One of the long standing friends of Christian Music Ministries, Kaye Cooke, is a member of Clarence Park Baptist Church in Weston-super-Mare. She, along with a number of other members of her church organised for Roger to visit their morning service the day following the Rock Roadshow in Bristol. This was a wonderful opportunity for Roger to share with the whole congregation some thoughts on freedom in worship. Kaye helped by singing solo, and Lorna came and played violin.
Sometimes it is difficult to say all you want to say just in a short space of time left for the sermon, but Roger was really pleased with the morning. One lady felt able to dance in worship for the first time, and others were really blessed.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Jairus' Daughter in Nottingham
While Roger, Annie and another CMM team were in Bristol (see the Rock blog), Helen went to Wollaton Road Methodist Church in Beeston in Nottingham for Jairus' Daughter in a day. The day was organised particularly by Helen's dad Chris, who is a Methodist Minister, with lots of help from her mum Viv with advertising around the churches in the circuit.
Helen's team for the day included Richard Harvey, who took the part of Jesus, Felicity Norris, who led a dance workshop, and Miriam Gray (Helen's sister) who played clarinet.
It was a fantastic afternoon workshop, beginning after lunch. There were over 40 in the choir, and 4 excellent dancers. Very few of the choir had heard the music before, and they learnt it incredibly quickly. One of the worries of the day was finding soloists who could cover the woman, Jairus and child's parts. Thankfully the worry was squashed pretty early on with some excellent volunteers, including the 4 young dancers who together sang 'Jesus, friend of little children'.
It was great having Miriam on clarinet. She was really on team to help if anyone should have brought their instruments. Although no-one else brought an instrument, there was plenty of opportunity for Miriam to shine and be the centre of attention - there are quite a few long instrumentals in the musical, so the audience could look at Miriam playing rather than the conductor!
The dancers did an amazing job. Felicity worked with the four girls on the two songs which include 'You've turned my weeping into dancing for joy'. The dance they learnt in just a few short hours was fantastic. Felicity also added a couple of extra solo dances - firstly in song 4 'If I can just touch him' where the woman is debating whether or not to approach and touch Jesus. She then continued into song 5, which mostly consists of a long instrumental where the woman touches Jesus and discovers that she has been healed before the choir join in and sing 'If with all your heart you seek him, you will surely find him.'
The performance itself went well until technology got in the way! The connection between the laptop and the sound system seemed to break down a bit, and cut in and out. Two breaks in the middle of the performance sorted it out though - thankfully Felicity had brought with her some powerful speakers to go with her laptop.
A lovely extra dimension to the musical was provided by our 4 narrators, who told the story through the eyes of 4 bystanders. The audience was much bigger than expected, and it was a great occasion.
The following morning Helen preached at the church for the annual Girls' Brigade and Boys' Brigade parade service. As Jairus' Daughter was originally written for the Girls' Brigade Centenary in 1992, it made an excellent link between the musical on Saturday with church on Sunday. The Boys' and Girls' Brigades learnt all about how to 'Seek, serve and follow Christ'!
Helen's team for the day included Richard Harvey, who took the part of Jesus, Felicity Norris, who led a dance workshop, and Miriam Gray (Helen's sister) who played clarinet.
It was a fantastic afternoon workshop, beginning after lunch. There were over 40 in the choir, and 4 excellent dancers. Very few of the choir had heard the music before, and they learnt it incredibly quickly. One of the worries of the day was finding soloists who could cover the woman, Jairus and child's parts. Thankfully the worry was squashed pretty early on with some excellent volunteers, including the 4 young dancers who together sang 'Jesus, friend of little children'.
It was great having Miriam on clarinet. She was really on team to help if anyone should have brought their instruments. Although no-one else brought an instrument, there was plenty of opportunity for Miriam to shine and be the centre of attention - there are quite a few long instrumentals in the musical, so the audience could look at Miriam playing rather than the conductor!
The dancers did an amazing job. Felicity worked with the four girls on the two songs which include 'You've turned my weeping into dancing for joy'. The dance they learnt in just a few short hours was fantastic. Felicity also added a couple of extra solo dances - firstly in song 4 'If I can just touch him' where the woman is debating whether or not to approach and touch Jesus. She then continued into song 5, which mostly consists of a long instrumental where the woman touches Jesus and discovers that she has been healed before the choir join in and sing 'If with all your heart you seek him, you will surely find him.'
The performance itself went well until technology got in the way! The connection between the laptop and the sound system seemed to break down a bit, and cut in and out. Two breaks in the middle of the performance sorted it out though - thankfully Felicity had brought with her some powerful speakers to go with her laptop.
A lovely extra dimension to the musical was provided by our 4 narrators, who told the story through the eyes of 4 bystanders. The audience was much bigger than expected, and it was a great occasion.
The following morning Helen preached at the church for the annual Girls' Brigade and Boys' Brigade parade service. As Jairus' Daughter was originally written for the Girls' Brigade Centenary in 1992, it made an excellent link between the musical on Saturday with church on Sunday. The Boys' and Girls' Brigades learnt all about how to 'Seek, serve and follow Christ'!
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Renewal Evening 2
Back in November we held a day together with Christ Church, Burney Lane. This was a day with Helena Wilkinson, in which she shared in the morning service, took a seminar in the afternoon, and then spoke at a renewal evening. This was the first of what we hope will be a whole series of renewal evenings held jointly between CMM and Christ Church.
So in February we held the second in the series, and this time the speaker was Ian Parkinson, one of the leaders of New Wine North and East. The music group and prayer team met simultaneously to prepare for the service, and to pray for the evening to come. In the music group, alongside Roger, Annie and Helen we had Martin and Katie leading the singing, Tim on drums, Paul on guitar and Jen making her debut on sax and clarinet.
Unfortunately by the time the evening was due to start, Ian was still stuck in traffic on the M6. So after delaying a little, we began with a nice long block of praise. There were quite a number in the congregation from the local churches, so we were thrilled, as this is only the second of its kind.
Ian did arrive after a couple of songs, so he was able to speak as planned. He spoke on the feeding of the five thousand, drawing links between that story and our approach to our relationship with Jesus and also to mission.
After Ian's talk, we had an extensive time of ministry led by Peter Smith, vicar of Christ Church. Lots of people were prayed for, including the speaker! Praise God for his love - giving words and pictures to people to aid the ministry time.
Afterwards we realised that this service had taken place on the anniversary of Peter Lawrence's death. Peter used to be vicar of Christ Church, and this was exactly the sort of evening he was encouraging. It's amazing how things come full circle.
The next evening is in April and our speaker will be Heather Butler. Heather has an amazing prophetic ministry, where God speaks through her in song. Should be a great evening.
So in February we held the second in the series, and this time the speaker was Ian Parkinson, one of the leaders of New Wine North and East. The music group and prayer team met simultaneously to prepare for the service, and to pray for the evening to come. In the music group, alongside Roger, Annie and Helen we had Martin and Katie leading the singing, Tim on drums, Paul on guitar and Jen making her debut on sax and clarinet.
Unfortunately by the time the evening was due to start, Ian was still stuck in traffic on the M6. So after delaying a little, we began with a nice long block of praise. There were quite a number in the congregation from the local churches, so we were thrilled, as this is only the second of its kind.
Ian did arrive after a couple of songs, so he was able to speak as planned. He spoke on the feeding of the five thousand, drawing links between that story and our approach to our relationship with Jesus and also to mission.
After Ian's talk, we had an extensive time of ministry led by Peter Smith, vicar of Christ Church. Lots of people were prayed for, including the speaker! Praise God for his love - giving words and pictures to people to aid the ministry time.
Afterwards we realised that this service had taken place on the anniversary of Peter Lawrence's death. Peter used to be vicar of Christ Church, and this was exactly the sort of evening he was encouraging. It's amazing how things come full circle.
The next evening is in April and our speaker will be Heather Butler. Heather has an amazing prophetic ministry, where God speaks through her in song. Should be a great evening.
Monday, 15 March 2010
Music in Worship Week, Whitby
From 7th-12th April, Roger, Mary and Helen made their way up to Whitby and were joined there on team by Andrew Lockwood and Jonathan Chappell. This has been our annual trip to Moorlands Hotel in Whitby, one of the Christian Guild chain of hotels. In the past we have had Mike and Barbara Rowarth as an important part of the team, but this time they were sadly unable to make it.Instead of learning a musical in a week, this time we decided to focus on music in worship, as we often have a number of local preachers and worship leaders among the group. This meant that in the weeks leading up to the week, Roger and Helen were beavering away on a teaching schedule and workshops, that will hopefully prove useful into the future.
There were about 20 guests (not bad for off season) staying at the hotel, and one of the lovely things about this week is that we have a number of people come in from the local area for the different sessions, including Helen Drummond, a local URC minister.
After dinner on Sunday we held a short introductory evening involving some praise and worship, an explanation of the plan of the week, and a lovely epilogue from Jonathan.
On Monday we began the week's teaching plan which focused on different worshippers in the bible. This first morning after worship led by Roger, Helen spoke on King David, focusing on the passage from 2 Samuel 6 which includes the famous verse "And I'll become even more undignified than this." During this session Andrew sang 'See how he dies on a cross' and we finished up with a simple block of worship songs to put the theory into practice. After this session we had a practical workshop looking at how to plan 'praise blocks' and why it is good to include them in a service. After a free afternoon and then dinner, we watched a wonderful DVD together - "Everything is Spiritual" by Rob Bell - highly recommended!
On Tuesday Mary led the worship and then Roger took over the bible teaching duties. This morning he looked at Mary the mother of Jesus, taking examples from the annunciation and the magnificat to describe the way she worshipped. Roger continued after the coffee break with a workshop on leading praise, and the guests got into groups and chose their own worship blocks. Gill and Barrie were the two guinea pigs who allowed us to test out their excellent worship-leading skills. In the evening we had 'An evening with Helen' which included singing some rounds and looking a bit at the history of singing. The evening included Andrew singing 'You raise me up' and Mary concluding the evening by singing 'Your eye is on the sparrow' - written right back in 1904.
On Wednesday Helen led worship and then Roger spoke about Jehoshaphat, particularly focusing on the story found in 2 Chronicles 20. After the break Helen, Andrew and Roger shared duties leading a new songs workshop. The workshop included some from Roger's new book 'The Roger Jones Song Collection' as well as some from Spring Harvest 2009. In the evening we had 'An evening with Roger', in which Roger told some of his testimony, and shared some of his passions in life.
On Thursday, our last complete day at Whitby, Andrew led worship in the morning and Roger spoke on Peter - but not the talks he has been using for the Rock Roadshows. Instead this time he looked at the story of the transfiguration. The morning's workshop was a Holy Spirit ministry session, and guests did a wonderful job ministering to one another after a little bit of teaching and instruction. We hope and pray this was a real blessing to each person. In the evening we had our service which included the sharing of bread and wine, and Jonathan had his chance to lead some worship.Then on Friday after breakfast we packed our bags and headed home after a wonderful week. Sadly, this is to be our last week at Whitby as the hotel has unfortunately had to close. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the staff at this difficult time.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
From Pharaoh to Freedom
On Saturday 6th February, CMM began what was to be an extremely busy week. Annie travelled to Bakewell in Derbyshire accompanied by Pam Griffiths and Andrew Lockwood for a day learning and performing From Pharaoh to Freedom.
Methodist minister Fran Lane (who knew Helen when she was 5 years old) organised the day at Peak Methodist Church, which was aimed to be an event uniting all the churches in the circuit in fun and fellowship. It certainly did that! There were over 80 in the choir, as well as a group of dancers and instrumentalists. Fran's husband Piers sang the parts of Moses and Jesus, and a girl from Cliff College sang some of the female solos along with Pam.
It was great to have Pam involved again. She hasn't sung solo with us for a long time, and she was one of the original Pharaoh soloists, singing the part of Miriam.
The performance was such a success that there will be a further performance on Sunday 30th May at Cliff College.
Methodist minister Fran Lane (who knew Helen when she was 5 years old) organised the day at Peak Methodist Church, which was aimed to be an event uniting all the churches in the circuit in fun and fellowship. It certainly did that! There were over 80 in the choir, as well as a group of dancers and instrumentalists. Fran's husband Piers sang the parts of Moses and Jesus, and a girl from Cliff College sang some of the female solos along with Pam.
It was great to have Pam involved again. She hasn't sung solo with us for a long time, and she was one of the original Pharaoh soloists, singing the part of Miriam.
The performance was such a success that there will be a further performance on Sunday 30th May at Cliff College.
Monday, 8 March 2010
Associates' Day
CMM is priviledged to have a group of people spread across the country who volunteer for us. These can be singers, dancers, instrumentalists, workshop leaders, prayer ministry team, bookstall sellers and CD operators. We have CMM team as far north as Elgin and Glasgow, as far west as Bangor and Bideford, as far south as the Isle of Wight (although of course we can't forget Paul in the Algarve) and as far East as Norwich. If there's anyone outside of these extremes let me know!We call these amazing people Associates, and on the 30th January we had our first associates' day in quite a few years. With about 40 people present on the day, it was a wonderful opportunity for both CMM and EBRG to share some of the vision and aims of the ministry with some of our closest supporters.
The day included a session on worship and worship leading, as we are hoping to ask more and more of our associates to lead worship with us over the coming months and years. Then we looked at the doctrine and practice of the ministry, covering a wide spectrum from the profundities of 'Charismatic' and 'Evangelical' right through to laughing at Roger's jokes even when you've heard them a million times. After lunch we looked at repertoire and ministry songs, and also Holy Spirit workshops and ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit.
It was a day full of information, but it was great to share with everyone. Huge thanks to our associates, and all they do for us.
Friday, 29 January 2010
Farewell to Lindsay
And now it is the turn of Lindsay to leave us. She has been given a new job at her church, directly over the road from her house (who can blame her!). So for a few weeks at the start of January we had both Lindsay and Tim working in the office (snow permitting), with Lindsay training Tim up to take over. Lindsay then left us to have her tonsils out due to a calcium growth on them - and this is what happened:
"Good afternoon Rog
"At this particular time I should be feeling really anxious about getting
myself and the family ready for tomorrow..............................but I'm
not!
"Well, yesterday morning I felt the calcium in my throat move, and guess
what? I swallowed it!!! I telephoned the hospital in the afternoon
and the doctor was on the ward and said to 'CANCEL' my op and he would see me in
6 weeks.
"Talk about the power of prayer!! I was totally stunned for most of
the day but of course extremely relieved not to have to go under the
knife"
We're over the moon here in the office. God is so good - we should expect him to do things like that a bit more often! We'll miss Lindsay here, but we know God will be with her and her family into the future.
CMM Mailing
This week has seen the return of the phenomenon that is the CMM Mailing Stuffers. These are an incredibly wonderful group of people that come and stuff envelopes for us twice a year.Just a few years ago, the mailing would take up to two weeks, but now with so many on email, it takes considerably less time.
On Monday we had an amazing team all crowded around the dining room table - Phil, Stella, Pauline, Jenny, Pat and Paul. And then on Tuesday Philip and Pauline finished off the last few bits. A record amount of tea, coffee and biscuits were consumed, and Phil even provided the team on Monday with cup-a-soups. What a fantastic team!
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
A snowy new year
Amidst snow and the big freeze, the CMM office reopened at the start of January to a backlog of orders. Lindsay and Tim both found it pretty hard to get in to the office due to children being off school - but somehow between us we coped.
Another impact of the snow was event cancellations. We were due to be leading worship at a ReSource supporters meeting at Emmanuel Church in Loughborough. This was due to be one of our first joint events with ReSource, and we were really looking forward to it. Hopefully it can be rescheduled in the future.
We also had to cancel our regular EBRG Thursday night meeting, which was a shame, as we were due to be preparing for our annual retreat, taking place on the weekend of the 9th and 10th January.
Despite the snow, the retreat was able to go ahead, and we had a wonderful time. We were led by Martin and Cesca Cavendar from ReSource. They began the weekend by focusing on the Word of God in all its different forms - Jesus, the Bible, hearing from God. Then they led us into looking at the gifts of the Spirit. So often as a group we have focused on the listening to God side of the gifts, and Martin and Cesca were encouraging us to broaden our range a little. It was a wonderful, challenging retreat, and we have plenty to ponder in the future.
The last event at the start of the new year that fell foul of the weather was the Rock Roadshow in Exeter on Saturday 16th January. Even though the snow had mostly cleared, the bad weather had meant a lot of people had been reluctant to book. Hopefully we will be back in the area again soon.
Another impact of the snow was event cancellations. We were due to be leading worship at a ReSource supporters meeting at Emmanuel Church in Loughborough. This was due to be one of our first joint events with ReSource, and we were really looking forward to it. Hopefully it can be rescheduled in the future.
We also had to cancel our regular EBRG Thursday night meeting, which was a shame, as we were due to be preparing for our annual retreat, taking place on the weekend of the 9th and 10th January.
Despite the snow, the retreat was able to go ahead, and we had a wonderful time. We were led by Martin and Cesca Cavendar from ReSource. They began the weekend by focusing on the Word of God in all its different forms - Jesus, the Bible, hearing from God. Then they led us into looking at the gifts of the Spirit. So often as a group we have focused on the listening to God side of the gifts, and Martin and Cesca were encouraging us to broaden our range a little. It was a wonderful, challenging retreat, and we have plenty to ponder in the future.The last event at the start of the new year that fell foul of the weather was the Rock Roadshow in Exeter on Saturday 16th January. Even though the snow had mostly cleared, the bad weather had meant a lot of people had been reluctant to book. Hopefully we will be back in the area again soon.
Christmas at the Convent
Our final event for 2009 was our now annual trip to St. John's House in Alum Rock. This is a wonderful Anglican Community of Sisters, who have been hugely supportive of CMM - Helen lived there for 3 years, and Sister Ivy attends Christ Church Burney Lane and also the CMM Choir. Denise, who helps in the CMM office has also been greatly supported by the sisters over the last few years.
So once again we were delighted to be able to share with them in an Advent Evening on Saturday 19th December.
We held an evening similar to the one at Tenbury Wells, in which Roger focused on Mary's meeting with the Angel Gabriel.
This time we had a large CMM team - as well as Roger, Mary, Helen and Annie we had Pat, Jonathan, Linda, Sue, and Alan. It was great to have such a large group of singers.
So once again we were delighted to be able to share with them in an Advent Evening on Saturday 19th December.
We held an evening similar to the one at Tenbury Wells, in which Roger focused on Mary's meeting with the Angel Gabriel.
This time we had a large CMM team - as well as Roger, Mary, Helen and Annie we had Pat, Jonathan, Linda, Sue, and Alan. It was great to have such a large group of singers.
Grenfell Chrismas
Every year, Annie has been invited to the Grenfell Ladies' Christmas Service, to play for the carols and to provide another musical item. Grenfell Baptist Church is where Roger, Mary, Gill and a large number of the original CMM and EBRG supporters met and had their youth group. So it's a real privilege to be able to support this group of mostly West Indian ladies.
This year Annie was supported by Mary and Helen, and as well as providing accompaniment for the carols, we sang Mary and her man called Joe from Simeon, and also High Upon a Hillside from the Christmas Collection (it is also in The Inn Crowd, but with different words).
It was a lovely meeting, and we look forward to sharing with the group more next year.
This year Annie was supported by Mary and Helen, and as well as providing accompaniment for the carols, we sang Mary and her man called Joe from Simeon, and also High Upon a Hillside from the Christmas Collection (it is also in The Inn Crowd, but with different words).
It was a lovely meeting, and we look forward to sharing with the group more next year.
The Inn Crowd
On the weekend of December 12th and 13, CMM found itself involved in three productions of the Inn Crowd, organised by the churches in Yardley. Anne Maddox, Roger's former PA, is the wife of Derek, the vicar of St. Michael and All Angels, Yardley. She, along with the wife of the minister of Digbeth in the Fields URC church, decided that it would be really great for the churches in the area to work on something together, and that a musical would be a good foundation for this.So together they chose the Inn Crowd, and managed to get 12 churches or groups involved - a magnificent effort.
So after all the hard work and rehearsals, Roger, Helen, Tim and Amy were able to drop in and get involved in the performances. Tim on drums, and Helen and Amy with a variety of woodwind instruments, joining their already excellent pianist and guitarists.
The excellent local soloists (including some from the CMM choir) performed in costume in front of three packed churches, including mayors and bishops. It was the first time Roger had seen the drama performed, and it fitted with the songs beautifully. The drama had been written by Peter Lawrence, although Anne and team modified it a little - mostly fitting in a broad Black Country accent.
It was a brilliant weekend. Thanks so much to Anne and team for all the hard work, particularly including Margaret on the piano. Brilliant effort, and hopefully some wonderful relationships forged between the churches.
Roger's Christmas Mailing
"Hi Folks
At last we have persuaded Poppy to write her annual newsletter. I hope you'll notice that her spelling has now improved! In Poppy's Pages you'll find the JONES FAMILY NEWS, with information about two family weddings for 2010, exciting developments at CMM and so much more. Do have a look at: http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/newsletters/12-09-pp.pdf
(For all these links you will need the latest Acrobat reader. It's free! http://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/ )
See the CMM NEWS for our 2010 Diary, music Weeks, Roadshows and other upcoming events:
http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/newsletters/12-09-cmmnews.pdf
See ANNIE'S NEWS and 2010 plans at:
http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/newsletters/12-09-ar.pdf
HELEN'S NEWS has a summary of her remarkable year and much more:
http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/newsletters/12-09-hg.pdf
Don't forget that by doing your Christmas (and future) shopping via the 'Easyfundraising' banner on our site, you can earn extra money for CMM and it won't cost you a penny extra! Just click on the EASY FUNDRAISING banner and follow the instructions: www.cmm.org.uk
We can send 'hard copies' of these Newsletters, and will if you would like them, but otherwise we are doing more and more 'online' as it is quicker and cheaper.
Do keep in touch with us. I hope we will see you at various events in the future.
Have a lovely Christmas, and we wish you God's richest blessings for the New Year.
Roger
Christian Music Ministries
www.cmm.org.uk
0121 783 3291
Follow us on FACEBOOK and TWITTER!
http://twitter.com/ (find 'christianmusicm')
On Facebook - 'Roger Jones' or 'Christian Music Ministries'
See lots of CMM Photos: http://s209.photobucket.com/albums/bb229/rogerwjones/
At last we have persuaded Poppy to write her annual newsletter. I hope you'll notice that her spelling has now improved! In Poppy's Pages you'll find the JONES FAMILY NEWS, with information about two family weddings for 2010, exciting developments at CMM and so much more. Do have a look at: http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/newsletters/12-09-pp.pdf
(For all these links you will need the latest Acrobat reader. It's free! http://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/ )
See the CMM NEWS for our 2010 Diary, music Weeks, Roadshows and other upcoming events:
http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/newsletters/12-09-cmmnews.pdf
See ANNIE'S NEWS and 2010 plans at:
http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/newsletters/12-09-ar.pdf
HELEN'S NEWS has a summary of her remarkable year and much more:
http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/newsletters/12-09-hg.pdf
Don't forget that by doing your Christmas (and future) shopping via the 'Easyfundraising' banner on our site, you can earn extra money for CMM and it won't cost you a penny extra! Just click on the EASY FUNDRAISING banner and follow the instructions: www.cmm.org.uk
We can send 'hard copies' of these Newsletters, and will if you would like them, but otherwise we are doing more and more 'online' as it is quicker and cheaper.
Do keep in touch with us. I hope we will see you at various events in the future.
Have a lovely Christmas, and we wish you God's richest blessings for the New Year.
Roger
Christian Music Ministries
www.cmm.org.uk
0121 783 3291
Follow us on FACEBOOK and TWITTER!
http://twitter.com/ (find 'christianmusicm')
On Facebook - 'Roger Jones' or 'Christian Music Ministries'
See lots of CMM Photos: http://s209.photobucket.com/albums/bb229/rogerwjones/
Valley Worship in Tenbury Wells
On Saturday 5th December 2009, Roger, Helen, Simon, Louise, Ann and Tim travelled to Tenbury Wells/Burford in deepest darkest Worcestershire. Valley Worship is a monthly worship meeting organised by Bernard Morgan. The vision for the regular meeting is for the scattered village congregations, enabling them to meet together for lively worship that their own limited resources cannot support.
The evening was great fun. 80 or so gathered, and Roger led an evening full of praise and worship. It was themed around advent and Christmas, and incorporated a lot of Roger's own songs, including his version of O Little Town of Bethlehem, Infant Holy, God is with us, Emmanuel and God is our shelter and strength.
With Tim on drums and Simon on guitar there was a fantastic rythmn section. Roger led from the keyboard with Helen and Lou on flute and sax respectively, and Ann, Lou, Simon and Helen providing vocals.
We pray that the evening was fun and encouraging for the congregation, and that their meetings continue to bless the rural churches way into the future.
The evening was great fun. 80 or so gathered, and Roger led an evening full of praise and worship. It was themed around advent and Christmas, and incorporated a lot of Roger's own songs, including his version of O Little Town of Bethlehem, Infant Holy, God is with us, Emmanuel and God is our shelter and strength.
With Tim on drums and Simon on guitar there was a fantastic rythmn section. Roger led from the keyboard with Helen and Lou on flute and sax respectively, and Ann, Lou, Simon and Helen providing vocals.
We pray that the evening was fun and encouraging for the congregation, and that their meetings continue to bless the rural churches way into the future.
Men's Outreach in Redditch
On Tuesday 1st December, Roger, Mary, Simon and Louise travelled to a hotel in Redditch for a Men's Outreach Group dinner. These semi-regular dinners are organised by the Men's Outreach Group, supported by the Methodist Church in the area. The evening consists of drinks, dinner and then a speaker.
Roger spoke at the evening, particularly focusing on his testimony. He used lots of songs as illustrations, including quite a few Christmas songs for the time of the year.
The Men's Outreach Group have a wonderful ministry, reaching a lot of non-Christian men. Our prayers are with them as they organise more events this year.
Roger spoke at the evening, particularly focusing on his testimony. He used lots of songs as illustrations, including quite a few Christmas songs for the time of the year.
The Men's Outreach Group have a wonderful ministry, reaching a lot of non-Christian men. Our prayers are with them as they organise more events this year.
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
A Day with Helena Wilkinson
On 29th November 2009, CMM came full circle. 30 years ago, a group of people started meeting to pray and work for renewal in East Birmingham. That group included Roger and Mary Jones, and they led a series of what they called 'Rallies' at Christ Church, Burney Lane. These Sunday evening services were a huge blessing, and part of the background of the ministries of both Roger and Peter Lawrence.
Now, in partnership with Christ Church, CMM have planned a series of renewal evenings at the church, and on the 29th November we held the first one. We were joined by Helena Wilkinson. She is a trained Christian Counsellor, and a writer, particularly focusing on eating disorders and other depression related illnesses. She often writes for CWR's Inspiring Women Every Day.
Helena spoke powerfully at Christ Church's morning service, particularly focusing on her testimony. Then in the afternoon she spoke at a seminar looking at healing below the water's surface. She used the image of an ice berg - eating disorders, self harm etc are just the tip of the iceberg that you can see above the water - 90% is still below the surface, and it is this area that needs to be carefully dealt with.
Then in the evening we held the first of a series of evening renewal services, and Helena spoke on 'The Power of Praise'. CMM provided the music for the service, and then Peter Smith, vicar of Christ Church led the ministry time.
It was a fantastic evening, and we really look forward to the events planned for this year:
21st February - Ian Parkinson, leader and host of New Wine North and East
18th April - Heather Butler, with a prophetic healing rooms ministry in Anglesey
Now, in partnership with Christ Church, CMM have planned a series of renewal evenings at the church, and on the 29th November we held the first one. We were joined by Helena Wilkinson. She is a trained Christian Counsellor, and a writer, particularly focusing on eating disorders and other depression related illnesses. She often writes for CWR's Inspiring Women Every Day.
Helena spoke powerfully at Christ Church's morning service, particularly focusing on her testimony. Then in the afternoon she spoke at a seminar looking at healing below the water's surface. She used the image of an ice berg - eating disorders, self harm etc are just the tip of the iceberg that you can see above the water - 90% is still below the surface, and it is this area that needs to be carefully dealt with.
Then in the evening we held the first of a series of evening renewal services, and Helena spoke on 'The Power of Praise'. CMM provided the music for the service, and then Peter Smith, vicar of Christ Church led the ministry time.
It was a fantastic evening, and we really look forward to the events planned for this year:
21st February - Ian Parkinson, leader and host of New Wine North and East
18th April - Heather Butler, with a prophetic healing rooms ministry in Anglesey
Friday, 8 January 2010
Changes in the CMM office
It's a season of all kinds of changes, and particularly here in the CMM office. Back in October Anne Maddox had to leave us for family reasons, including the birth of her first grandchild - congratulations Anne!
And then early in December we heard that Lindsay has got a new job working as administrator for her Church's brand new premises, right over the road from her house. This meant that we needed to find two new members of staff pretty quickly.
Lindsay leaves us at the end of January, and we are delighted to announce that she will be replaced by Tim Jones. Tim has a huge amount of experience in the Christian Music trade, having worked in Wesley Owen Birmingham, and then for Integrity Music. And it will be great for Roger to have another man about!
And then early in December we heard that Lindsay has got a new job working as administrator for her Church's brand new premises, right over the road from her house. This meant that we needed to find two new members of staff pretty quickly.Anne has been replaced by Nicky Hughes, from North Birmingham. Nicky has two grown up children and worships at a church in Walsall. It is great to have her working with us.
Lindsay leaves us at the end of January, and we are delighted to announce that she will be replaced by Tim Jones. Tim has a huge amount of experience in the Christian Music trade, having worked in Wesley Owen Birmingham, and then for Integrity Music. And it will be great for Roger to have another man about! So do pray for us as we begin together as a team at the start of February.
Thursday, 7 January 2010
CMM Choir
Sincere apologies for the huge delay in updating the CMM office blog. While the CMM team were travelling around the country performing Rock, the CMM choir were travelling around the West Midlands performing 'Wildfire'.
The amalgamation of both the East Birmingham Choir trained by Penny King and the West Birmingham Choir trained by Sylvia Whalley put on several fantastic performances:
20th September at Holy Trinity, West Bromwich
27th September at West Bromwich Baptist Church
3rd October at St. Martin's Walsall
8th November at Six Ways Baptist, Erdington
22nd November at Marston Green Free Church
The combined choir made a fantastic blended sound, and the soloists did a brilliant job. Jonathan Chappell took the part of Stephen, and Pat Woolridge the part of Rhoda. The other parts were sung by a variety of singers including Pete, Alan, David, Lomas, Sue, Fran, Miriam and Linda.
The audiences were thrilled with what they saw, even when Stephen used suprised members of the audience to be healed in Signs and Wonders. There was also a great dramatic element as all of the choir joined in throwing rocks in the stoning scene.
Well done to the choir - another fantastic series of performances. In the new year the choir will start rehearsing for Jail Break.
The amalgamation of both the East Birmingham Choir trained by Penny King and the West Birmingham Choir trained by Sylvia Whalley put on several fantastic performances:
20th September at Holy Trinity, West Bromwich
27th September at West Bromwich Baptist Church
3rd October at St. Martin's Walsall
8th November at Six Ways Baptist, Erdington
22nd November at Marston Green Free Church
The combined choir made a fantastic blended sound, and the soloists did a brilliant job. Jonathan Chappell took the part of Stephen, and Pat Woolridge the part of Rhoda. The other parts were sung by a variety of singers including Pete, Alan, David, Lomas, Sue, Fran, Miriam and Linda.
The audiences were thrilled with what they saw, even when Stephen used suprised members of the audience to be healed in Signs and Wonders. There was also a great dramatic element as all of the choir joined in throwing rocks in the stoning scene.
Well done to the choir - another fantastic series of performances. In the new year the choir will start rehearsing for Jail Break.
Monday, 19 October 2009
Roger's latest news
Here is Roger's latest email:
Hi Folks - we've just had tremendous ROCK productions at Tamworth,
Chandlers Ford, Salisbury, Wimborne and Weston and are now just about to go off on our final ROCK Tour
Week:ROCK Tour 4 - Oct 09 (7.30pm unless stated)
24 Taunton Wellsprings Leisure Centre
25 Bristol Colston Hall
26 Bridport United Church
28 Minehead Regal Theatre
29 Bideford Kingsley School
30 Truro Methodist Central Hall
31 Exeter Salvation Army Citadel (4pm)
- For more details of times, ticket prices and contact numbers, go to http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/rocktour4.pdfROCK Roadshow (10am-4.30pm) 28 Nov 09 - Bethesda Baptist Church, Ipswich , Suffolk
Come and join me and the CMM team for a day of Bible teaching, worship and workshops all based around the themes from the musical Rock. Cost = £5 for the day - all are welcome, whether you sang in ROCK, watched it or missed it!
- download a booking form http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/rockroadshow.pdf14 Nov 09 - ROCK Massed Choirs Grand Finale - Symphony Hall Birmingham
The final performance of the Rock nationwide tour, and the final ever CMM touring musical performance. Don't miss out - this is the end of an era before Christian Music Ministries moves on to 2010 and beyond. We have a choir of over 1000 voices, so this should be an incredibly exciting event. Tickets still available for both the 3.30pm and 7pm performances Audiences. Prices are £17 full price and £12 concessions or groups of 10 or more. Book online at http://www.cmm.org.uk/products/catalogue/index.php?id=ROCKTICK or call the CMM office on 0121 783 3291. Performances will be signed for the deaf.Remaining CMM CHOIR productions of WILDFIRE (the story of St Stephen)
08 Nov - Erdington - 6.30pm
22 Nov - Marston Green Baptist Free Church - 6pm
- Further details from CMM - 0121 783 3291 or events@cmm.org.ukA Day with HELENA WILKINSON - 29 Nov 09 - Christ Church, Burney Lane ,
Birmingham
Helena Wilkinson, Christian author and writer for CWR's Inspiring Women Everyday is coming to spend the day at Christ Church . She is a trained Christian counsellor with a background particularly in overcoming eating disorders and depression.
- 10.30am - Morning service - Helena will preach
- 3pm - 5pm - Afternoon seminar - teaching and ministry on "Healing below the water's surface"
- 6.30pm - Evening Renewal Meeting - Helena will speak on "Grace, mercy and love", followed by prayer ministryThe morning and evening meetings are free (with offering) and the afternoon seminar costs £5 - booking form available on page 5 of our summer newsletter - http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/newsletters/05-09-cmmnews.pdf
I still need a new PA/SECRETARY - 3 days per week (0930-1430) - with computer/internet skills as well as being a good "team player", organiser, tea-maker & dog-friendly! Anyone interested contact roger@cmm.org.uk
.Please circularise these items as much as you can. Many thanks.
Roger Jones
Squidgy Bod
We have a new product now at CMM. The third and final book in the series of Squidgy Bod, written by Peter Lawrence, is now on sale. Squidgy Bod is a character Peter Lawrence created for childrens talks in his services, and he now appears in 3 books for children with resources for Sunday Schools and preachers.
This new book - Squidgy Bod at Easter follows Squidgy, who is now born again, with his family and friends at Easter. Squidgy isn't entirely well behaved, and he learns about saying sorry and forgiveness as his mum teaches him the Easter Story.
Peter Lawrence died after a battle with cancer earlier this year, and it is a real priviledge to be able to publish and promote this book. One of the first copies of the new book was presented to Carol Lawrence at the Wimborne performance of Rock on Saturday.
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