to Westward Ho! in Devon for a special Two Sisters and a Funeral weekend.  They were met there by Bob Deakin, a regular CMM soloist who trained the choir specially for the occasion.  Ann took the part of Mary, Yvette was Martha, Devon was Lazarus and Bob played Jesus.

Devon in action
Bob had done a great job training the choir, and they all had a lot of fun together.  The evening performance was really special and powerful, with a good number in the audience.  There was one technical hitch where part way through 'Jesus comes riding into town' the backing track for 'O worship the King' kicked in.  Thankfully Roger was right next to the piano, and seamlessly took over!  Huge thanks to Bob and Nick and all of the team at Westward Ho! Baptist Church.

The following morning the team went to Bob's home church, Appledore Baptist Church, to take part in the service there.  Roger spoke on Jesus the resurrection and the life, and there was the best illustration of all to help him - a full immersion baptism.  It was a very special morning, where lots of words of knowledge were given and claimed, and a good number were prayed for.

Worship at Appledore Baptist
We praise God for the way that the musicals offer a wonderful opportunity for CMM to take part in local church life.




The traditional Appledore Ice Cream


05-06 April 2014 Saints Alive in Wrexham

In early April Roger and a team travelled to Wrexham Methodist Church for a special Saints Alive weekend.  A choir there had been trained in advance brilliantly by Ian Moore, himself an excellent singer.  Roger took with him Jonathan, Carol, Sarah and Marilyn - Jonathan, Carol and Sarah helped with the singing, while Marilyn was a brilliant assistant for Roger with choir training and 'note bashing', as well as playing flute.  Sarah also played violin, sometimes even singing the soprano line while playing something different on violin!

The Saturday was taken up with rehearsing and putting the polish on the performance, and then the team took part in the Sunday morning service.  It is a really interesting church right in the centre of Wrexham, built above the shops.

The final performance was on Sunday late afternoon, and was really well attended.  The choir performed really well.  It was great to see some regular CMM supporters at the day such as Clyde, and also Jenny who was the impetus behind the day, as well as some others who had been at the music week in Conwy back in March.





22-23 March 2014 Worship Works in Rhyl

Caroline, Lydia and Tim all departed, leaving Roger, Amy, Helen and Keith to lead a Worship Works weekend just along the North Wales coast in Rhyl.  We were originally invited by Jaqui, who has regularly attended our Rhos on Sea weeks, and her church embraced the idea.  The minister, Paul and the organist, Gavin were incredibly welcoming, and even hosted the team!

The programme was very similar to the weekend in Bangor - Roger began with 'The Worship Seeker' and then Helen followed on with 'Praise and Sunday Morning.'  After lunch we didn't break up into two workshops, but instead Helen led a session on learning new material, utilising Seasons and Reasons, and then to finish off the day Roger took the group through the 'Creative and Prophetic' workshop.  One of the great things about the United Church in Rhyl is the number of musicians that are beginning to emerge.  A young boy, Kory, was present for the whole day, and played tenor horn for the improvisation workshop.  Paul the minister joined in on his cornet, and Ed played trumpet.

The following morning the team worked together with the minister, Paul, to lead the morning service based on the theme of tabernacle.  It was wonderful to work with the whole congregation, and there was a great atmosphere after the service.

Huge thanks to Paul and his family for hosting Roger, and Gavin and Fiona for looking after Helen and Amy so well.
Paul and family

17-21 March 2014 Jerusalem Joy week in Conwy

Beechwood Court
The first music week of 2014 was at a new venue - Beechwood Court, in Conwy, North Wales.  The musical which provided the focus for the week was Jerusalem Joy, and as this was the only music week of the year not taking the theme of Apostle, it proved to be very popular indeed.

Keith on drums
On Monday evening the CMM team of Roger, Helen, Caroline, Amy, Tim and Lydia led the guests in an introduction evening with some worship and a sing-through of the musical.  It was immediately clear that the choir was going to be really good.  The CMM team was also augmented by Keith from Rhos-on-Sea, who has regularly played drums at our St Winifred's music week.  His drumming added so much to the week.

Helen rehearsing the choir
One of the delights of Beechwood Court is the way the staff interact with the guests.  Each morning while the guests sat at the tables ready for breakfast, one of the management team would give a little thought for the day.  All of the staff came to watch the performance on Thursday night, which was great.

Sheila getting ready to play flute
On each of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings the day would begin with worship and then some Bible teaching from Roger.  On Tuesday the theme was God's purpose, looking at Palm Sunday, on Wednesday it was Passion, focusing on the cross, and then on Thursday the theme was Presence, taking the story of the road to Emmaus.

Barrie taking the roll of Jesus
As the music week was very short, the choir and band worked really hard.  There were rehearsals on Tuesday morning, Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon.  Jerusalem Joy does not contain a large amount of four part harmony, so the rehearsals focused on expression as well as just learning the notes.  The band accompanying the singers was superb - Roger on piano, Keith on drums, Tim on guitar, Lydia on cello and trumpet, Sheila on flute, and Amy on clarinet.

There were also a number of soloists from the choir, and they all were brilliant.  So good, Caroline and Amy weren't needed to fill in any parts!

St Andrew's Church in Conwy
On Wednesday evening there was a break from rehearsals for a special Worship Works / Seasons and Reasons evening.  Helen and Roger led the evening, teaching different hymns from Seasons and Reasons, and linking them to teaching from Worship Works.  There was a particularly exciting time at the end of the evening where everyone contributed to a time of improvising in worship, and many shared words from God.

The final performance on Thursday evening was superb.  St Andrews Methodist Church in Conwy hosted the group, and everything came together amazingly well.


One of our prayer warriors, Catherine, came to visit


15-16 March 2014 A weekend in Bangor

Penrallt Baptist Church
On a beautiful Friday afternoon in March, Roger, Caroline, Helen, Amy and Miriam travelled to Bangor in North West Wales for a Worship Works weekend.  CMM had been invited to the area by Deb Stammers and Penrallt Baptist Church.

On Saturday morning we gathered at the church, and held the day for a group which included a number of musicians and worshippers from Penrallt, as well as representatives from quite a few other churches in the area.  It was a good number, and they engaged well with the topics covered.  It was also great to have the pastor, Peter, as part of the group.

Roger led the first plenary on 'The Worship Seeker', and then Helen led the second on 'Praise in the local church'.  After an amazing lunch of soup, bread, cheese, fruit and cake, we divided into two workshops.  Helen led a planning and leading praise workshop, while Roger focused on creative and prophetic worship.  The final plenary of the day was centred on the themes from the tabernacle - entering the gates with thanksgiving, coming into the courts with praise, and then entering the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus.

Helen with Deb
It was an exciting day, and nicely finished off with a curry at Deb's house.

On Sunday we were priviledged to take part in both services at the church.  We were joined by a drummer and a bassist, which was great fun.  The morning service had about 120 people present, including loads of children.  Helen led the service (including the song Super Saviour!) and Roger spoke about Jehoshaphat and the power of praise.  We shared a number of words of knowledge in the service (including one in Welsh) and God really moved in hearts and lives.

After an afternoon resting Helen preached at the evening service, and we were joined by a different drummer and bassist!  This service was very different, and the congregation of about 70 included at least 40 students.  After the service there was a faith cafe which included yet more amazing soup, cheese, bread and cake.  One of the students shared a bit of his story before Helen sang a couple of Jars of Clay songs.  It was a good evening.

Huge thanks to Deb and all at Penrallt - and particularly our hosts - Peter and Susan, Sarah, and Paul and Elaine.

09 March 2014 Renewal evening

The first renewal evening of 2014 was one of the best yet.  There were a good number in the congregation, and the worship time, speaker and ministry time slotted together brilliantly well - God was clearly present by his Spirit.

The CMM team for the occasion included Roger on piano, Tim on drums and Michael on guitar - 3 generations of Joneses!  They were joined by Annie on viola, Christine on flute, Amy on clarinet and vocals, and Richard and Jassica on vocals.  It was a great team that worked together really well - even the piano being half a semitone flat didn't put them off!

The speaker was John McGinley, a vicar from Norwich who now heads up New Wine in the West Midlands.  He was really great - totally down to earth and good fun.

08 March 2014 Apostle in Swindon

On the second Saturday in March, Annie travelled down to Bath Road Methodist Church in Swindon for a special Apostle day.  The day had been organised by June Rhodes, and Annie was assisted by June's son Steve, who played piano for the rehearsal.  There was also a local man called Noel who covered the technical side of things, and he had worked really hard to build some scenery, and was great with lights and sound.

Annie took with her an amazing team.  Eddie played the part of Saul, Paul was Ananias, Bill as Barnabas, Kaye and Wendy were the disciples, and Ruth was there on violin.  It was Ruth's first gig with us since we met her at Scargill last year, and it was wonderful to have her.  For part of the day, Paul and Steve took the men out to work on the priests sections of the musical, which was great fun.

The day overall was really joyous and encouraging for all involved.  The minister, Mark, took part in the choir all day, and he spoke very warmly at the end of the production.  At tea time before the performance, Annie took the opportunity to share some things God had given her to say.  A lot of people were really blessed by it, and it set the Spiritual tone for the performance to come.

This is an email Annie received afterwards:

"Dear Annie,
I just wanted to tell you that I am still on ‘cloud nine’ – and so are many others.  Yesterday I had so many words of thanks and hugs which I feel really belong to you – thank you so much for making the day so memorable and spiritually uplifting.  You have lots of wonderful talents which put together, encouraged us all and gave us confidence – when I lost the place in my music, I  just followed the words which you mouthed so clearly!  
We also loved the team you brought with you and very much appreciated all their efforts in not only coming long distances, but joining in our fellowship and performing so well to make the story even more meaningful. 
So enormous thanks again. 
May the Lord bless you as you follow His calling."

01 March 2014 The 'Big Sing'

While Roger and a team were 'up north', Annie and Jenny travelled to London to represent CMM at Jubilate's the 'Big Sing'.  The aim of the day was to record some music for ReSound Worship, and the day was led by Noel Tredinnick.  Annie and Jenny had a wonderful time singing and sharing with the musicians there.

They also looked after a little CMM stall, where they took the wonderful opportunity to share the book 'Worship Works', the different collections of music, and also a prototype of the new 'CMM Choral Collection' which we hope will go online soon.


05 March 2014 An Evening with Michael Card

Roger and Michael exchanging books
For the third time in four years it was a joy to welcome Michael Card and his team to Birmingham.  He came as part of his UK tour, calling in between Cardiff and London.  It had been a tough build up to the event - with a month to go we had only sold 2 tickets, but God is very gracious and by the time the concert started nearly every seat was full.

Michael arrived with his team including his daughter Maggie during the afternoon, and we all got down to work.  We were blessed to have the support of Clive and Alison Rushton and Nick Forknell from Lickey Church - they all did an amazing job organising chairs and the sound system, and then taking tickets on the door.  Alison also cooked a delicious soup which helped to feed the team before the concert.

Our wonderful string quartet
Michael sang and played brilliantly, including songs such as 'God's own fool' and 'Jubilee'.  He also shared some theology with us, including some thoughts from his work studying the book of Matthew, and the theme throughout scripture of God with us - Immanuel.  His daughter Maggie came up and sang for a few numbers.  She is young and just starting out as a musician, but as a result her voice is raw and full of emotion.  The camaraderie between the two of them on stage was lovely to watch.

Tenors and basses
For the final section of the concert, we were privileged to provide a string quartet and group of 10 singers for a few songs starting people off on their lent journey.  It was a wonderful climax to the evening.  Thanks so much to all those involved - Libby, Heather, Annie and Corinne in the strings, and Paul, Richard, Richard, Paul, Simon, Catherine, Alison, Ann, Amy and Helen in the singers.  Thanks also to Annie and Amy for their help with the food, and Mary for her washing up with Alison!




01-02 March 2014 A weekend in Snape

At the start of March Roger, Mary, Helen, Ann, Jane and Yvette travelled to Snape, in Bedale, on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors.  The team had been invited by John Duck and the Methodist church there to come and minister on the theme of Worship.  John had attended the day CMM led in Cotherstone a couple of years ago, and decided it would be great for his circuit.

The team were treated to a lovely lunch (including beef that was formerly called Pippa) when they arrived on Saturday, and then the local preachers and worship leaders from the circuit and beyond began to gather ready for the afternoon.

Helen led the first session - a practical session which considered the value of music in worship and the place of the 'Praise Block' in a Sunday morning service.  It was unusual to start with such a practical session, but those who attended seemed very keen to take everything in.

Roger led the second afternoon session about creative and prophetic worship.  It was astonishing how willing those present were to step out of their comfort zones.  Almost everyone present spoke out or sang out what they thought Jesus was saying in the situation.

Rachel on oboe
After a shared tea (Snape Methodist seems to be particularly renowned for its shared meals), a completely different group of people arrived for the special celebratory evening based on Psalms, Hymns and Songs.  Jane contributed wonderfully with her dance, and the team were also joined by Graham on drums and Rachel on the oboe.

Yvette ministering to people
On Sunday morning the team led the morning service.  Helen preached on Mary and Martha, and Roger led the rest of the service.  There was a particularly special moment after the sermon when Yvette sang 'Child, you are more precious than silver' and Jane helped Helen with the ministry time.  A number of people seemed to really receive from God.

After an afternoon off (involving sleep - Roger - or ice cream - the rest), the weekend culminated in a circuit service based around the theme of the tabernacle.  It was amazingly well attended, as was the whole weekend, and the worship seemed to really flow.

We had a wonderful comment in a letter:
"Dear Roger and team,
What a joy and a privilege it was to have you come to us at the weekend, and on behalf of the Guild here in Snape and the wider circuit may I say thank you so much.  I know it has been a tremendous blessing to many in the in the conversations and comments I have heard.  I do trust what the Lord had to say to us through you, we will take on board.  On a personal note I was transported to the very throne of grace (I had almost forgotten what it was like to be so).  The lady who danced in the Spirit was amazingly beautiful and the singers what a blessing they were too.  So thank you all once again and may the Lord continue to use you, bless you, encourage and protect you all as you work to further His wonderful salvation."
Thanks so much to all at Snape Methodist for inviting the team, and may God bless you as you await a new minister.


08-09 February 2014 Annual Retreat

In early February the East Birmingham Renewal Group (the housegroup that supports Roger, Helen and Annie) travelled to Shallowford House in Staffordshire for our annual retreat.  This year we were honoured to be led in the retreat by Robin, Carole and Maggie from Travelling Light.  Robin and Carole have long been friends with EBRG and, it is great to see them developing their own ministry leading retreats from their own home, with links to the Northumbria Community.

They particularly led us to think about silence, and gave us lots of creative activities to do to help us draw close to God.  The team left us after dinner on the Saturday, and on Sunday morning we took time as EBRG to reflect on all that had been said, and to think and pray about where God is leading the ministry.

It is always so good to sit and take stock on a weekend away together.