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URC Musicians Guild
1.1 It’s that time of the year again! Time to review another year that has passed, hopefully with musical memories and joys to cherish. Maybe you have heard some special music, new to you, music that made those hairs on the nape of your neck stand up – the so-called tingle factor?
1.2 Or maybe it was just business as usual, the hymn-prayer-hymn-reading-hymn-sermon-hymn-blessing situation? And what about the ‘good heavens, we had that hymn only two weeks ago’ situation? Please, please tell me I am wrong and that all the churches you know are alive with new music composed by gifted musicians young and older, that you all have music groups comprising piano, guitar, recorders, violins, clarinets etc and that you all have overhead projectors and screens so that the congregation is obliged to look up from its boots and hence make a sound far more gratifying to the person accompanying the hymns!
1.3 The reality is that all over the UK, our churches are a wonderful example of variety in worship. But behind that variety, there is someone, or hopefully a group of people, who have some influence over the music that is so much a part of our worship; someone who will advise the person leading worship on the choice of hymns and songs, on whether the young people have learned something new that they would like to sing to the congregation, someone who will make sure that the organist or pianist is thanked for their music at some time during the service, someone with a good singing voice (hopefully in tune!) who will give confidence to others nearby without dominating the whole show.
1.4 Again, I don’t believe all these things are necessarily true either. I am certain there are churches where the one and only musical person feels dreadfully alone and unsupported, where the congregation is so small that it is difficult to feel that it is making wonderful, joyful and uplifting music in celebration of our Lord.
1.5 So it is all the more important that the URC Musicians’ Guild continues in its activities to support this variety of music in worship and the wide variety of musical skills and abilities that the Lord gives to his people, giving succour to the hungry and the weak as well as encouraging the mighty and strong to share their gifts with the less fortunate. Never has their been such a huge range of musical resources to encourage and inspire worship. There really is no excuse for settling for the hymn-prayer-hymn ‘sandwich’ because that is the easy option!
1.6 So, join the Guild, find out what is going on in your area – if there appears to be nothing going on, find out why and offer to help something happen. The Guild is for everybody, everywhere and has something for everyone.
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