music: Maurice Greene (1696-1755), words Psalm 65, vv9,12 This article was written for the October issue of our parish magazine. About a year ago, in the autumn of 2020 we had endured a full national lockdown, a summer of somewhat eased restrictions, and were entering a time of less-than-clear tiered restrictions. If memory serves, that … More Thou Visitest the Earth
2018 has been a year of remembrance with concerts to commemorate the centenary of the ending of the Great War reaching their climax in November … More We Shall Walk Through the Valley in Peace – trad spiritual, arr. Hogan (1957-2003)
Regular readers will know how important music is to me, and much has been said about the importance of music in worship over recent weeks – in a weekly course, in our church services and in magazine articles. It has been all the more poignant for the long absence of music from our worship, and its reintroduction at the end of July … More When is a ‘Performance’ not a ‘Performance’?
Have you noticed that during June and into July Maggie’s Music Makers treated you to several instances of communion setting contrafactum? All were taken from “Hymns Old and New” (HON) – our trusty orange hymn book … More Communion Settings
Today (July 25th) was a very exciting day. We re-introduced singing for the first time in well over a year. It was the first Sunday after the lifting of lockdown restrictions. What a difference music and singing make, especially having been deprived of singing for so long … More Let the Music Play!
As you know, restrictions across England have now been lifted, including those in places of worship. After reading the guidelines for the coming out of Lockdown with regards to the Church of England I have consulted with the wardens/deputy wardens, some members of all our congregations and the ministry team to gauge people’s thoughts, concerns and worries … More Resuming Worship after the Lifting of Restrictions
Good morning and welcome to our service of Holy Communion for Sunday 25 July. This is our first since lockdown restrictions were completely lifted, and you will see some significant changes to our worship. However, we’re still being sensible, cautious, and behaving with utmost respect for other … More The miracle of a free lunch
Liturgy is one of those words that is frequently used, but rarely explained. When people say that they don’t need to come to church to pray, they can pray at home, that is perfectly trues, but rather misses the point. Because in church we are not just praying and reading the Bible, but we are worshipping God together in a structured way. And that is what we mean by liturgy … More What is liturgy?
Good morning and a very warm welcome to our service of Holy Communion, celebrating our patron saint, St Margaret of Antioch. We also celebrate music! Despite Covid regulations still restricting singing during worship, today we share with you all we recently learned during the “Inspiring Music in Worship” course attended by many of our music group, Maggie’s Music Makers. Rev Sue will preside, Rev Deborah will preach, and Reader Christine will share with us the reasons behind each hymn choice … More The Importance of Music in Worship
It’s June. After one of the wettest Mays on record, many of us are hoping and praying for a drier, sunnier summer. Many of us are also hoping and praying for the return of some of the freedoms we took for granted until March last year … More What a Wonderful World (Weiss & Thiele, arr. Brymer)
St Margaret's Church Prestwich 