Tuesday 27 November 2007

Come and join the Inn Crowd...


I've put a list on the side of the page of all the Inn Crowd performances that are taking place around the country. If you know of any more, please let me know the details. If you want more information about any of those listed, please let me know.
helen@cmm.org.uk

Monday 26 November 2007

Scratch Inn Crowd in Ipswich

This weekend, Annie, Helen, Simon, Laura and Catherine travelled across to Ipswich to lead The Inn Crowd in a day at Bethesda Baptist Church. The organiser, Peter Miller, had worked incredibly hard with his team of helpers, and managed to convince a choir of nearly 90 and an orchestra of 15 to come.

Helen spent the morning and some of the afternoon working with the choir, who made a beautiful sound - there were a lot of talented people among them.

Annie led the orchestra and then the full rehearsal and performance. She had to stand on a box in a pew so that all of the singers could see her properly. As there were so many in the choir they were arranged not only across the stage but down both sides as well, and at one point in the rehearsal, in the pulpit, the choir stalls and on the steps up to the pulpit!

Simon, Catherine and Laura also earnt their keep. Simon sang the part of the Inn Keeper, and Catherine the part of Mary. They also helped to train the soloists, and the wonderful group of children who played the shepherds. Laura, as ever, was the ultimate bookstall keeper.

The day was very tiring but an immense success, and hopefully we will be able to return to Ipswich for a performance of Rock in 2009.

Thursday 22 November 2007

A busy mid-week

Monday and Tuesday of this week saw Roger travelling to Wigan for a special performance of the Inn Crowd. After a practice on Monday evening, the cast of 60 children and 30 adults assembled for the Tuesday evening performance. It was a great success, including the comic performances of three vicars as the three 'wise' men.

The informal setting of the working men's club was perfect for a proper welcoming Inn atmosphere, and a fantastic time was had by all.

Annie yesterday spoke at the Arise Group from St. Germain's Church, Edgbaston on her work with Christian Music Ministries. This is the church Annie has been part of for 24 years - don't worry - it is not the first time she has been asked to speak!

Monday 19 November 2007

Chilly...

Roger, Annie, Katie and I have just spent the weekend at Shrewsbury Abbey. It was an incredible priviledge to be able to sing and play in that beautiful building, if a little cold!

On the Saturday we led a Ways to Praise day, beginning with 'Being a Worshipper' - some teaching using King David as the model, then Annie, Katie and I led a new songs session, introducing some of the music for the later part of the day. After lunch, Roger led a creative and prophetic session, forcing poor old Katie to sing out a prophecy (sometimes it's great to be intently playing your instrument so there's less chance of being picked on) and we concluded with a the 'Ways to Praise' session, with it's focus on psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.

On Sunday morning we took part in the sung eucharist at the Abbey, including Man of Sorrows and My God, how wonderful thou art during the communion.

Friday 16 November 2007

Sing to the Lord

A fabulous day was had by all at Christ Church, Ward End on Saturday. About 60 people were present for our day of vocal workshops and choral singing.



Penny King and Katie Leaver led the day. They are both incredibly gifted singing teachers, and were able to teach some of the tricks of the trade, while enabling us to put them into practice in the choral pieces.




Ably assisted by Annie on the keyboard, the performance at the end of the day in front of an audience of 3 (Roger, Alan and God), was a wonderful end to the day. Interspersed between the choral pieces, Penny and Katie sang solos and duets - a real highlight.



This is a course we certainly hope to develop for the future.
Photos: Katie Leaver and Penny King; the delegates at the course

Tuesday 13 November 2007

Sad News


CMM were saddened yesterday to hear of the death of Rev Dr Rob Frost, director of Share Jesus International, and presenter on Premier Radio.


CMM has often taken part in Easter People, a yearly Christian festival initiated by Rob, and Roger was often interviewed by Rob on his Sunday morning radio show, Frost on Sunday.


Back in June, both Roger and Sally were interviewed by Rob and his wife Jacqui for UCB TV, a show which will hopefully air very soon.


Helen became a Christian at Easter People, was regularly involved with Share Jesus events.


Our prayers are with Rob's family and all those at Share Jesus International.

Off the mainland...



Isle of Wight trip 2007 - Jail Break




Last weekend Roger, Annie, Katie, Devon, Martin, Simon, Ann, Helen, and Mary all made their way 'down south' to Southampton, and from there on the ferry to the Isle of Wight. We had a good journey down and a fabulous ferry crossing, arriving on the island in plenty of time for an evening meal and rehearsal with the choir.




The choir - about 40 strong, were fabulous, brilliantly trained and well balanced, making a lovely sound. Also, a big mention needs to go here to David the technician, who worked tirelessly and did a wonderful job.




On Saturday morning we enjoyed a nice wander on the beach at Shanklin (not something we midlanders get to do very often) with Jane, Helen and Simon's host, her dog Mille, and Barrie, a friend and great supporter of CMM who had travelled down from Hull for a short holiday. The holiday for us was short lived though, because in the afternoon we had to get down to work rehearsing at St. John's church, Sandown, ready for the evening performance. Despite the cold, and a large fireworks display outside during some of Trish's narrations, the performance went really well with a good sized audience, and a scary amount of TV cameras belonging to Rodney Hearth. Will there be a "Making Waves part 2?" Could be interesting.




Then on Sunday, the team split up for morning service. Roger, Ann, Mary and Simon travelled to Shanklin URC church, and Helen, Devon, Katie and Martin visited Beulah Evangelical Church, on the outskirts of Ryde. Then it was down to work once again with an afternoon performance of Jail Break at St. John's church, Newport. Aided by a lovely performance from Leanne as the slave girl, and a large audience, we had a wonderful production, followed by some good conversations and sharing over tea and coffee.


The work over, we then enjoyed an evening at Brian and Janet's - Roger and Mary's hosts, and then a day off on Monday, which included fish and chips on the beach, a visit to the Needles, and a rather bizarre and dangerous fireworks event at Yarmouth.


A good weekend, and we pray that God will richly bless the people we came into contact with on the Island.
Photos: Helen, Ann and Katie singing Broken Chains, and Rodney with one of his cameras

Thursday 8 November 2007

Time to catch up...

Sorry it's been a while since the last update. I'll try and catch up in event order.

Last week we spent Wednesday in a beautiful small village in Worcestershire, Charlton. In the afternoon, Roger led a rehearsal workshop for their forthcoming production of While Shepherds Watched. They are a small choir, but they make an excellent sound, and some of their plans for including the children sound excellent. They are also from several different churches in the parish, and seem to enjoy uniting to sing.

Following the rehearsal we were provided with a lovely meal, and then we led a Ways to Praise evening. The session went very well, and Roger, Annie and I were ably assisted by Martin, whose parents were watching! It is a big challenge for rural churches to find musicians to assist their worship, but we hope the Ways to Praise evening may have encouraged people in their 'worshipping from the pew'.