CMM in Scotland 2012

Praise evening at Monigaff - Peter on the left

Every few years CMM has run a trip to Scotland, visiting various venues with the latest musical.  This time we've had a bit of a change, and instead of performing a musical in lots of locations we have focused on just two places - Newton Stewart and Lossiemouth - for some music in worship events.  We managed to throw in a couple of Two Sisters and a  Funeral performances as well, but music in worship was the main aim.

Praise evening at Monigaff

The CMM team of Jonathan, Devon, Caroline, Alan, Miriam, Amy and Ruth all travelled up to Newton Stewart on the Friday evening, to be joined by Roger, Mary and Helen on the Saturday morning for a music in worship day.  Miriam (singer, clarinettist, guitarist and Helen's sister) and Ruth (dancer) hadn't come on a CMM tour before - in Ruth's case, a CMM event before!  But they both fitted in really well and did a great job.


These are Helen's email updates from the tour:

Ruth!

The musicians at Aberlour

Thought I'd send a quick email from my phone to keep you all up to date!
Roger, Mary and I left Grange at 7 this morning and arrived in Newton Stewart in plenty of time for the start of today's workshop, which was great. There were about 30 people there, including a lot of church leaders and musicians. They were very open and keen to learn and worship, really got stuck in and knew a lot of the new songs.
Roger spoke really well and people seemed to connect and lap it up. After lunch we split into two workshops. Roger led one for musicians and Alan and myself led one on receiving the Holy Spirit where we spent a lot of time waiting on God. We had about 10 in the group and God really spoke to some of them, which was really encouraging. A lot of the words from EBRG the other week have been claimed too.
The final session was on psalms, hymns and songs, and the ministry time at the end was really special with a number of words claimed and people prayed for.
The team have been great - we have a dancer called Ruth with us for the first time, and she's been great. Her dancing is beautiful, natural and heartfelt.
Off out for dinner now with hosts.
Thanks for prayers. We're at two different services tomorrow morning and then a praise service in the evening. All the churches have shut for it, so no pressure...
Helen

Then a couple of days later Helen sent another update:

The choir at Aberlour

Hi everyone,
We've had another great day. This morning Roger took Mary, Jonathan, Caroline, Amy and Ruth to Monigaff church in Newton Stewart. They had an excellent service. Roger spoke about John 12:1-8, focusing on sitting at Jesus' feet and the God who can do more than we can ask or imagine.
I went with Miriam, Devon and Alan to Kirkmabreck, and we had a good time. They are a very traditional congregation but they seemed to cope ok with my being a worshipper talk!
Peter is minister at both churches, and he came to both services as they were one after the other. He and his wife Vonnie are amazing - so full of the spirit and they are very enthusiastic. They had us all for lunch and we were able to sit out in the sun and have a rest.
This evening we all went to Monigaff and led a praise evening. Lots of churches had cancelled their evening services so there were a lot of people there. The atmosphere was quite heavy, and while those at the front were really going for it in the worship, those at the back looked a bit miserable! At the end though they seemed to have really enjoyed it, and quite a few people came forward for prayer.
Tomorrow we have a day off then on Tuesday we drive 5-6 hours up to Lossiemouth.
Hope you're all well.
Helen

This was the first update once the team had moved up to Lossiemouth:

Soloists at Aberlour

Hi everyone,
We made it safely up to Lossiemouth, which took a long time but was very beautiful. It has been lovely to spend a good amount of time here and our hosts are looking after us amazingly well.
On Wednesday morning we gathered as a team to rehearse and set up the church for two sisters and a funeral. It was a good rehearsal time, especially as Miriam and Ruth had never performed the musical before. Then after a nice afternoon on the beach and playing pitch and putt we had the evening rehearsal with the choir. The choir from Lossiemouth were joined by a few singers from Aberlour, and together they made a fantastic sound. The lady who normally trains the Lossiemouth choir has been very ill for the last few months so instead a different lady, Rosemary, has stepped in. She has taken on an enormous amount of work, because she is also hosting Amy, Ruth, Devon and Jonathan!
Yesterday we had a nice amount of free time, so we all went to Spey Bay and saw some dolphins. Roger and Mary used the time to visit the recently set up Ellel Scotland. They had a wonderful time and are talking about a potential music week there.
Last night we had the performance. The church felt nice and full, and people seemed to really enjoy it. There were a lot of good conversations afterwards. It is good that we are back at the church on Saturday and Sunday so hopefully we can take things a bit deeper.
Today we go to Aberlour for another performance. The church has had a new sound system since the last visit, but apparently nobody knows how to work it, so that could be interesting!
Please pray that God leads us into taking conversations past the superficial level and that people are able to really meet with him tonight.
Helen

Alan and the choir at Lossiemouth

This was Helen's last update from Scotland:

Hi all,
On our way to our overnight stop in cumbria now from Lossiemouth. It's a bit depressing seeing an ETA of 2030 even though it is early afternoon!
The visit to Aberlour was wondeful.  The team there looked after us amazingly well.  There is a trust fund in the town set up in the late 1800s to help pay for evangelistic work, and whenever we come to Aberlour they help to fund the visit.  Maureen had trained the choir and local musicians brilliantly - we had an extra clarinet, cornet (Shuna the minister), a flute and a violin.  They really added to the whole thing.  The new sound system was excellent and the performance sounded great.  There were quite a few in the audience, and some good conversations afterwards including some prayer ministry.
The worship conference was great yesterday. There were about 25 there from a few different churches, which was good. Roger was on good form and covered a lot of ground in his talks. The afternoon workshops went well too, although Roger grabbed most of the crowd by playing Jubilate on the keyboard just as they were about to start! The team were brilliant in the receiving the Holy Spirit Workshop, praying for people and giving words etc. Please pray that if it is right for some of what we shared to be put into practise those with the right gifts come forwards with confidence.
This morning we participated in the morning service at Lossiemouth. Graham the minister had already prepared a sermon, but he was willing to hand the rest over to us. I led the children's time, and Roger led a block of praise songs.
We've been looked after amazingly with wonderful hosts but we're looking forward to getting home now. One more night!
Thanks again for all your prayers
Helen

Rosemary at Lossiemouth

The hosts in Cumbria were amazing - one carload stayed in Sedburgh with Carole, and the other carload stayed in Heversham.  The hosts in Heversham had barely met CMM - Roger led a church weekend away for them a couple of years ago - so they were incredibly generous having us for the one night.

Overall we are absolutely delighted with the Scotland visit, and we look forward to going to some of the other venues next year.  Huge thanks go to Janette and Peter in Newton Stewart, Kath and Rosemary in Lossiemouth and Maureen and Shuna in Aberlour for being willing to have us.  We pray for them all in the 'aftermath' and know that they with God's help will continue to do amazing things.

The finale in the Lossiemouth performance

The view from Lossiemouth Church

Music week at Abbot Hall

In the jubilee week, Roger, Mary and Annie travelled up to Kent's Bank near Grange-over-Sands in southern Cumbria to hold a music week.  This time they had a wonderful team of Sharon (who trained the choir), Catherine and Paul.  Marion was the Christian Guild host, and Helen joined them for the last day.

The musical for the week was Snakes and Ladders - a musical which looks through the whole Bible at different stories that involve snakes and ladders!  There are some wonderful themes through it such as covenant and God's endless love for his people.

On the Sunday morning Annie preached at the morning service and began to develop the themes, and then Roger took up the Bible teaching for the rest of the week.  The teaching seemed to be really well received, and it was a very happy week for all involved.

The rehearsals went well - Annie took the orchestra in the front lounge, and she had some wonderful instrumentalists - David on viola, Catherine on cello (plus Sharon for the performance), Peter on clarinet, Sheila and Gemma on flute, Andrew on trumpet, Paul on horn and Anthony on percussion.  Helen played the second violin part on her flute when she arrived, and Annie played keyboard for the performances ably assisted by Brenda - who also danced in 'Engraved upon my palms'.  The choir were good too - Sharon had about 30 singers, and they made a wonderful sound.  She also had some brilliant soloists and narrators, who all did a great job in telling the story.

Marion was a great host as usual.  On the Tuesday evening the hotel ran a special jubilee evening, serving a multi-course evening meal, and then some entertainment from a singer.  The hotel looked after everyone wonderfully well as usual, and a good time was had by all.

The final performance went very well, with a good audience, and the guests were delighted with their achievements.

Two Sisters in Crediton

After our visit to Hull, a CMM team were on the road again, this time to Crediton in Devon.  This time the team comprised of Roger, Kaye, Amy, Helen, Bill (with Barbara) and Bob.  The team travelled down (or up depending on where they were coming from!) on a blazing hot Saturday, and arrived at the church in plenty of time to set up and lead the first rehearsal before lunch.  Helen led a warm up and some worship, and Roger led a bit of rehearsing and bible teaching.

The choir were made up of a mixture of singers - mostly from West Devon music ministry and also a handful from Purple Harmony in Yeovil.  They had clearly all been trained really well and made a fantastic sound.  We were blessed by a good sound system and technician, and once set up everything went really smoothly.

Lunch was great, and many of us ate it outside the church on the steps enjoying the sunshine.  After lunch we got down to rehearsing again, and were delighted to have plenty of time in order to really polish the music.  Kaye took the part of Mary, Amy was Martha, Bill was Lazarus and Bob Jesus.  Helen played her instruments and sang various bit parts.

The performance was once again in front of a packed church and appreciative audience.  We were given a wonderful welcome and things went really well.  The only hiccough occurred in 'O the deep, deep love of Jesus' where the backing track suddenly cut out.  Amy dashed to the piano and managed to keep the song going.  At the end of the song is space for prophecy, and Helen and Amy managed to swap places on the keyboard so Amy could go and sing what she felt God was saying.  It was quite an exciting moment!

The following morning we returned to the church - Crediton Congregational Church - to take part in the morning service.  They already had their own excellent musicians, so Roger spoke, and then we had a ministry time which flowed into communion which Helen led.  It was very moving and people responded well, with a few coming forward for prayer at the end.

It was wonderful to be able to minister both through the production and in the service.  Thank God for his blessings.  We have an amazing God who moves among us in so many ways - speaking, bringing healing, blessing and so much more!

Two Sisters on the road again!

Last week Roger, Helen, Amy, Emily, Andrew and Richard travelled up to Hull for a couple of days for Two Sisters.  We had been invited by our friend Barrie Renwick to come and put on a performance at Willerby Methodist Church on the outskirts of Hull, and as we put it in the diary, he sprang into action getting other people involved.  Two choirs trained for the production - East Riding trained by Jean Gray, and West Hull trained by Phil Davison.  Phil also joined forces with Barrie to be a baddie - singing songs 6 and 11.

On Monday evening we arrived at the church ready for a rehearsal, and spent a good bit of time setting up, wonderfully assisted by Stuart who was to be the technician for the rehearsal and the performance.  The choir were enormous and only just fitted in - over 60 of them, and they looked brilliant!  The rehearsal went really well - the choir had worked hard and sounded great, so Roger was able to take a bit more time with some Bible teaching as part of the rehearsal.  Sadly as the rehearsal went by it became clear that Andrew was not at all well with a very bad cold indeed.  When he woke up the following morning he decided it was best that he did not sing - so Barrie stepped up to play the role of Jesus, and Helen played his baddie role instead - which was quite interesting as the two 'baddie' songs are usually only men!

On Tuesday Amy, Roger and Helen had a bit of time off (Richard had gone back to work and Emily was visiting a friend in Hull) and took full advantage of the sunshine and headed to Bridlington.  It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed lunch on the harbour as well as a stroll on the beach and a drink in the Spa theatre.  After a lovely early evening meal at Phil and Liz's house we arrived at the church ready for the performance.

The church was absolutely packed out, and the performance went very well indeed.  Barrie did a great job stepping into the Jesus role.  We were also really blessed by the minister, who mentioned that he had received his call to the ministry while taking part in Snakes and Ladders a few years ago.

It was a wonderful couple of days - huge thanks go to the wonderful people of Hull and its surrounds for making us so welcome.

Barrie, Emily, Amy and Richard after the performance

Emily, Amy and Richard in rehearsal

The wonderful tenors and basses

The packed out church - extra chairs needed!

Your performances

We like to keep tabs on how you are all doing and when your performances are.  Check out our list at the bottom right of this blog to see if anything is going on in your area.  We've had a poster by email from Jane inWorthing advertising their own performance:

New Mailing

Here is the latest email mailing from Roger:

Dear Friends

This is our major 2013 Mailing, and it comes in various downloadable links. There is so much we want to share with you:

SUMMER NEWSLETTER, including my sabbatical review, ideas for the future, diary, and much more:
http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/newsletters/05-12-cmmnews.pdf

New 2012-13 CATALOGUE, showing new products, all my works, other writers, books, sheet music, backing tracks, etc:http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/cmmcat.pdf


CHORAL HOUSEPARTY TO ISRAEL, inc. date, prices, further details, application form:
http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/israel2013.pdf


CMM EVENTS, Michael Card, Holy Spirit Day, Renewal Evening, Orchestral Day, CMM Choir, Music Weeks, etc:
http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/courses-events.pdf


RUNNING THE RACE - various ways in which you can support and be part of our ministry:http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/cmmsupport.pdf

If you also receive this by post please tell us. We are keen to cut down on "snail mail" if possible.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Roger Jones

Renewal Evening

On Sunday last weekend we had another renewal evening.  It was good to have Roger and Mary back on the team after they missed the last one.  This time the speaker was Nigel di Castiglione from St. John's Harborne - a very lively church which can number Tim Hughes among its former members.

The music team for the day was Katie and Jonathan on vocals, Tim on drums, Helen on bass, Dave on guitar and soprano sax, Annie on viola, Liz on flute and Roger on piano.  Roger had chosen some newer songs to try out on the congregation - two from Matt Redman - Bless the Lord, O my soul (10000 Reasons) and When I stand before your throne (Endless Hallelujah).  The two songs went down really well - we're definitely adding them to the repertoire for the future.

Nigel spoke on healing and moving in the power of the Spirit.  He reflected on how much more there is available to us of God's power than we use.  He also said something interesting and controversial - he claimed that Jesus never prayed for healing.  Jesus had done all of his praying in advance - when he met people who were sick, he knew Father's will and spoke healing instead.


These renewal evenings have been a real blessing.  It has been great for us to lead worship, and wonderful to share in prayer ministry with Christ Church and their team.

Another worship weekend

While Roger and the work of CMM is mostly known for the musicals, it is always a delight when we are invited for a different reason - to lead workshops on worship or life in the Spirit.  This time a team from CMM were invited by Bob Deakin to travel down to Appledore in North Devon for a music in worship day at the Baptist Church.  Bob has long been known to CMM as a soloist - he played the role of Joseph of Arimathea in the musical Pharisee in 1996.

Roger took with him Annie and Marilyn, and also had Bob on the team for the day.  Appledore Baptist has several worship teams, and many of those involved came to a day of workshops on the Saturday including teaching such as 'Being a worshipper', 'Ways to praise' and 'Planning and leading praise'.  Roger says the day was wonderful, and God was clearly moving among the people.  We pray that particularly the worship leaders have been encouraged to move people forward in intimacy as they praise and worship together.

The following morning the team were involved in the morning service at the church.  Bob led worship and Roger preached, and the service was very lively with a good music group and some prophetic words/pictures.


It was so good to minister at Bob's church - we look forward to going again someday!

Worship Workshop at Pype Hayes

St Mary's Pype Hayes is a church just to the north of the M6 in Birmingham, not too far from Christ Church, Burney Lane.  CMM has had a bit of contact with the church over the years via various church members, and quite a number of their ministry team came to 'The Spirit Who Heals' day a few years ago.

A few months ago CMM was contacted by Mike from the church who had gradually been gathering together a small worship team, and they found that they were growing but wanted a bit of input to help them develop.

As a result, Roger, Annie, Katie, Liz, Brian and Emma travelled to the church to lead a day of teaching on music in worship.  Emma hadn't been involved in a CMM gig for quite some time, but she enjoyed it and played her violin really well.

Roger was utterly delighted with the day - a huge proportion of the church members attended and the vicar Nigel was very supportive indeed.  As a result of the day the worship group are planning to meet together and discuss how to take things forward, and several of the church came to the renewal meeting at Christ Church a couple of weeks later.

It is such a privilege to be able to minister in situations like this - churches with a heart for worship but maybe without lots of resources.  It was great to be able to encourage them and we pray that they will be really blessed as they move forwards.

Wildfire in South Wales

Immediately after the visit to Rhos, Helen and a team travelled to South Wales for a Wildfire in a day.  Helen's other sister Miriam picked her up, and together they drove to their parents house in Neath, ready for the day on the outskirts of Port Talbot.  On the Saturday they were joined at Sandfields Methodist Church by the rest of the team - Bill, Phil, Caroline and Wendy.

Wildfire is a very difficult musical to learn in a day, and there was mild panic amongst the team when most of the singers asked to use the words copies rather than the music.  But it is utterly amazing what the mind can achieve in terms of memory work - particularly when it comes to learning songs.  None of the choir had sung the musical before apart from Helen's mum, so this was a big challenge.  The choir sang mostly in unison, but those that read music were able to put in some harmonies as things went on.  There were a few dicey moments where the sopranos made up the tune, but the overall result was absolutely amazing.

Phil (Stephen), Bill (Paul), Caroline (Rhoda), Wendy (Lydia) and Miriam (Anna) did an amazing job.  The three ladies blended beautifully well, and did a great job in the widows song.  They also worked on some drama with one of the local girls' brigade girls - they added some wonderful drama into the 'Signs and wonders' song, and also into the stoning scene - aided by some of the men including Helen's dad.

The performance was very powerful, and there was a large audience.  A man called Chris narrated with a wonderfully clear voice.  Helen shared the Gospel at the end of the musical, and it finished up with some wonderful drinks and cakes.  There were some lovely comments after the musical, including one that it was 'the best thing ever!'  Hopefully CMM can return to the area one day, and do a different musical that is easier!

The following morning Helen preached in the church, assisted by her mum and sister, who were brilliant in leading some music ministry time.  The congregation even coped with Helen's latest children's song - 'Super Saviour'.  She preached on Stephen and about being both a practical and a Spiritual person, and spent quite a while asking the Spirit to come.  We pray that God will continue to work and really bless the area.

A Week in North Wales

Helen, Deb and Bethan (Deb'sdaughter)

A couple of weeks ago we had our first music week of the year.  This one was at St. Winifred's hotel in Rhos on Sea in North Wales.  The team for the week were Roger, Mary and Helen, with Helen's sister Deb taking part for the first couple of days and then the performance.  We always love travelling to Rhos, and are looked after so well by the hotel staff.  This year is sadly going to be the last as the hotel closes this summer.


Helen sent this email update half way through the week:

Hi EBRG and my family!

Just a quick update on how things are going here at Rhos.  We're doing the musical Wildfire, which is a very tricky thing to learn in a short space of time - it'd be fine if it was just choir, but the soloists are needing work too.  Please pray for my concentration levels during the rehearsals - they seem to be endless!  I had one before lunch, and then since lunch I've been working with all the soloists and then the basses (well, Barrie who is normally a tenor and a lovely chap called Alan who doesn't usually sing in choirs).

Roger's teaching has been well received so far too - they seem to be enjoying the worship times, and are very open.  In our team meetings we've been listening to God for words, and so far they have pretty much all been claimed.  This morning Mary had a picture of a woman in a blue scarf, and that it would be something to do with her husband. I had a picture of a trig point.  It turned out that the lady in the blue scarf this morning - her husband used to work for OS mapping!

Tonight we have yet another rehearsal, and I hope to go through the whole musical.  Tomorrow we have the last teaching session, and then a free time after coffee break before rehearsing at the URC just round the corner for the afternoon.  The performance is in the evening.

--

Akshay, Karen and Paul

One of the joys of this week at Rhos was that we were joined by some local soloists - Karen, Akshay and Paul.  The three of them had taken part in the Two Sisters performance back in the autumn, and it was great to see them again.  They had put so much work into learning their parts.


The final performance went really well at the United Reformed Church.  Keith, one of their former ministers, played drums for us as always, Roger played piano and Deb played her viola.  For the song 'Knowing Him', which is entirely solo, Helen was able to step down from conducting and play the flute.

The Hotel Staff

We had a larger number of guests than usual, and together they formed a fantastic choir.  Barrie, Clyde, Alistair, Mark, Cheryl, Mavis, Margaret and Mary all sang solos, and Jackie and Alan narrated.


We are so sad not to be returning to St. Winifred's, but we hope this will not be our last visit to North Wales - some ideas are in the pipeline for next spring, so watch this space!

More of your reports

So good to be kept up to date with what you are all up to!

A couple of weeks ago Sharon led a day in Cumbria which used the new Seasons and Reasons resource from CMM.  She sent an email to say how it had gone:

Between 30 & 40 took part, I haven't asked Julia (my new admin lady) the exact number yet. We used 10 songs and Barbara Brown linked the numbers with some readings & poems. I received a lovely email from a Kendal lady who loved the music and some nice comments from others at the end of the day.Several are planning to come to the next day on Saturday 7th July in Heversham. Will be looking at 6 different songs and recapping 4 songs from last weekend to use at the informal presentation at the end of the day. Slightly shorter day in July and ending at approx 3:30pm instead of 5pm.Really pleased that we decided to do the two days using S&R. We are hoping to do Jarius's Daughter in April 2013 as a full performance in Barrow & Kendal and The Inn Crowd in a day in Kendal on Saturday November 17th 2012.

Sharon is a choir trainer based in Barrow-in-Furness, and every year she leads the choir for our music week at Abbot Hall near Grange-over-Sands.  There's still some places on the week, so go ahead and book!

Another choir based in Derby recently took part in a couple of flashmob events:

Dear Roger,Thank you for your email; It’s good to hear from you. It certainly sounds like you’re already busy again, but I trust that the sabbatical was good and refreshing for you.Our notable event in Derby, recently, was taking part in an Easter Flash Mob at the local Westfield Shopping Centre. Videos of that event can be found at http://www.derbychoir.com/flashmob.html and http://www.derbychoir.com/flashmob2.html. It was great to be able to challenge people to think again about Easter with the music that we sang. (Altogether there were around 250 people taking part, with about 30 from our choir.)Our next focus will be Two Sisters and we begin rehearsing for that on 24^th May. We haven’t booked any firm dates yet, although we are anticipating some time later this year, but we have had interest from one or two local Churches already. We are still looking to add to our numbers as part of that, so if you hear of anyone looking to join in in the Derby area, (or further afield who wants to commute!), then please let us know.Ian

And then we had this from Anthony:

Hello Helen, just to record we had a wonderful Easter weekend at a residential family event in Herefordshire. We successfully performed Jerusalem Joy with adults & children covering the songs & dialogue plus a piano accompaniment & two clarinets. The children are still singing the songs !!I may do a complete performance of Jerusalem Joy at St Margaret's Church, Olton on an appropriate date near Easter next year.With best wishesTony

In at the deep end

Roger came back from his sabbatical and was thrown straight in the deep end with a very full weekend in Salisbury.  He began on the Saturday with a special Two Sisters and a Funeral day.  The choir had been working really hard under the care of Andy Larkham and Grahame Chubb, and so Roger was able to include plenty of Bible teaching in the day.

He was joined on team by Sarah (Martha), Phil (Jesus), Paul (Lazarus) and Wendy (Mary).  Wendy had to step into the Mary role at the last minute because Caroline was ill, but she did a fantastic job.  Roger was also joined by Gill and Brian who travelled to Salisbury to be the prayer team.  Gill and Brian hadn't been on a CMM event for a while, and they were really blessed to see all that God was doing.

The performance itself was brilliant - the choir sang amazingly well and there was a full church at St. Paul's to listen to them.  The following morning the team were at St. Mark's Church - Roger speaking and Sarah, Brian and Gill taking part.  St. Mark's was a bit smaller, but full of life with a prayer team ready to pray with people when Roger had finished.

It was great for CMM to go to Salisbury again - we look forward to next time!

May Emailing

Roger's been sending out his latest Email Newsletter with all kinds of things on it!

Hi Folks

My sabbatical is now well and truly over, and already I've led a TWO SISTERS in Salisbury, and a WILDFIRE week in Rhos -on-Sea.

This month we have a Worship Day at Pype Hayes, Birmingham (05), a Worship Weekend at Appledore (12-13), a Renewal Evening at Christ Church Ward End (20), then TWO SISTERS productions in Hull (22) and Crediton (26). The CMM Choir rehearsals also re-start - Mondays at Harborne and Tuesdays at Ward End (both at 1945hrs). For details contact CMM: 01527 576440 or events@cmm.org.uk

We have four more MUSIC WEEKS in 2012: (Come and learn a Musical then perform it on the last night!)
02-09 Jun - SNAKES AND LADDERS Music Week, Abbot Hall, Grange-over-Sands
http://www.christianguild.co.uk/abbothall/index.php
28 Jul - 04 Aug - SNAKES AND LADDERS Music Week, Lee Abbey, North Devon  http://www.leeabbey.org.uk/devon/
18-25 Aug - DAVID Music and Worship Week, Willersley Castle, Derbyshire http://www.christianguild.co.uk/willersley/index.php
01-08 Sep - WILDFIRE Music Week, St Rhadagund's Hotel, Isle of Wight http://www.christianholidays.co.uk/st-rhadagunds.php

- and then a Special Interest Week:
17-21 Sep - GEOCACHING WEEK - Abbot Hall, Grange-over-Sands http://www.christianguild.co.uk/abbothall/index.php
- to find out more about geocaching go to:
http://www.geocaching.com/guide/default.aspx

My sabbatical was a varied experience, with many notable features:
(1) Settling in at our new church - Holy Trinity, LICKEY
(2) A visit to ISRAEL - resulting in next year's Choral Houseparty - to request details: http://www.cmm.org.uk/events/israel2013.php
(3) A week in CYPRUS - we have been invited back in 2013 to lead a Mission across the Island using a Musical
(4) Great FAMILY times, resting at Weston, enjoying our new grandaughter Molly
(5) Reading, prayer and reflection - I managed over four books!

This year Mary and I celebrate our RUBY WEDDING, 40 wonderful years! On 22 July we are having a special CMM CHOIR production at LICKEY, preceded by coffee and cake at 1600. You are all invited! (Please tell us if you are coming to give us some idea of numbers.)

Helen works hard at keeping the CMM BLOG up to date. Do keep checking it out: http://christianmusicministries.blogspot.co.uk/

Finally, I'd like to give you a free Ascension Hymn from our "Seasons and Reasons" collection, "Heaven's throne ascending":
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/37965878/Heavens%20Throne.mp3
The Music Book, CD and Backing Tracks are available from our website:
http://www.cmm.org.uk

Bless you all and keep in touch,

Roger

CMM Choir Simeon again!

CMM choir at Lickey back in January

Due to the snow a few months ago, the CMM choir had to cancel one of their performances of Simeon at Holy Trinity church, West Bromwich.  This church is the home church of one of the soloists, Edgar, so it was really important for the choir to rearrange and hold a replacement performance.  Edgar played the part of Simeon, and Alan spoke at the end of the performance and was really excellent.

The choir seems to be really developing a lovely feeling of fellowship and support, which is great.  It is lovely when people who might otherwise be alone can meet up and share together, not just in singing but spiritually too.  The choir always have a little Bible study and prayer time as part of their rehearsals, and pray together before every performance.

Saints Alive in Harborne

Last weekend Annie went just the short drive down the road to St Faith and St Lawrence Church in Harborne, Birmingham, for a special churches together event.  Annie had been asked to lead Saints Alive in a day, and this followed on from her Apostle in a day last year.

Annie had a great team with her - Richard, Catherine, Jenny, Eddie and Amy.  Amy and Catherine both sang and played instruments - Catherine on cello and Amy on clarinet and other various bits.  Richard brought some of his family to watch the performance, but leaving his young twins at home.

There were about 30 in the choir, who were very good, and included a lot of music readers and members of the CMM choir, which was great.  Annie was very pleased with the quality of the final performance, and she gave a talk as part of it.  Her talk was about being a witness, which linked in with one of the songs 'Power to be witnesses'.  She talked about how our whole lives will be a witness, and when we're asked about our faith and the reason for our hope, don't mince words and only talk about the nice bits!

Just a few short hours to go...

Roger's sabbatical ends very shortly, and he's been enjoying the last couple of evenings with Mary, and also David and Ruth Southgate from Norwich, who have been Roger and Mary's friends for years.  It's great to see them - they have regularly organised tour performances in Norwich, and they run a card shop with a small Thornton's franchise - Roger and Mary received a fantastic 'Lemon Merringue' Easter egg!

 
Roger will be thrown right into the deep end on his return, firstly tonight with a speech at EBRG's annual dinner for the trustees.  The meal this year is to be at Barnes Close, a URC retreat centre.  Tomorrow he has a team meeting with the office staff, before travelling to Salisbury for a Two Sisters day.

Back to work

The CMM team have had a little bit of time off over Easter, but now we're swinging back into action with a busy week ahead.

In the office we're working on quite a few things.  Tim is continuing to organise sales, sending out orders but also getting the new catalogue to the printers.  Nicky is being worked hard by Roger - he gets back from his sabbatical later this week, and there's lots of loose ends to tie up.

Annie is preparing for her musical in a day in Harborne on Saturday, and also getting ready for CMM choir rehearsals for Jairus' Daughter.  The performances are going to be in June and July.  Annie is also working on various bits of orchestration - she's finally reorchestrating While Shepherds Watched, but she's also sorting out some parts for some of the new songs in Seasons and Reasons.

Helen is busy with admin too - we're having a mailing in the next couple of weeks, so that needs to be designed.  Jairus' Daughter is getting some part-learning CDs, so now the recording has been made, there's lots of editing to be done.

Roger and Mary are also busy - busy enjoying their last week of sabbatical!

Easter Performances

Many churches and choirs are well under way with their Easter programmes.

Pamela Dewick and the Gloucester and District Christian Choir are performing Snakes and Ladders at the moment.  They have swapped the backing track for a 13 piece band, and are loving it.

The night before last they performed in a school to a full-house audience of over 100, and last night they were in a church with about 260 present.  We pray that God really used the amazing message of the musical to meet with people and bless them.

We also had this message from Pete:

The church I worship at which is St Joseph’s R C Church Thimblemill lane Nechells Birmingham has a small music and drama group.  For a number of years we have performed Roger's musicals at different Catholic Churches in Birmingham.

This year we are doing Two Sisters and a Funeral at the following venues

6^th April Sparkbrook Christian Centre Golden Hillock Road Sparkbrook 7.30pm

13^th April St Josephs R C Church Thimblemill Lane Nechells Birmingham 7 00pm

15^th April Corpus Christi R C Church Stechford Birmingham 6.30pm

 16^th June The Presentation Sisters Care Home Matlock Derbyshire 4pm

Israel House Party

Over the years Roger has led a number of trips to Israel, assisted by Geoff.  After Roger visited Israel for his sabbatical, he and Geoff feel the time is right to organise another Choral Houseparty - possibly with the musical Rock.

If you're interested, follow this link and fill in your details and we'll send you more information and an application form when we have it.

http://www.cmm.org.uk/events/israel2013.php