Thursday 17 December 2015

A musical end to the year

We finished the CMM year by getting back to CMM basics - musicals!

First, Helen took a trip to South Wales - to Port Talbot, to spend some time with her parents, but also to lead a musical in a day at the Methodist Church on the Sandfields estate.  This was the fourth musical in a day in the church and was a great success.  The musical this year was a shortened version of Rock (Songs 1, 3-11 and 16) narrated by the Peter character.  Helen's amazing team were Alan (Peter), Paul (Jesus), Caroline (Miriam), Wendy (Zillah) and Miriam (Susannah).
The choir in Port Talbot

The weather on the day was utterly appalling, but that seemed to bring people out in force, with a massive tenor and bass section, almost as many as there were sopranos and altos.  The choir learnt the music amazingly quickly, and while the performance wasn't perfect, the atmosphere was brilliant, and the message of the musical incredibly powerful.

The following morning Helen preached at Taibach Methodist Church in Port Talbot, and shared the service with her mum.  Huge thanks to Chris and Viv for organising the whole weekend.

The following weekend Annie led a special Inn Crowd in a day event at St Mary's church in Moseley.  The day had been organised by Mick Perrier as a kind of precursor to our Worship Works day there in February.

Annie had a lovely choir and orchestra for the day, but sadly there wasn't a huge amount of involvement from the members of the local church.  Those that were there were wonderfully welcoming and helped make it into a lovely day.  Annie had a lovely team of CMM soloists - Katie, Ann, Jonathan and Simon.  Then in the afternoon the choir was supplemented by instrumentalists including Tim, Emma and Michael.  Bethany joined in with the choir, where there were already Megan, Bryony and Alice who had taken part in our Lee Abbey music week.  The four of them together were the shepherds, which was great fun.

Then right at the end of November, Roger, Mary, Annie, Helen and Amy went to St John's House on the Alum Rock Road.  The Community of St John the Divine (of Call the Midwife fame!) have long been supporters-of and supported-by CMM.  Every year we have been to lead a special advent evening for the sisters there, which has turned into one of the highlights of our calendar.

The Sisters of St John the Divine
This time it was lovely to introduce to them two of Roger's new carols, and to share in fellowship together.  They had invited a number of guests, including quite a few familiar faces to CMM.  And afterwards of course there were Sr Ivy's famous mince pies!  This was sadly probably the final advent evening at St John's house as the sisters are hoping to move to smaller premises.  We pray for the sisters at this time of upheaval, and ask for God's blessing in their move to Marston Green.

The choir in Wigan
Our final event of the year was yet another musical - The Inn Crowd in Wigan.  The main invite had come from Kathleen Shepherd who had planned the musical as part of St Paul's centenary year celebrations.

They had organised all of their own wonderful soloists, so the CMM team was small - only Roger, Helen, Felicity and Carol and Graham.  Helen and Felicity played their instruments, and Carol helped by singing for the Sunday morning service.  Graham sang in the choir, and then stepped in at the last moment to take one of the wise men roles.

Rev Neil the shepherd
We received a fabulous welcome from the folks in Wigan, and particularly loved working alongside the vicar Neil, who was one of the shepherds.  The performance was great fun, with a really big audience, and wine and mince pies afterwards!

Thomas in the paddling pool!
On the Sunday morning Roger preached, and Helen and Neil led the service together.  One of the highlights came after the sermon, when Neil came to the mic and shared that he really felt that "Salvation is in this place."  Then he invited people who had felt moved in any way to respond to the message, and to come and stand with a young man called Thomas who was going to be baptised.

Thomas just after his baptism
The baptism was incredibly special - it was in a children's paddling pool with three buckets of water - one for the Father, another for the Son and another for the Holy Spirit.  The gospel message was incredibly powerful and life-changing that day.

What a wonderful way to end CMM's year!


Wednesday 16 December 2015

End of the tour - Apostle in Newton Stewart

The CMM tour of Scotland and Northern England finished in great style - the team (Roger, Mary, Marilyn, Chris, Jonathan, Paul, Helen and Ann) drove down from Oban all the way to Newton Stewart in Dumfries and Galloway.  Newton Stewart is a regular stop for CMM, so regular in fact, that we'd already held some Worship Works workshops there!  So this time instead we led a weekend with the musical Apostle.
Our main hosts were Jeanette and Angus, members of the Monigaff Church, and owners of the lovely Christian bookshop/cafe in the town, Cinnamon.  We rehearsed together on the Saturday in the afternoon, and then performed the musical on the Sunday.  The choir had been working really hard in the weeks leading up to our visit, and they were absolutely brilliant - a delight to work with.

It was great for us to have with us Chris, Marilyn's husband, who took on the role of Barnabas in the musical with great style.  It was lovely to have him as part of our team for the tour.  Jonathan took the role of Saul, and Paul was Ananias, with Helen and Ann taking the disciples roles.  Marilyn played along on flute, and did an amazing job considering she hadn't really heard the musical before!
The performance went really well, with a good audience, and we are delighted that at least one person there gave their life to Jesus in response to the talk that Roger gave.
Praise God for all he is doing all over the country.




Worship Works on the road!

Back in October a team from CMM took a long trip up the M1 in order to take Worship Works out on the road.

The CMM Team
Our first invitation was to Blyth in Northumberland.  We have visited Blyth Central Methodist on a number of previous occasions, and it was great to be back with Danny and all the folks there.  The minister, Ann, is an amazing firecracker, full of energy and doing some amazing things.  The CMM team for the weekend were Roger, Mary, Helen, Marilyn and Chris, Jonathan, Paul and Ann.

Blyth Central Methodist
The Saturday was a slightly modified Worship Works day, incorporating a Ways to Praise workshop in the afternoon, saving the Enter his Gates session for the following afternoon's circuit service.  There were a really good number of folks present at the day, and the atmosphere was lovely.  The whole weekend was part of the church's 25 year anniversary.  The following morning we took the service and then in the afternoon we took a special service for the whole Methodist Circuit and Churches Together group.

This is the update Helen sent to friends and family after the weekend:

"Had a great worship works weekend at Blyth Central Methodist. The people were incredibly friendly and seemed to be blessed by what we had to share. The minister, Ann, and the whole congregation are incredibly hard-working, trying to reach their community in lots of different ways, and they seem to be having a real impact among families and children. Apart from my visit to play piano for breakfast church yesterday we were mostly working with the regular adult congregation. I think we were able to provide space for them to meet with God amid all of the business!

Yesterday afternoon we led an ecumenical area service and there were a good number there from lots of different churches, which was great. I had an interesting chat with Danny, the organist, who was really blessed by a strong feeling of the Holy Spirit's presence."

Coastline Community Church
After Blyth, the team continued North up the A1, past Edinburgh and around the coast to Pittenweem.  It was a new area for all of us, and great to explore. We had been invited by an old friend of Roger and Mary's, Christine, who had moved up to the area after living for many years in north Birmingham.  This is Helen's report:

"We had a good two evenings at Pittenweem. The Coastline Community Church there was formed when two Baptist churches came together. The lady who invited us was Christine Heron, who knew Roger and Mary well from Christian Endeavour days. The church seemed fairly vibrant with a heart for outreach in the area. The pastor was a very young Irish man Daniel who had recently moved there with his Swedish wife Marlin. They, along with the (also Irish) youth pastor Robert and his wife Gemma, looked after us very well.

The first Worship Works evening was not amazingly attended but it seemed to go well. It is sometimes tricky to know what to bring to a congregation who already seem to know and use a lot of newer material. But Roger felt God say to use what he has put in our hands. I think some of what we had to share about worship leading people into the Most Holy Place and also prophetic worship was new to them.

The following evening we led a ways to praise session and there were a lot more people there from a number of churches. It was a really good evening."

The team in Oban
From Pittenweem the team drove straight across the country to Oban. We were ministering in the Church of Scotland church. We initially contacted Peter and Joy Mills (originally from Leamington Spa and hosts on some of our music weeks) when a different Scotland venue fell through. They were very enthusiastic but had to do a lot of work convincing the local churches.

Marilyn, Ann and Paul in Oban
As a result we were quite cautious in what we did with them, using a lot of material from Seasons and Reasons. There were a decent number there on Wednesday night and a few less last night - some other things clashed. Everyone who came seemed to really enjoy it though and we had some great conversations with people last night particularly.

Peter and Joy with Mary
It was great to be ministering somewhere new (and so beautiful).  Thanks so much to all of those who invited us to spend time in their churches!



Oban
St Finnan's Cave in Pittenweem
The team in Pittenweem

Friday 11 December 2015

An international week!

Here at CMM we're astonished at all that is going on with the ministry around the world.

Firstly, Roger received a facebook message from someone to say that his song, 'Come, see the beauty of the King' had been performed at the British Embassy in Cairo as part of their carol service.  So wonderful to hear of people being blessed by the music in what might be such a difficult situation.
The British Embassy carol service
Next, we received an email from our great friends Sugu and Jaya in Kerala in India:
"We are happy to announce that we are doing the Musical ‘The Inn Crowd’ on Saturday the 12th of December. The songs will be sung by the mothers of the children who come to our house Bible class. It will be accompanied by the Recorder Orchestra of children trained by Sugu. 


2015 had been a difficult time for Sugu as he was admitted in the hospital three times.   But by the abundant Grace of God he has recovered and has started teaching Inn Crowd to the Instrumentalists and to the singers. We feel that doing ‘The Inn Crowd’ has helped him to recover physically, mentally and spiritually."

Tim also received a large order for Greater than Gold scores from Canada, so we are excited to hear of a choir working on the musical over there.

Not exactly international, but The Inn Crowd will also be performed in Holywood Parish Church in Belfast this weekend - great to hear from Deidre and the folks there.

Then this morning we have heard from friends David, Gentiane and Anne-Marie in France.  We first met them at Lee Abbey this summer, and they thoroughly enjoyed the week.  They were particularly blessed by the song 'Let me see your face' and have since translated it into French.  Their email says they have sung it to friends, and even in a prison.  Amazing!


Finally, Roger, Mary, Devon and Mick have just been to Cyprus for a week in preparation for next year's Barnabas mission to the Island.  They had a great time taking part in a performance of Two Sisters and a Funeral in Paphos, holding two evenings with Devon, taking a service in Limassol, and also meeting with lots of different church leaders.

Excitement is really building for the mission there - there are performances of Barnabas planned for various venues on the Island:
Famagusta (11th November)
Kyrenia (12th November)
Larnaca (14th November)
Paphos (16th November)
Limassol (18th November - at St Barnabas' Church!)
Strovolos, Nicosia (20th November)
And this last performance in Nicosia will be a massed choirs finale.

Praise God for the wonderful opportunities that are opening around the world.
Jesus comes, riding into town
The Paphos soloists in rehearsal
'Sitting at your feet'
The baddies in action
Devon in his grave-clothes!

Thursday 3 December 2015

Barnabas on the road - Weston and Leicester

Barnabas in Weston

Just two weeks after the world premiere of Barnabas, it was time for the musical to go on the road.  First stop: Weston-super-Mare.

Over the years CMM has built up a lovely relationship with the folks in Weston, helped massively by strong connections there for Roger and Mary as well as for Annie.  This has led to CMM leading musicals there regularly, where Annie will train the choir for the whole of Saturday, and then after leading a service on Sunday morning, Roger leads another rehearsal before conducting the performance in the afternoon.

This time the scratch Weston choir were joined by other singers from nearby, including a choir from Yeovil.  The Caprione choir from Weston had already learned a couple of Barnabas songs for another event, so they also were a great help on the day.  A fantastic choir of 60 were there - a super choir!

The day at Clarence Park Baptist Church was organised by an amazing committed group of people including Kaye and Tim, Peter, Jo, Steve and Kevin among others.  They really went to town on publicity and gathered a great choir and audience as a result.

The CMM soloists were Ann and Amy (singing the full musical for the first time) as well as Richard, Devon and Bill.  Annie played her viola for the performance too, adding so much to the overall feel.  A number of other CMM friends were there too - associates and regular music week people - it was a great weekend.

Another highlight of the weekend was the morning service at Clarence Park Baptist.  Roger preached and Annie led worship.  The church and their pastor, Steve, have been so incredibly supportive and generous to the ministry.  Huge thanks go to all who were involved in the whole weekend.  It was a brilliant way to kick off Barnabas on tour!





Barnabas in Leicester

The second performance of Barnabas on the road came over a month later, at Christ Church URC, Dumbleton Avenue, in Leicester.  Leicester has always been a feature of our musical tours, and they were keen not to miss out this time.  Led by Alan Baum, a 40-strong choir was put together.  Barnabas has a couple of tricky songs in it, but the choir sailed through and were terrific.

Leicester is a close-to-home venue for all but two of our main soloists, so the full team were gathered together, along with Roger conducting and Helen on instruments.  There was a rehearsal on the Tuesday evening followed by the performance the following night.

It is always so lovely to return to Leicester and see so many familiar faces - not just from performances in previous years, but also friends and family of our many associates that come from the area.  Helen had so many people say 'Give our love to your mum and dad' that she had to take photos of them all!

The performance itself went exceptionally well - even more so because the venue had been sold out for weeks.  They gathered together every chair in the premises to fit in as many as possible - it really was a huge success.  But success isn't to be judged by bums on seats - the most important factor is whether or not God is moving in the hearts of the people there.  The minister at the church clearly thought so, and gave an altar call at the end!

Huge thanks go to Alan, Sheila and all of the helpers at Christ Church.  Another wonderful opportunity to spread the good news of Jesus.

Wednesday 2 December 2015

Behind the Scenes 2: Christmas material

In recent months, Roger has written some new Christmas material.  In this blog post he shares his story about how it came about, especially as he isn't writing a musical at the moment:

"I had no intention of writing any new music, but last Christmas when Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith's card came in the post, it included his annual Christmas lyrics.  As soon as I read them through I had an idea for a tune.

Chris Eaton and Roger
I was delighted with the song, and it developed further down the line when I just happened to get in touch with Chris Eaton through my daughter Sally's church.  Chris is Cliff Richard's arranger and song writer - he wrote Saviour's day among others, as well as the beautiful song Cliff sang at Cilla Black's funeral earlier this year.  I went to see Chris to chat about Jesus and music, and while I was there showed him the music for this song.  He loved it and offered to record it in the studio at his home.  So singing teacher and former CMM employee trained up a few children, including her son Joe, and we went to Chris' studio to record the song.  It was lovely that my granddaughter Bethany was also one of the singers.

Abby Eaton
Chris had put together a lovely, simple backing track, and the kids did a great job.  Joe took the first verse solo, and then the group of children sang the second verse.  The third verse focuses on Mary and has some beautiful lyrics in it: 'Of mothers most exalted, yet in her heart a sword: Inestimable blessing, unutterable loss, who bore the word's Redeemer, and stood beneath his cross.'  These weren't words for children to sing, so Chris' wife Abby took the part beautifully.

The kids recording 'We sing a song of Christmas'
The song 'Angels from the realms of glory' is a 4-part choir arrangement that flowed from a tune I had already written.  We haven't recorded this one yet, but Tim is working on the backing track - so hopefully it will soon be available.

Then one Friday morning in August/September I woke up with words and melody for the first verse of 'When our God came to earth.'  By the next morning I had 5 verses!  This one is more of a children's song, so I sent it to my producer Chris King, who put together a lovely backing track.  We were able to take the same children plus one more in to his studio a few weeks ago, and the resulting recording is lovely.  All of the kids get a solo this time round!
The kids recording 'When our God came to earth'

We originally had no plans at all for this, but now we're thinking we might put together an album called 'Songs of Christmas' in the new year so that it can be ready when people are planning their Christmas services for 2016."

If you'd like to buy the sheet music for all three carols and recordings for two of them, go to the CMM Online Shop.