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.pdf

ROCK 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.pdf

14 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.uk

A 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 ministry

The 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.

Apostle in a day

On the same day as Sarah's Angel Voices in a day, Annie went to Holy Trinity, Eccleshall in Staffordshire to lead Apostle in a day. She was accompanied by Jonathan Chappell (singing the part of Paul), Helen (singing the part of Ananias) and Laura Rhodes (dance workshop leader).

The day was actually a wonderful reunion for the Saints Alive group in Eccleshall, who are a group who regularly meet together, performing a musical each year with huge amounts of costume, drama and scenery. This year they decided to have a little break and have CMM do all the hard work, just simply performing this musical from scratch.

It was a wonderful day. There were about 40 in the choir, a small orchestra, and one very good dancer who worked with Laura to perform in two of the songs.

This is the email we received from them:

"Dear Annie

There was almost as much of a buzz on "the morning after the night before" in Holy Trinity Church yesterday! We all had a wonderful time on Saturday, and the audience were really appreciative of what we had to show them in the evening. You and your team were fantastic, and we do thank you so much for your time, your gifts, your patience.

You lead and managed the choir and orchestra brilliantly - we learnt a lot from you, and we were amazed by what we achieved - through your calm and effective leadership. You were all so kind - Helen moved her position so that she could ensure that Sophie knew where she was with her flute (recorder) music - Sophie was really pleased with her achievement! - Laura was so good with Annabel - there were lots of comments about the dance - lovely! I gather that Jonathan was doing another solo part somewhere the following evening!

A number of us are intending to come and see "Rock" - probably at Symphony Hall (some of us came and joined the choir at Symphony Hall when you did Jailbreak there (we had done it ourselves that summer) - a great experience that was!).

We will be talking about asking you back for another musical in a day - so many people got a lot out of it - a wonderful spirit - fun and fellowship............. So, thank you again to you, and please pass on our thanks again to your colleagues.

With very best wishes

Hazel"

Angel Voices in a day

It's always great to hear from you all about your events. Last weekend Sarah Moreton, a long standing friend and regular associate for CMM led a musical in a day in Croxley Green. Sarah is the conductor of the Joyful Noise Choir in and around Hemel Hempstead, and who form the basis of our trips to Watford or Hemel for the larger CMM tours. Sarah's musical of choice was Angel Voices, which is one of Roger's longest musicals, so we were all most impressed she managed to fit it into a day!

This is what she had to say:

"Only a small choir (30) but most of them had sung it before and were really excited about singing it again, incl the soli, who were fab. Had a good audience (outnumbered the choir considerably, anyway!) And we raised £400 for charity! So, all in all, a good day."

Treloyhan Holiday Week

The start of September saw our final family holiday week of the year come and go. The week took place at Treloyhan Manor Hotel, St. Ives, Cornwall. This is one of the smaller of the Christian Guild hotels, but it is absolutely beautiful, and wonderfully situated.

On this week, Roger and Mary were joined by Phil Parkin (former conductor of the CMM choir and CMM administrator), Caroline Finney (the original Mary Magdalene (!)), Bill Carpenter (Silas in Jail Break and Cornelius in Rock), and Amy Carter (instrumentalist in Jail Break and Rock). There was also a couple who were the hosts for the week from Christian Guild. The team gelled really well together, and had a brilliant time working with the 30 or so guests to perform Saints Alive at the end of the week.

As well as all the musical work, this was a wonderful week spiritually, with many people really blessed by God. Roger was buzzing with stories when he returned to Birmingham. Here is a snapshot from an email he sent during the week:

"I am really thrilled with how well things are progressing. The Team (inc. Mary, Amy, Phil, Bill, Caroline) is gelling very well indeed, and I am quite surpised at how much praying with folk there already has been. The teaching has been well received and we have had great times of worship. Our prophetic night was very exciting.

"One amazing thing - a lady is here who suffered a serious head injury some time ago and displays quite odd speech and behaviour. But she really loves Jesus and is open to the Spirit. Already she has had a prophecy and a picture!

"Once again, this is a very special week and God is doing some very deep things with some of the people. SAINTS ALIVE! on Friday evening will be a very lovely and worshipful occasion."

And it was - so I understand! Phil Parkin conducted, and then Roger spoke and conducted the last song.

Thank God for the amazing way he has used our music weeks this year - bring on next year!

Wydale Weekend

Ever wondered where people from Cumbria go on retreat when everyone else goes on retreat to Cumbria? Well the answer is Wydale.

On the weekend of 21st -23rd July, Roger, Mary and Devon set off for Wydale Hall, the retreat and conference centre for the diocese of York, near Pickering, right on the southern edge of the North York Moors national park.

They were leading the weekend retreat for Heversham Parish, near Milnthorpe. The weekend was based on the Rock teaching from the Roadshows, and was a brilliant time, with plenty of prayer ministry and worship.

Willersley Castle Music Week

Our penultimate music week of the year found us at Willersley Castle, near Cromford and Matlock in Derbyshire. The hotel was crammed full for the week with singers and instrumentalists ready to learn and then perform Rock on the last night of the week.

This week the team included Roger, Mary, Annie and Helen, as well as Paul (all the way from Paris!), Amy, Alan, Sue and the host couple Stuart and Brenda.

It was a fabulous week - God blessed us with wonderful weather for the afternoons, and with plenty of Holy Spirit for the other sessions! So many of the guests were touched in different ways, with even a couple of the guests making decisions to follow Jesus for the first time. Praise God!

The performance was like nothing you've ever heard before - an amazing huge orchestra including a professional recorder player, two trombones, a double bass and 3 electric guitars, and a wonderful choir, most of whom already knew it before the week.

Another email from Roger

Hi Folks - there is lots to tell you - this Autumn is very full and very exciting!

14 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 already have a choir of nearly a thousand voices, so this should be an incredibly exciting event.

Tickets still available for Choir, and 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.


ROCK Tour 4 – Oct 09 (7.30pm unless stated)
10 Chandler’s Ford Methodist Church
11 Salisbury City Hall (6.30pm)
17 Wimborne Tivoli Theatre
18 Weston-super-Mare Playhouse (4pm)
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.pdf


ROCK Roadshows (10am-4.30pm)
03 Oct 09 – Witney, Oxfordshire
28 Nov 09 – 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.pdf


A 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
3pm – 5pm afternoon seminar
6.30pm Evening service

The evening service we hope will be the first of many Sunday Evening Renewal Meetings, with worship led by myself and the CMM team, with plenty of opportunities for prayer ministry.

The morning and evening services are free and the afternoon seminar costs £5 and a booking form is available on page 5 of our summer newsletter
http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/newsletters/05-09-cmmnews.pdf


CMM CHOIR productions of WILDFIRE (the story of St Stephen)
20 Sep - Holy Trinity West Bromwich - 6.30pm
27 Sep - West Bromwich Baptist - 6pm
03 Oct - St Martin's Walsall - 7.30pm
08 Nov - Erdington - 6.30pm
22 Nov - Marston Green Baptist Free Church - 6pm

Further details from CMM - 0121 783 3291 or mhtml:%7B67F37E2F-824B-4EFB-91CC-33635D2044DA%7Dmid://00000286/!x-usc:blocked::mailto:events@cmm.org.uk


Keep in touch. I hope we shall see you at some of these events.

Roger Jones

Christian Music Ministries
www.cmm.org.uk
0121 783 3291

Busy 19th September

The office is back up and running now ready for the run-in to Christmas and all the staff are back from various holidays. Before I post reports on our weeks in Derbyshire and Cornwall I'd like to make a mention of September 19th. On this day there are two opportunities to learn one of Roger's musicals in a day.

Firstly, Annie will be taking Apostle in a day at Eccleshall, Staffs, and any more details are available from her - annie@cmm.org.uk

Secondly, Sarah Moreton, our Watford/Hemel Hempstead choir trainer, will be leading Angel Voices in a day at St. Oswald's Church, Croxley Green. If you would like a booking form, please contact events@cmm.org.uk

Latest news from Roger

This is the latest email Roger has sent out to those on our email list:





Hi Folks

I‘ve almost missed sending my July news!

A lot has happened over the past couple of months! We had a magnificent, albeit short Tour Three of ROCK, to Leicester, Barry, Gloucester and Macclesfield. All productions went very well, all were different, and at every one we were aware of folk really enjoying themselves and many being really blessed by God. We also had a great time in Plymouth, doing ROCK in a Day.

Last week was the Lee Abbey ROCK week. Wow! What a wonderful time! During the week we learned the musical, worshipped and explored the Scriptures. On the last night we had a choir of 50 and an orchestra of 15, and it was a lovely climax to the time we spent it such a beautiful place. Have a look at the photos on: http://s209.photobucket.com/albums/bb229/rogerwjones/LEE%20ABBEY%20Music%20Weeks/

Next coming up is the ROCK Music Week at Willersley Castle. This has been fully booked for months, but you can come and see the final performance on Friday 14 Aug, if you can get in! http://www.christianguild.co.uk/willersley/

At the end of the August (29 Aug – 05 Sep) there is the SAINTS ALIVE! music week at Treloyhan Manor, St Ives, Cornwall. There are just a few places left – ring: Treloyhan Manor Hotel 01736 796240 or email: mhtml:%7B67F37E2F-824B-4EFB-91CC-33635D2044DA%7Dmid://00000046/!x-usc:mailto:treloyhan@christianguild.co.uk or book online: http://www.christianguild.co.uk/treloyhan/bookonline.php

We look forward with great anticipation to ROCK - TOUR FOUR: http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/rocktour4.pdf
(Make sure you have Acrobat Reader 9 – it’s free – go to: http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/ )

Two more ROCK “ROADSHOWS” will take place in the autumn:

Sat 03 Oct – Witney, Oxon
Sat 28 Nov – Ipswich
Booking Form: http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/rockroadshow.pdf or contact CMM.

Tickets are going well for the Massed Choirs finale of ROCK in the Symphony Hall, Birmingham. You can order Choir and Audience tickets from us at CMM (0121 783 3291), email: mhtml:%7B67F37E2F-824B-4EFB-91CC-33635D2044DA%7Dmid://00000046/!x-usc:mailto:events@cmm.org.uk or book online: http://www.cmm.org.uk/products/catalogue/index.php?id=ROCKTICK

We so value your support, in so many ways. Please keep in touch. I hope to see many of you at one of our events in the near future.

Bless you,

Roger

Lee Abbey Music Week 2009

Last week was CMM's annual visit to Lee Abbey for a music week. Once again it was a full house, and a wonderful time was had by all in such beautiful surroundings. The CMM team were Roger, Mary, Annie, Kathleen, Carole and Paul. They were supplemented as always by the Lee Abbey House team who do such a wonderful job integrating with the guests and making sure everything goes smoothly.

There were some great comments:

"Thanks Roger, Mary, Annie, Kathy and team. It was such a joy to participate in "Rock" as well as receive such excellent teaching and fellowship. God really blessed my socks off! Cya soon! X"

"Thanks Roger and team - it's been a great week. See you soon PS Cheryl says how much to remove her photo from Photobucket !! ;-)"

"Thanks for a great week. See you soon - looking forward to our performance of ROCK in Salisbury"

And if you want to see Cheryl's photo on photobucket, scroll down the page and click on the link on the bottom right to 'Roger's Photos'...

Roger writes:

It was a great week. There seemed to be a lot of people getting
really blessed, by the fellowship, rehearsals and teaching sessions.
Barrie managed to sing the Cornelius part, and even put in some “Bill-type”
add-libs! We had 50 in the Choir, and 14 in the orchestra, which was
remarkably well-balanced! All in all, it was a week full of fun,
culminating in a very powerful final production in front of a packed octag.
One person (Annie’s step-mum) said “I think ROCK is Roger’s most exciting
Musical!”

Rock in Plymouth

Last weekend Roger and a team (Ann, Helen, Kaye, Martin, Bill, Bob) travelled to Salisbury Road Baptist Church in Plymouth to spend an afternoon learning Rock with a performance in the evening.

The Plymouth event in the main Rock tour had to be cancelled, so this event occurred instead. A large choir of over 70 people gathered, many of whom had already learnt the musical, but also a few who had never seen it before. The choir covered the music amazingly quickly, and the sound they produced was absolutely fantastic. Helen added a bit on the flute as well as singing the part of Susannah, and she was joined by a local lady called Fenny on the viola.

A lovely feature of the day was that at the end of both the choir training sessions, Roger was able to do a bit of bible teaching to add a bit of perspective to make the story of Peter come even more alive.

After a lovely time of fellowship over the evening meal we held the evening performance. There wasn't a huge number of people in the audience because the weather outside was atrocious and there had been only a couple of weeks to advertise, but those that did come seemed to enjoy it.

The following morning Roger spoke at the morning service at Salisbury Road. He spoke on the Look of Love, and Ann and Kaye sang that song in ministry afterwards. It was a powerful moment.

Roger has been using his Look of Love talk a number of times over the past couple of months. It is a very powerful message, right at the heart of CMM's ministry, which is to "Tell my people I love them". Please pray that God continues to bless this theme and to speak through it.

Ways to Praise - Worthing

Last weekend Roger took a small team to Holy Trinity Worthing to lead a Ways to Praise day. Roger's team included Amy Carter (Rock and Jail Break instrumentalist) on clarinet and vocals, Sarah Moreton (Watford and Hemel Hempstead choir trainer and regular backing vocalist on CMM albums) on guitar and main vocals, and Philippa MacDowell on flute - it was Philippa's first event with us after she was spotted and snapped up at the Rock Roadshow in Crowborough.

CMM has a long history of connections in Worthing, mainly through Jane and George Hicks. Jane trained the Worthing choir for Rock back in March, and she has been involved with us for many years. While on tour, Roger stayed with the vicar of Holy Trinity, Lionel, and it provided an excellent platform for the day's events.

Roger was thrilled to find that the whole worship team for Holy Trinity was present for Saturday's sessions, and also most of the leadership team. It really is wonderful when the whole of a church is behind an event, and eager to grow and develop. Roger could see that God was really blessing people, speaking to them, giving gifts, and creating openings for new things to happen.

The team also contributed to the morning service on Sunday. Roger led worship and spoke, and Lionel used the worship times to invite the Holy Spirit to come on the congregation. The Sunday morning service that usually lasts an hour and a half stretched to 2 hours - hopefully no-one burnt the roast...

Thanks so much to Jane, Lionel and all at Holy Trinity for inviting us to share with you.

CMM in Tonga

No - we haven't been, but we have heard from Marlene Wilkinson, a missionary in Tonga, who has used the music from Saints Alive. Here's what she had to say:

--------------------------

We didn’t really have much practice time! The young people (all girls!) met with me the Friday evening before the Sunday, and we worked on their drama and ‘action songs’. Tongans do ‘action songs’ regularly (we might call them ‘liturgical dance’ in some cases) so actually can choreograph simple stuff very fast! Some of the congregation go to a Tuesday night bible study, and they had practised the songs we planned to use for a short time in the group for two weeks. Then we had about 10 mins run through the songs the Sunday before. The dramatic readings were just done ‘on the night”. Since we had done some last year, some of the congregation remembered, so that helped. However, our congregation is always changing, so we also had ‘new’ people too. Given all that, we actually had a good service! Many thanks for your resources.

5 photos for you to see - hope you like them!

1. The dramatic reading just after Jesus leaves the disciples. (the two angels on the right here). The flames at the back had been done by three very young members of our congregation (2,2,& 4yrs) the previous week. At the end of the service, the little ones took down the flames and gave one to each of the congregation.

2. Some of the young people dancing in the coming of the Holy Spirit song. The two older girls are Fiji Indian and the younger one in Tongan.

3. The Young people doing an action song to the choruses of “God raised him up”. One of the congregation sang Peter’s part. You can see a couple of the young boys copying the girls.

4. One of the congregation giving out percussion for “Brothers and Sisters”

5. The YP again, doing the actions for the drama “learning, fellowship, sharing, prayer”.

Weston Churches Together

Last week Roger had a brilliant opportunity to speak to the Weston Churches Together meeting. He was given 45 minutes to talk about using musicals in mission and evangelism, with a particular focus on Rock. It was a great evening, and he had a brilliant team with him to help out - Annie, Kaye (part of the Wildfire original cast), Naomi (the Weston Rock Choir trainer), and Paul (part of the Rock cast).

Roger says it was a real privilege to speak to so many church leaders, and we hope that in October, the churches will have really caught on to the vision of using Rock as an evangelistic tool, and the performance of Rock at the Playhouse Theatre will have a huge impact.

Malvern CCCF

After leaving Grange-over-Sands on Saturday morning, Roger travelled straight down the M6 to Malvern, to meet with the Caravanners and Campers Christian Fellowship (CCCF). Over the previous week the members of CCCF along with the Gloucester and District Christian Choir had been learning the musical Rock to perform. There were lots of familiar faces from all over the midlands, as well as Mike, Roger's brother-in-law, who regularly takes part in these events. Pamela Dewick, the conductor of the choir, also conducted the final performance, and Roger spoke as part of it.



Roger took as his theme 'The Look of Love', and we pray that many of the people there will take away the message and be open to receiving more from God.

Grange 09

During the bank holiday week at the end of May, CMM travelled up the M6 to Kent's Bank, near Grange over Sands in southern Cumbria. Stationed at Abbot Hall, one of the Christian Guild hotels, we held our first full-length family music week of the year. There were over a hundred guests at the hotel, almost all of whom were taking part in our week.

The week was based on the musical Rock, and it was the first time we could use the orchestral parts that have been arranged by Annie. The team for the week comprised of Roger and Mary, Helen, Marion and John Owen (the pastoral hosts for the week provided by Christian Guild), Sharon Collins, Jaime Dawson, Brenda Earnshaw and Carole Marsden. In the absence of Annie, Helen and Carole trained the orchestra, and Sharon trained the choir. Jaime was a great support and help all week on drums, and Brenda played piano for the orchestra, soloist rehearsals and performance.

Saturday - general catch up, lots of chatter among the guests, and then a time of worship and an introduction to the week.

Sunday - After breakfast we had our Sunday morning service. Roger led worship, and Helen preached on the theme of the ascension, but looking forward to Pentecost. After evening meal the group came together into the hall for a sing-through of the musical with the CD.

Monday - Marion and John held morning prayers in the lounge while the CMM team prepared for the morning session. Then Mary led worship and Roger gave his first bible talk of the week. The theme was "I will follow you" - the call of the first disciples. After the bible study session, we had our first choir and orchestra rehearsal - the orchestra crammed into the lounge, and the choir with a bit more space in the main hall. The hotel staff probably found things pretty interesting listening to the different rehearsals coming from different directions! We then had a free afternoon, followed by the dreaded auditions, and in the evening together watched a DVD of Jonathan Viera performing. The teenagers watched Britain's got Talent instead...

Tuesday - On this second morning, Brenda led worship, and Roger's theme was "The look of love". It was quite a moving morning, and quite a few people seemed to be really blessed. We then had another round of rehearsals. Tuesday night was "Grange's got Talent" - and indeed it has - so much so it turned into quite a long evening! But everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and there were some pretty impressive performances from young and old alike.

Wednesday - this was the day off - and typically, it rained and rained and rained. Some managed to go for a trip to Carlisle Cathedral on the train. In the evening we held yet more rehearsals...

Thursday - The final morning's teaching followed Jaime's worship leading. This time, Roger's theme was "A Chosen People". Final orchestra and choir rehearsals went well, and Sharon, Helen and Carole could relax as their work was done. In the evening we held a Holy Spirit workshop, looking at what it means to be "Working in the Father's Business" - teaching people to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit. An amazing evening, with people really 'risking it' for God.

Friday - Performance day... Which meant lots of rehearsing in the morning after Sharon had led a worship time. This was the first time the orchestra and choir had come together, which created some interesting logistical issues, but we got there. The performance went really well. We had a lot of people come from outside (and inside the hotel) to watch. The soloists did brilliantly, and the choir, orchestra and narrators were superb. Good fun all round, and there were a lot of exhausted people by the end of the day (particularly Roger!).

Saturday - after breakfast we all said our farewells for another year, and travelled home.

Ways to Praise in Cumnor, Oxon

On 16th May, Roger travelled down to Cumnor in Oxfordshire to lead a Ways to Praise afternoon and evening. Roger was without Annie or Helen for the event, so instead he had a crack team of musicians supporting him - Paul Herrington on keyboard, Sarah Moreton on vocals and guitar, Kathleen Owen and Eddie Smith on vocals, Lorna Mitchell on Violin, Jonathan Warburton on Trombone, Alan Smith on drums and Marilyn Ellis on Flute. Roger was so impressed with the team he felt it was like leading worship at Spring Harvest!

Many of those who came to the event were from the Oxford Choir for Rock, trained by Alan Roberts and organised by Elizabeth Kirby. They also meet together when there isn't a touring musical to take part in. Many of the people at the event were also involved in music ministry in some way, so this was a great opportunity for CMM to support and encourage those people.

Many people felt God's blessing, with one person coming to Christ, and there lots of dancing with flags - dancers including one lady who had felt some amazing healing and release from anxiety and stress.

Praise God for all he has been doing.

Wildfire in Birmingham

The CMM choir has now organised performance dates across the West Midlands for Wildfire. The choir performed Wildfire at Birmingham as part of the original tour in 2003/2004, but have not performed it since. They have been rehearsing for a few weeks already, and auditions for soloists have taken place...

Anyway, if you would like to see the CMM choir, trained by Penny King, perform, here are the dates:

20th September at 1830 - Holy Trinity, West Bromwich

27th September at 1800 - West Bromwich Baptist Church

3rd October at 1930 - St. Martin's Walsall

8th November at 1830 - Six Ways Baptist, Erdington (also a fundraiser for St. Barnabas)

22nd November at 1800 - Marston Green Free Church

Saints Alive in Sandiway

On Saturday 9th May, Roger, Mary and Helen travelled to Sandiway in Cheshire for Saints Alive in a day. Keith, who had been at Saints Alive in Rhos on Sea only a week before joined us for the day to support on the drums, and it was great to have him.

To be completely truthful, 'Saints Alive in a day' is not completely accurate. Kathryn Holmes - the local wonderwoman - had gathered together the choir and instrumentalists for a couple of rehearsals in advance. She had done a wonderful job, so all that remained for us to do was some polishing. Roger was also able to do some bible teaching, which was brilliant.

There were at least 90 in the choir, and 5 instrumentalists, with Helen and Keith joining in too. There were also 3 'young' (late teens and early 20s) soloists, who did a marvellous job, sometimes singing in 3 part harmony together.

After a morning of rehearsals and an afternoon run-through, we put it all together for the performance at 3.30pm. The small part of the hall that wasn't filled with choir was filled with audience, and this created a wonderful atmosphere.

In a day so full of music, it was great to be able to have plenty of 'God moments' too - worship, bible teaching, prayer. The atmosphere of praise and worship was great, and the response to some of the songs in the musical (particularly When I Survey and All People that on Earth do Dwell) will stick in my memory.

Thanks particularly go to Kathyrn Holmes and Martin Cox for making it all happen.

Rhos on Sea

Last week Roger, Helen, and two associates - Andrew Lockwood and Sarah Harley - travelled to St. Winifred's Christian Endeavour hotel in Rhos on Sea, North Wales. It was our third visit to Rhos, and seems to be developing into a lovely annual event, well supported by the local churches.

We spent the week with 20 or so guests, learning the musical Saints Alive from scratch. Keith, a member of the local URC church travelled in every day to play drums for us, which was great. Andrew sang, played piano and flute, and Sarah sang and played violin. It was Sarah's first event with us, and we discovered more and more of her talents as the week progressed - her violin and flute playing were quite superb.

Every morning, after a time of worship, Roger led some Bible teaching around the theme of Pentecost and the first couple of chapters of Acts. Then after a short break, there was a choir rehearsal led by Helen, and ably assisted by Andrew on piano. They seemed to know the musical pretty well already, and made Helen's life very simple. A mention needs to go to the wonderful tenor section of Clyde, Mike and Andrew - they did a stirling job in the absence of any basses.

The evenings comprised of a variety of sessions - a sing through on Monday night, an evening with Helen on Tuesday, a rehearsal on Wednesday and finally the performance on Thursday.

The performance went extremely well. Roger played piano with Keith on drums, Andrew on flute, Sarah on violin and one of the guests, Catherine, making the occasional appearance on tenor recorder. Helen conducted the evening, and managed not to fall off her rather high podium. We also had some excellent solos from the guests, as well as brilliant narration. Over 100 people attended the performance at Penrhyn Bay Presbyterian Church, and we were warmly welcomed by the local congregation.

We had a wonderful week - the guests seemed really open to the Holy Spirit moving in their lives, and one lady was healed at the performance. A huge thanks go to the hotel staff for looking after us so well. Praise God for all he is doing, even amongst a small group of people on holiday together!

Rock Tour 2

Hi all - sorry for the long delay since posting. We have been travelling all around the south east (and Derby, Walsall and Kidderminster) performing Rock. In a couple of weeks I hope to make the full reports of all the performances live on the Rock blog, so do look out for that.

In the mean time we are all having a well-earned rest before we start back preparing for a summer of music weeks, Rock performances and much more. Please pray for a good time of refreshing for us all this Easter, and that we would each find plenty of time to spend with God.

10000th invoice

We have just reached our 10000th invoice since starting on the system we currently use. It may not sound like a lot, but believe me, for a small organisation, it really is. Congratulations go to Lindsay for all the work she puts in in the sales department, occasionally assisted by Denise.

This photo is of Lindsay and Denise getting ready for the Rock publication day back in June.

... and a happy announcement!

I have been incredibly remiss in informing you all that Sally Jones and her boyfriend Karl Taylor are now engaged to be married. They hope to tie the knot in 2010. Our huge congratulations go to them.

A sad announcement...

We received this email from Carol Lawrence:

Just to let you know that Peter died last night at quarter past midnight on the morning of Sunday 22nd February. His health had declined all week until by the end he was sleeping all of the time and we had nurses coming in every morning and night to care for him. His breathing became difficult on Saturday and although the nurse gave him drugs to help this it didn't totally solve the problem. The whole family have been here at home since Wednesday and we have all been able to spend time with him. Amanda was sitting with him until midnight and then left him in the care of the Marie Curie nurse. 15 minutes later he stopped breathing.

Peter and Carol have played an incredibly important role in the life of CMM - particularly in introducing Roger and Mary to ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter and Carol were also instrumental in Roger's decision to go into full time ministry. Peter will be greatly missed, and all our prayers are with the family at this time.

A week by the sea

On 8th February, despite heavy snow forecasts, Roger and Helen travelled to Whitby on the Yorkshire coast accompanied by Tim and Lydia Dock. It was Tim and Lydia's first time on team with CMM, although they have long been known to us through the Lee Abbey music week (where they first met - awwww). Tim sings the part of David on the most recent recording. We were joined by Mike and Barbara Rowarth, and Barrie Renwick.

The week was at Moorlands Hotel right on the West Cliff at Whitby, and it is one of the various Christian Guild Hotels we travel to every year. There were about 30 guests at the hotel, and quite a few people joined us from the local area. The week was based around the Torn Curtain.

Every morning we had a bible session led by Roger, and the themes were:
Approaching the Most Holy Place
Being in the Most Holy Place
Receiving in the Most Holy Place
Ministry in the Most Holy Place

Following these sessions Helen led rehearsals of the musical, and the small group of people gradually turned into a pretty good choir, with some excellent soloists - Kathleen, Amanda and Clyde the only guests outside the CMM team brave enough to audition!

The evenings were a variety of events including an evening with Helen based on Simon Peter, a praise evening, an introduction to Wholeness Through Christ from Mike and Barbara, and the performance/service/communion on the Thursday night. Our audience was perhaps a little limited because Whitby was cut off from the rest of the country by severe snow showers on Thursday afternoon.

Helen Drummond, local URC minister led the communion section of the Torn Curtain performance, and in a unique evening, Roger, Tim and Lydia accompanied the choir, while Helen conducted - the first music week ever without Roger conducting the final performance. I don't think people minded too much...

This comment was received from one of the guests:

Hard to think Whitby is already over a week away. It was a wonderful week
and I came home recharged. Thanks again to you Roger and the rest of the
team.

Thankfully the snow had melted enough for us all to get home the next day. Thanks to Moorlands again for hosting us. I hope we can go back next year.

Rock Staines

On the weekend between the Manchester and Birmingham Roadshows, a small CMM team travelled to Staines Methodist Church to lead their Circuit weekend. The weekend was themed around Rock, and they had a choir of 25 which had been training for a few weeks ready for our visit. The advance team were Roger, Annie, Helen and Anne, and on the Friday evening after a lovely meal with our hosts we had a rehearsal with the soloists in the Church Hall, preparing them for the hard work rehearsing and performing to come over the weekend.

On Saturday, the CMM team was augmented by Geoff, Alan, Sarah and Amy, and we had a day of Rock - incorporating choir rehearsals with teaching sessions and workshops. The teaching and workshops went very well, with plenty of ministry time and people responding to God's touch on their lives. And as the day progressed the choir built on the training they had already received and were ready to impress the circuit on Sunday night.

On Sunday morning the CMM team (minus Geoff and Alan) split up to attend different churches. Annie, Anne and Helen travelled with Lou Ashford (one of the circuit staff) to a special breakfast church, where a few people gathered together for bible study and worship over a lovely breakfast of cereal, toast and croissants. After this, they travelled to another church in the circuit for their morning service where Helen preached, and they led the song 'This is the Stone" from Rock with no music book whatsoever. Annie did a fantastic job playing it on the piano from memory!

Roger, Sarah and Amy were the other CMM team, and they took part in the morning service at Staines - Roger preached, and Sarah and Amy sang and played guitar and clarinet/sax respectively.

Then after lunch with hosts and a gentle start to the afternoon, we all met together at the church for a final choir rehearsal in place at the front of the church and a shared dinner before the performance. The performance was very well attended, and from the chatter afterwards, much appreciated. Well done to the choir and all the soloists. Annie, Helen and Amy had fun filling in all of the tour instrumental parts, and Sarah and Anne joined in with the choir.

All round, a great weekend.

Rock Roadshows

From the Rock Blog:

The first three Rock Roadshows have now been completed, and we're absolutely thrilled with them.

The days ran as follows:

Roger's first plenary session "I will follow you" looked at the call of the first disciples, looking particularly at story as told in Mark's gospel. The particular focus was on Mark 1:18, a short, yet very pithy verse: "Immediately they left their nets and followed him." You can guess Roger's three points - Immediately, Left their nets, Followed him.

The second plenary session "Prophetic Worship - Do you love me" was an interactive session enabling the delegates to develop their creativity in worship, and then to invite the Spirit to come and turn their creativity into prophecy.

After lunch, the group split into three workshops led by the CMM team. These were:
"This is the place" - receiving the power of the Holy Spirit
"The look of love" - receiving the look of love from Jesus
"Working in the Father's business" - using the gifts of the Holy Spirit

And then the final session of the day was "Feed my sheep - a Chosen People" - a general encouraging and building up session led by Roger, leaving time for ministry at the end. This looked at 1 Peter 2.

The first area choir to take the plunge was Manchester, and their day was held at Bamford Chapel in Rochdale. The choir, led by Walter Brisk, have been long-term supporters of CMM. There were 50 delegates, and a CMM team consisting of Roger, Annie, Mike and Barbara Rowarth (EBRG), Gill and Brian Johnson (EBRG), Jonathan Chappell from the Rock cast, and Barrie Renwick and Brenda Earnshaw from the Rock Touring Party. We had a CMM music group like no other - Annie on keys, Jonathan on his 12 string guitar and Brenda on flute.

Two weeks later we didn't have to travel far at all and held the day in Birmingham for the four choirs that made up the choir for the premiere. 50 people braved the snow and joined in the fun at Christ Church, Ward End. The team for the day included Roger, Mary, Helen, Helen's sister Miriam, Martin Fisher, Devon Brown, Jonathan Chappell (all from Rock Cast), Anne Maddox (Roger's PA), Alan and Sue Walker (EBRG), as well as the local CMM choir team of Pat, Linda and Denise. We also managed to force Rachel Walker to join in with the team too, rather than hiding at the back...

And then a week and a whole lot of snow later, the team travelled to Doncaster. Roger was supported this time by Annie, Gill and Brian Johnson (EBRG), Richard Harvey and Ann Steer from the Rock Cast, Amy Carter (instrumentalist) and Barrie Renwick from the Rock touring party. Over 70 people were at the day, mostly from the Doncaster and Sheffield choirs, although there were a couple of people from Hull.

A great time was had by all. Have a look at the CMM website for details of the Roadshows to come - the next one is in Crowborough on Saturday June 13th.

Catching up

After a few mad weeks catching up on office work, then being away from internet connection for a week in Whitby, it is now time to catch up on the CMM blog.

First thing to mention is the EBRG retreat at Shallowford House. Every year EBRG, the support group for CMM, go away for a weekend retreat to listen to God on behalf of the ministry, or to have some more training. This year the focus was very much on 2010 and beyond - what God want CMM to do post-Rock.

It was an excellent and encouraging weekend, with many words of knowledge and pictures from God to help guide and shape the ministry. We have a lot more thinking and praying to do, so watch this space!

A new year begins...

And after 4 weeks away, I'm back at the CMM office. Have a look at the 'Helen Pollard' page on the CMM website to find out more about why I've been away for so long - www.cmm.org.uk .

Grenada is lovely - sitting here in the CMM office looking out onto a Birmingham road, I really miss the beach...