CMM Choir tour begins

On Sunday night (before the football), Annie and the CMM choir travelled to Six Ways Baptist Church in Erdington to begin their mini-tour of Birmingham with the musical Jairus' Daughter.  Annie and Sylvia have been training the East and West sections of the choir respectively over the last few months, ready for this premiere.

Despite a couple of missing soloists, the performance went really well indeed.  Jonathan filled in the Jairus part for Pete, and Sue the sick woman part for Pat.  David Hall sang really well as Jesus and the other soloists were wonderful.  Alan spoke at the end, and the whole performance was finished off with 'In Christ Alone'.

Before the performance the choir were introduced by the minister, who said 'we look forward to you entertaining us', but actually the event was far more than just entertainment.  The choir were able to worship as they sang, and the congregation were encouraged to be open to the Holy Spirit and hear God speaking.

Well done to the choir, and our prayers are with you for the remaining performances.

CMM Newsletter

Roger has sent round his latest email:

Dear Friends

Just a reminder that 30 June is the deadline for those on our mailing list to apply for the ISRAEL CHORAL HOUSEPARTY, before we open it to the public.

The dates are: 12-19 March 2013 for the main party, with productions of ROCK in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and the Optional Extension to Dead Sea and the Golan 19-24 March.

You can download the full details and application form from: http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/israel2013.pdf

We are already receiving applications, but there are places left, and we're aiming to ensure a balanced party of singers and instrumentalists. The application and payment may be made electronically by email and BACS.

The CMM Choir now start a series of JAIRUS' DAUGHTER productions:

Sun 24 June - Six Ways Baptist Erdington 1830

Sun 08 July - Kenilworth Methodist 1800

Sun 15 July - Marston Green Baptist Free Church 1800

Sun 22 July - Holy Trinity Lickey 1800 (with our Ruby Wedding coffee and cake celebrations at 1600 - you are invited!)

See our Summer Newsletter: http://www.cmm.org.uk/downloads/newsletters/05-12-cmmnews.pdf

Roger and Mary Jones

CMM in Scotland 2012

Praise evening at Monigaff - Peter on the left

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

Praise evening at Monigaff

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


These are Helen's email updates from the tour:

Ruth!

The musicians at Aberlour

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

Then a couple of days later Helen sent another update:

The choir at Aberlour

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

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

Soloists at Aberlour

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

Alan and the choir at Lossiemouth

This was Helen's last update from Scotland:

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

Rosemary at Lossiemouth

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

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

The finale in the Lossiemouth performance

The view from Lossiemouth Church

Music week at Abbot Hall

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

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

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

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

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

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

Two Sisters in Crediton

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

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

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

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

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

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

Two Sisters on the road again!

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

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

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

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

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

Barrie, Emily, Amy and Richard after the performance

Emily, Amy and Richard in rehearsal

The wonderful tenors and basses

The packed out church - extra chairs needed!