A Rock Letter

We received this wonderful letter from a lady called Alison who lives in Suffolk:

Dear Roger,

Just felt I had to put pen to paper and to tell you what a blessing the Rock Musical has been to me.

Not only was I thrilled to be a part of the choir at Ipswich, but I have just returned from a wonderful pilgrimage to the Holy Land and as I travelled in the footsteps of Jesus the songs came flooding back and the story which was acted out took on real meaning as I stood on the traditional sites of Jesus' ministry.

Standing on the shore of the Sea of Galilee early in the morning watching the sun rise the words of 'This is the place' were on my lips and on my heart and visiting Caesarea Philippi where Jesus asked Peter who he thought he was, I recalled the words of 'You are Messiah' and suddenly it came to life and really meant something really special to me.

So thank you so much for blessing me through your ministry and may God continue to use you in His Service.

Rock in Chipping Sodbury

We've just had a phone call from Frank Maude in Chipping Sodbury. Every few years the churches in Chipping Sodbury and the surrounding area join together to perform a big musical. In the past they have performed Burning Questions, Hopes and Dreams and two others by Paul Field and Stephen Deal as well as three of Roger's, including Jail Break. Frank and his helpers very graciously delayed their performances until after the CMM production of Rock at the Colston Hall in Bristol, for which we are most grateful.

They have just finished their run of performances at Chipping Sodbury Town Hall, and they went very well indeed. They held a concert version, but added in a few small bits of dialogue, such as Susannah's coming to faith.

As they had no dancers, they approached the song 'Were you there?' in an interesting way, showing a clip of Jesus' crucifixion from one of the Jesus films under the introduction and first verse, and then a photo of the tomb (digitally altered to have the stone in the entrance!) for the second verse, and then their own actor playing Jesus in a white robe for the final verse.

CMM's own Alyson Ottaway was part of the cast, reprising her role of Zillah, and it became quite a family affair with her mum Wendy playing Miriam for the final performance, and her dad John taking the part of John.

Many people were moved by the performances, and a couple of people owned up to having shed a tear or two...

Photos of the performance can be found here.

Well done!

Canada Maps

Here's a couple of maps of where the team are going in Canada.

Canada is very big. Just Ontario alone is several times the size of the UK.

Top left - Deep River

Next from left - Kanata

Next - Ottawa

Bottom right - Morrisburg and Dixon's Corners

Canada Itinerary

This is the itinerary for Roger's tour of Canada starting tomorrow:

Thu 18
0920 BIRMINGHAM to PARIS, then to MONTREAL
2215 (+5hr) arrive in OTTAWA - from MONTREAL - travel to KANATA
This is a long journey, and often many bugs and illnesses can be picked up on aeroplane flights. Please pray for protection in travel for the team.

Fri 19
KANATA - Rest day - get used to time zone, etc
Kanata is just to the south-west of Ottawa. Roger and team visited Kanata three years ago for a music and worship evening. But this time the vicar has changed, and they are going for a full on production of Rock. While at Kanata, the team will be staying in a lovely Christian house out in the countryside.

Sat 20
KANATA - Rehearsal & ROCK Production

Sun 21
Morning Services in KANATA then travel to DEEP RIVER
Deep River is a three hour drive from Kanata up to the North-West along the Ottawa River. It is a small town/village. Last time Roger and the team were there, the river was still frozen solid and there was lots of snow.

Mon 22
DEEP RIVER Eucharist led by CMM and Father Lee with praise & teaching

Tue 23
DEEP RIVER - Seminar teaching session based upon ROCK
Please pray for these two worship seminars. Last time CMM was in Deep River there was a production of Jail Break, so it is great this time to be able to contribute to local church life with some ministry and teaching instead.

Wed 24
Travel to OTTAWA
Music in Worship - St George’s, OTTAWA
St. George's is an inner city church in central Ottawa. It is always great to share with them.

Thu 25
Music in Worship - Church of the Epiphany, OTTAWA
This is a new venue for CMM, so please pray for good contact with the local congregation and no problems with the unknown logistics.

Fri 26
Travel to MORRISBURG
Morrisburg is the home of the organisers of the whole Canadian tour - Nick and Jane Lee. They are long-standing friends of CMM, right from when they used to live in the UK. Morrisburg is right on the St. Lawrence River, so over on the other side of the river is the USA.

Sat 27
Full Rehearsal, then ROCK at St James Anglican Church, MORRISBURG

Sun 28
Preaching at Sunday Service
Travel to DIXONS CORNERS - Rehearsal
ROCK - Christian Reformed Church, DIXONS CORNERS
Dixons Corners is a small village about 15 minutes drive from Morrisburg. But in this small village is a fabulous modern church building - an ideal venue for a performance of Rock!

Mon 29
Rest day for team

Tue 30
Return to UK -from OTTAWA, via MONTREAL, PARIS

Wed 31
1030 arrive BIRMINGHAM

CMM TEAM: Roger, Mary, Devon Brown, Richard Harvey, Amy Walters, Catherine Muggleton

Canada preparations

And so it is time for Rock to go over the water for the first time (that we know about!). On Thursday Roger, Mary and a small team of soloists are heading to Ontario, Canada. And as Ontario is such a huge place, I should narrow it down - they are effectively going to Ottawa and its surrounds. As well as Roger and Mary, the team comprises of Devon, who played Peter on the Rock tour, Richard Harvey, who understudied the role of Cornelius as well as playing Andrew on tour, Catherine Muggleton, who understudied the role of Miriam and played lots of other parts including one of Philip's daughters, and one of the servants at the High Priest's house on tour, and Amy Walters, who trained the Keighley choir for the tour and has been involved with CMM for years. Over in Canada they will be joined by Sarah Bowers and David Black, who will sing the parts of Zillah and Jesus.

But in the last couple of months as preparation, the British part of the team have held a couple of practice performances - firstly at Richard's church in Nuthall, Nottingham (photos are from this performance), and then at Catherine's in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire.

It was really great to be performing Rock again, albeit in a very slimmed-down format. The last time Rock was performed by CMM it was at Symphony hall with over 1100 in the choir. For these two occasions we had 6 or 7 singers only and a couple of instrumentalists. Needless to say - the musical sounded completely different!

So please pray for the team in Canada and also for their friends, family and churches they are leaving behind for a couple of weeks.

Rock Roadshows

Alongside our tours with Rock, we have been revisiting some of the venues to hold Rock Roadshows. At the end of November it was the turn of Ipswich, and in February we visited Croxley Green (Watford) and then Bristol. Sadly we had to cancel the Exeter roadshow in January due to the bad weather.

It was great to see so many from the different choirs, and also so many people open to the Holy Spirit.

Each Rock Roadshow begins with worship and then a teaching session from Roger based on the call of the fishermen from Mark 1. Roger manages to base a whole sermon around one tiny verse - v18 "Immediately they left their nets and followed him". Point 1: Immediately, Point 2: they left their nets, Point 3: and followed him. Cunning eh?

The second session is a creative/prophetic workshop, looking at music and how God uses it to bless us. Simple improvisation leads on to prophecy, by allowing people to be open to the Spirit and to sing out what God is saying to the people.

After lunch the group splits into workshops, one workshop looking at receiving the Spirit, another workshop focusing on ministry in the power of the Spirit, and the final workshop based around 'The Look of Love'.

Then the day ends with worship and teaching based around 'A Chosen People', the bible verses for which can be found in 1 Peter.

Each day so far has been great fun, and we have one more coming up on Saturday 17th April at Bridport United Church. If you are interested, contact events@cmm.org.uk for a booking form.

A Rock Testimony

The following testimony comes from Verity Brayshaw, who, along with her husband Paul, found themselves involved in Rock by accident last year. They were collared by some members of the Gloucester and district Christian Choir and a few others from the CCCF. Read on for more:

Our journey with “Rock”, started in the Half term in May 2009, when we were away camping at the 40th Anniversary of CCCF, Caravanning and Camping Christian Fellowship, in Malvern. Paul had decided that we would stay the full week, finishing with watching some Rock show at the end of the week. At this point we had no idea what this was going to mean to us as individuals and a family.

We were welcomed into the CCCF and felt comfortable enough, that when someone mentioned that they were doing a number of singing workshops, we both decided to join in. For Paul, it was sink or swim, but the CCCF people were there to stop him drowning. We bought both a music score and a word book. I had the music score and Paul elected for just the words as he had no knowledge of a music score. “Do you sing, tenor or bass”, was the question, “I just growl” was Paul’s answer, “Excellent bass, and submerge yourself with these guys and they will help you.”; “Who is the main tune? – soprano; right that’s where I am”. Each song was played once or twice and we were to sing along. We thought everyone was rather clever, being able to read their music perfectly, until we realised that this group were part of the Gloucester Choir and other joining choirs and had been rehearsing for months, either waiting for their Tour performance, or has just performed on one of the previous Tours. We had about 5 hours of rehearsal time and we purchased the CD, so we could listen in the car outside rehearsal time. The spirit of the music caught us by the second number and we were hooked. It was fantastic and we looked forward to singing it when ever we could.

The musical, “Rock”, was the story of Simon Peter, starting when we first meet Cornelius, a Roman Solider, waiting to speak to Peter and then we hear all about Peter and his time with Jesus. Peter: first fishing for fish and then souls. The story continues past the crucifixion through to the beginning of Christianity. When we performed this musical at the end of the week it was done as a concert with some of the Gloucester choir singing the main leads. However Roger Jones the composer of “Rock” came to see it and spoke afterwards. My children, Edward and Gemma, sitting in the front row were mesmerised by what Roger had to say, which was amazing to watch and a great privilege.

This was our first part of the journey with this amazing musical, because we were told that Tour 4 was coming to Dorset and surrounding counties. This was fantastic, because it gave us the opportunity to really learn it and to sing again and again. Once home I contacted the relevant people and we managed to join the Choir at Broadstone performing at the Tivoli and also a choir at Chandlers Ford.

By the time we had our first rehearsal at Broadstone in July; we had listened to it for many hours and sung along to the CD. Paul and I were feeling quietly confident, however, Paul soon realised that singing Bass didn’t mean that you sung the tune an octave lower, but that in places, they sung a completely different tune. He needed extra help and luckily each section of the choir had their own specific tune on a CD to listen too and this helped him with learning it. Each choir was a mixture of different Christian denominations from Catholics to Methodists to Salvation Army. We all had a great time together, learning the music as well as listening to a Choir Talk, lead by Roger Jones on a CD. This brought what we were doing to a different dimension and led to more understanding and of course, closer to God. We were reminded; that we were God’s chosen people, not only to sing in the choir, but to spread the gospel and to feel Jesus’ love.

Paul and I performed at Chandlers Ford on the 10th Oct in Chandlers Ford Methodist church. We were conducted by Roger Jones and his cast and crew joined us for a most spiritual evening. The cast and crew were made up of actors, dancers and 4 instrumentalist, plus technical crew and support staff. The story was brought to life through drama, music and dance. The story was about Peter and his family life and how Jesus led him to develop the Christian Church. I learnt a lot about Peter and that he wasn’t prefect, often speaking before engaging brain, something I know I can relate too.

Edward and Gemma came to many of the rehearsals, enduring late nights and constant music tracks in the car. The Choir and cast welcomed them with open arms. Devon Brown, who played Simon Peter, spent a bit of time with them before the show, and Bill who played Cornelius, joined them in his full armour, during the performance. Everyone in the church had a great night and one could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. Some of the Broadstone Choir came to see the show and others went to Salisbury, another location, the following night. Paul and I looked forward very much to the Wimborne performance at the Tivoli. Each performance that the cast do is unique, because at each location there is a different choir, each time being lead by Roger.

On the 17th October, we sung at the Tivoli in Wimborne. This time in a theatre, a very different setting for Worship, but with a larger stage there was more room for all the performers. This performance was even more special for me, because my mother and her sister came to see the show, as well as a few other friends. The great thing about the Tivoli is that people who wouldn’t normally go to church would be able to witness the message of Jesus and possible feel the Holy Spirit for themselves. The people in the audience that I spoke to, said that they felt spiritually uplifted.

I have never had the opportunity to be able to go on an Alpha course and feel the Holy Spirit myself, but performing “Rock” has brought me closer to God and I feel that I was touched by the Holy Spirit in these performances. The music and lyrics for both Paul and I was so amazing and uplifting, that we were able to reach out and feel the presence of God for ourselves.

Our journey with “Rock” had not ended yet. Paul and I went off to Birmingham, to the Birmingham Symphony Hall on the 14th November 2009, for two more performances in their Grand Finale with over 1,500 people singing in the choir. The spirit of God was with us the whole weekend, keeping us safe in the car despite someone trying to crash into us on the A34. The weather in the south was appalling, but the sun shone and the roads were mostly dry. We stayed dry the whole day despite heavy rain shower. It stopped when we wanted to go outside. We found food, and hotel with ease and the journey home was straight forward too.

The shows were an awesome experience. The spirit of “Rock”, I hope will continue with us, forever. I have personally performed in many shows, but nothing has ever touched me like this. For Paul, a non singer, he has found his voice, stood up in front of hundreds of people and performed like a pro. The fellowship with everyone involved with “Rock” has been uplifting and will be held close to our hearts. “Rock” is an unforgettable experience, thank you God.

Cornelius 2

Our understudy Cornelius came up with a poem. See what you think of this:

'The End of an Era'

Notes to reader(s):

• This fine work of art received its premiere reading at Burney Lane on 15th November 2009


• If you have difficulty with certain aspects of this 'modern classic', please refer to the previously published notes on 'Northern Rhyming' and the 'Scanning is for wimps' Rule, and if you experience problems in getting some words to rhyme (e.g. 'muddle' and 'Fuggle'), just accept - once again - that you're not as bright as the poet


• Most of this artistic masterpiece is factually based, however some lends itself to poetic licence (a copy of the author's poetic licence is available on request, if required)

An aged Rocker from Birmingham way
decided again he'd got something to say
He started to pen; he worked round the clock
In his head were a soldier, a disciple, a Rock.

He took trips to the seaside to find inspiration
It took hours and days (and some perspiration!)
And so that he could make sense of this muddle
He enlisted the help of the one they call 'Fuggle'!

And carefully, prayerfully he started to find
A piecing together of the thoughts in his mind
And even when it was far from complete
He started to put the word on the street

With the help of the slaves in the CMM office
(he plied them with copious biscuits and coffees)
He soon built up a list of dates
And places who were willing to open their gates

Next he needed a cast of actors and singers
He scoured the country for lookers, not mingers
He found dancers, producer, costumiers, sellers,
Musicians and wardrobe and great techie fellas

Prayer warriors soon volunteered their skills
To ensure that the tours passed with minimal ills
What he got was a team that was best in the land
A talented, God-loving, number one band.

They all practiced hard. Many hours they invested
To the limit their talents were prodded and tested
The musical ones laid down a CD
With the help of Chris in his conservatory!

Eventually after much preparation
The musical 'Rock' was released to the nation
On the first of November two thousand and eight
And the crowds they all loved it; they thought it was great

If I told you the tales of every last tour
I feel I'd become a bit of a bore
So I'll precis (sum up) in a real simple way
So that even the Leicester folk hear what I say

We travelled the country, with the devil we'd duel
Never late on the stage, despite lack of fuel!
Most days would start with a worshipful meeting
Commencing with Alan's traditional greeting

Then we'd eat, then we'd meet our wonderful choir
And we'd pray that the dressing rooms weren't too dire
And then after rehearsal did finally break up
We'd slip into costume and slap on our makeup.

After prayers with the choir (and a bishop or two)
And a final chance to nip to the loo
Our Roger would stand up to speak to the masses
And wiggle his bum to the delight of the lasses

The band would strike up, the choir would sing
The dancers would come on and do their thing
Followed closely by cast who'd deliver their lines
Sticking fully to the script all the while, every time...

Backstage would be peaceful and tranquil and still
No giggling from dancers, no-one falling ill
No tears from Alan, no clanking of chains
No-one messing about, or being a pain

Some two hours later (unless there's a break)
We'd bow, and rapturous applause we would take
We'd meet and we'd greet, and we'd pray where we could
And if we could find our hosts it'd be good

With a bit of luck, when we got back to digs
They'd insist of supper of soup or of figs
Or plates full of sandwiches piled up high
Or cakes, or pudding of hot apple pie

Then (very often at something past one)
We'd crawl upstairs and get our 'jamas on
But no need for gloom, no need for sorrow
They've said they'll do us a fry-up tomorrow

So after more food and some great fellowship
We'd get back on the road to continue our trip
It's off to a church for some quiet contemplation
With a belly jam-packed with eggs and with bacon

Then back in the car with a lovely new bunch
And we'd get there in time for a nice slap-up lunch
Then back to the meeting and back to the show
And back home for supper (the waistline doth grow)

So that's the tour for you (boy, I don't half rabbit)
But it's gonna be hard to get out of the habit
And it's gonna be harder waking up in the mornin'
All bleary eyed and tired and yawnin'

Knowing never again will we all go on tour
We may never witness the 'Walker snore'
We may never see Margaret or Viv wave a flag
If we're not very careful, it could end up a drag

Except for the fact that we'll all still be friends
United by God's love that will never end
Inspired by the Rocker from Birmingham way
Who decided again he'd got something to say.

After-show poetry...

During our after-show party, we had two contributions of poetry from our Cornelii (is that the plural of Cornelius?)

This first offering came from Bill, and it is set to the tune of In Caesarea beside the sea (song two from Rock). It is based mostly upon the jokes that Roger tells at his choir previsits, so if you can stretch your mind back that far...

In Weston-super-Mare (Hey, I've written a musical)

Women: In Weston-super-Mare by sea, composer Roger W Jones

Walks Poppy miles along the beach, despite his creaky aching bones

Men: Although he comes from Birmingham, his accent isn't very thick,

And all the cast ignore him when he waves his little stick.

All: Oh Roger Jones, you make us laugh, with jokes so not fun-ny;

like telling us Acts chapter 2 leads on to chapter 3.

M: Hey I've written a musical

W: I bet the songs sound just the same.

M: Um, sing it like painting.

W: Oh, you mean a wall of song.

M: Yes, you might paint smoothly.

W: Uh, I wonder how that sounds.

M: Or you might try dabbing.

W: Ah, that makes it jump around.

W: are you ready for a gossip (make gossip sign), 4 bars, not one less (speak) Not a beat.

M: Men can carry on for 4 more, we can make the most of it.

W: Make it up when I do this (planned spontaneous happening sign), no, it's not one of those (make gossip sign) (speak) It's not.

M: 3 siblings and then a wake? That's not the one I chose! (speak) Isn't it?

W: Now here's a man who's suave and dapper,

M: He's so elegant and smooth and

W: Here's the man who says all this;

All: It's Alan, the truth it is.

W: Our Alison writes words aplenty,

M: And to Roger they get sent

W: He messes up the rhyming scheme.
All: Send for help - Or else I'll scream (scream) Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

S: We start this bit

A: We join with it

M: We try to fit

x3

All Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

S: We sing in key

A: We're harmony

M: O deary me!

x3

All: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

All shout: ALL TOGETHER

Sing random note followed by "Happy Birthday to you"

rofl!

(Just in case you didn't get a couple of jokes... At every venue Roger would introduce our team leader Alan by saying that he calls himself suave and sophisticated etc. The final joke about 'Happy Birthday' relates to our Bridport performance, on which day it was both Rachel and Ann's birthdays. Alan started off the singing by pitching a note, and then coming in on a completely different one. He has been ribbed ever since.)