Friday 24 October 2014

18 October 2014 - Apostle in Camborne

While Annie was leading Apostle in Caersws, Roger, Mary and Helen travelled to Camborne along with Devon and Bob to lead their own Apostle weekend.  Sadly Caroline and Dave weren't able to come, so Mary stepped in on alto, and a local man called Malcolm took over the part of Barnabas.  They already had some local priests.

The parish church in Camborne has a choir that is occasionally supplemented by a singing group called the St Martin's singers.  On this occasion both of those choirs were supplemented by singers from Truro and St Ives to create a fabulous choir of over 30.  They had been trained very well (although their choir trainer was out of the country) and had worked hard to learn the words.  As most of them were able to look up from their copies the majority of the time, there was lots of eye contact with the conductor, and therefore the expression was excellent.

The Saturday included morning and afternoon rehearsals, as well as the performance in the evening.  It had all been expertly organised by Jo and the St Martin's singers committee, and they also hosted the team.  We were also looked after all day by Jason who controlled the sound system - he was brilliant - up and down ladders and making everything as good as it possibly could be in an awkward shape ancient building!

In the evening there was a great audience, including a few familiar faces from elsewhere in the country who just happened to be visiting the area. Apart from a couple of forgotten lines (not from Devon for once!) the performance went incredibly well, and Roger shared when he became a Christian as part of his talk.

On the Sunday morning we took part in the morning service at the church, which was challenging because of the many pillars blocking the screen (the choir had to process down to the congregation seats during the worship block).  Helen led worship, Roger spoke from Ephesians, and Devon sang 'O Lord how excellent you are' as part of the ministry time.

It really was a fabulous weekend.  Thanks so much to all those who helped to organise it.

The priests

Devon in action

Malcolm as Barnabas

Bob as Ananias

Thursday 23 October 2014

18 October 2014 - Apostle in Caersws

On Saturday 18th October Annie, Jonathan, Linda and Simon had an early start, and travelled to Caersws Chapel near Newtown in Mid Wales to help lead Apostle in a day.


This is Annie's report on the day:

It was a really good day at Caersws – about 35 in the choir, and although they only expected a tiny handful of people to come for the performance, actually we had the place absolutely packed.  I’d decided to do it in the hall where we had rehearsed, not go into the chapel, and we put the audience around tables, like cafe church – which was appropriate, as afterwards we all had a slap-up tea together.  It was hard work for me, as apart from the ones who had come over from Welshpool and Arddleen, they were struggling to pick things up.  But by the performance, everyone really enjoyed it. I encountered something I’ve never met before in 20 years with CMM – the men couldn’t read music notation – apparently in Male Voice Choirs in Wales they all sing from tonic solfa.  Happily, I was able to help them from time to time if they couldn’t get a passage by saying ‘doh, lah, soh’, etc. (And I even remembered from the dark recesses of my mind that a flat 3rd would be ‘maw’ – I hope that was right!)  
The team were wonderful – Simon Cooper as Saul, Jonathan as Ananias, and (unexpectedly) Linda Chappell and I as the disciples – Linda also was so helpful to the altos, and she looked after the bookstall as well, and was a real support.  The highlight of the day was that the Barnabas narrator Gwyn, who was one of the main chaps on the pastorate of the church, had brought his wife, who’d had a stroke, and she had what she described as her ‘best day ever’.  He was weeping openly, and was so full of praise to God for everything we had experienced during the day.  Simon gave the word for the day, and I shared several of the pictures we had had at EBRG, at moments I felt prompted to do so. The one Jane gave about the dried fruit soaked in tea and then mixed into a Bara Brith I shared at the beginning, and people seemed delighted that the Holy Spirit had given us a distinctly Welsh word for the day!

Then Annie received this email from Jenny who organised the day:

Annie - just a note, now that we've come down to earth and relaxed! Thank you SO much for a wonderful day... people have been talking about it all weekend, and very appreciative of your skill at enabling them to sing as they did. Please pass on our thanks to the rest of the team, not just for their musical and practical contributions, but also for the prayer support and making it much more than just "singing" but a chance to think about Paul's story and our own lives. 
I'm glad we persevered when initially it was hard to sum up people, and I'm glad we listened to your advise about doing it in the schoolroom... that format of cafe Church made it feel as if the "congregation" were more part of it too.
Once again many thanks
Jenny

Wednesday 22 October 2014

11 October 2014 - Two Sisters in Sidmouth

Roger in action
On Saturday 11th October, Roger went to All Saints Church, Sidmouth for a special Two Sisters and a Funeral weekend.  The team was Bill as Lazarus, Richard Ayres as Jesus, Amy as Martha and Ann as Mary.  The local choir provided the priests, and also some other soloists for the shorter parts in 'O Worship the King' and 'Jesus comes riding into town'.

Bill, Ann, Amy and Richard
The morning and afternoon of the Saturday was spent rehearsing.  The choir had already been exceptionally well trained by Peter Fung, so all Roger had to do was add in the expression and changes he wanted.  The team were also exceptionally well fed and watered all weekend, which was much appreciated!

Sopranos and altos
The Sunday morning was filled with two services.  Firstly at 0945 there was a contemporary service.  Roger was instructed to keep the service to 50 minutes, and he very proudly managed it all in 49!  The service included 'We come with songs of blessing' from Seasons and Reasons, and in the response time to the sermon Ann sang 'Precious and honoured'.  Then at 1115 there was a much more traditional service, where Roger repeated his talk on worship.

Tenors and basses
After a shared lunch there was another rehearsal with the choir, before the performance at 4pm.  It went incredibly well with a great audience.






Tuesday 21 October 2014

04 October 2014 - Worship Works in Weston

On Saturday 4th November Roger, Annie and a team spent the day at Christ Church, Montpelier, Weston-super-Mare with Worship Works.  The team was made up of Bill, Kaye and Marilyn, and then at the last minute Jackie and her son Sam stepped in on saxophone and drums.  It was great to have Jackie and the family at the day.

Roger instigated the day, but he was ably assisted by Jo Potter, who worked really hard to organise the day and did a brilliant job.  She was worried by low numbers of bookings, but eventually over 50 people came, which was a great turnout.

The day began with a block of praise led by Annie, including 'Come, people of the risen King' and 'How great thou art'.  Since much of the day is spent explaining the concept of the praise block and ways to lead and implement it, this is a vital part of the day.

The first session concluded with the song 'Light of the world' but with a twist.  As we worship God, he reveals more of his love to us.  After singing the song, the congregation were invited to listen and receive from God as a soloist sang 'So here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that you're my child'.  It was a special moment and the Holy Spirit was really moving.

After lunch the group split into two workshops.  Roger led a group looking at creative and prophetic worship, and Annie led a healing in worship workshop.  The day finished as it had started, with worship.

Most of the team then stayed to take part in the morning service the next day at Kaye's church, Clarence Park Baptist.  Roger also led the service the previous week at a different church in the Weston area, so it had been a brilliant 10 days.

If you are interested in having a team from CMM come to your church for a Worship Works day, do contact office@cmm.org.uk and we can organise it!





Wednesday 15 October 2014

20-27 September 2014 - Apostle on the Isle of Wight

Annie training the choir
Our final music week of the year was held at St Rhadagund's, near Ventnor on the south coast of the Isle of Wight.  It is always a great joy to visit this hotel and interact with the staff and guests there.  As with our weeks at Grange, Lee Abbey and Willersley, this time the focus of the music week was the musical Apostle, and Annie worked hard all week training the choir ready for the performance.

The CMM team
Alongside the choir rehearsals, Roger gave some Bible teaching based on the book of Ephesians, and different members of the CMM team led worship, workshops and epilogues.  The CMM team for the week was Roger, Mary, Annie, Kathleen, Bill and Barrie.  Sharon unofficially joined the team as well, and it was great to have her.

Carole and Graham
One of the joys of the week was the presence of Carole and Graham.  They have been coming to music weeks for a few years now, and have even been involved as associates - and now they have got married, and this week on the Isle of Wight was one part of their honeymoon.  It was a real honour for Roger and the team to lead a special marriage blessing time.

Leading worship at Shanklin URC
The team were also able to take part in the morning service at Shanklin URC, and the church provided some wonderful musicians to help with the final performance on the Friday.  For the final performance Barrie did a great job as Saul, and it was lovely to have Mike playing the narrator role of Barnabas.


Annie, Roger and some musicians from Shanklin URC
Sopranos and Altos
Mike as Barnabas
More musicians from Shanklin URC
Barrie as Saul
Some 'priests'
Final rehearsal

Monday 6 October 2014

The Island Crowd

If anyone should happen to be on St Helena at Christmas, you can go and watch The Inn Crowd being performed!
Remote!

St Helena is a small island 5000 miles from the UK, and it currently has no airport, although one is being built ready to open in 2016.  Currently the Island can only be reached by ship, and that isn't very regular!

The choir, trained by Cathy, is called the Palm Villa Singers, and they number about 20, containing some local people (Saints) and a few that are on the island for work.  The performance of The Inn Crowd will take place in December, and the Palm Villa Singers are also going to combine with another choir for an Evening of Christmas Music including a performance in the St. Paul's Cathedral.

Jamestown, St Helena
Do be praying for Cathy and her singers - possibly the most remote choir to perform Roger's music!