- Joint Annual Report
For 2008
2008 was again a very busy year for both the Choir and the Singers. There were a number of very memorable joint ventures in addition to the normal round of services at which each choir sings week by week.
On Palm Sunday 2008, both Choirs sang a very special service of readings and music which set the theme for the services of Holy Week which followed. This included several new pieces with instrumental accompaniment which effectively led the congregation in contemplation of the enormity of the Passion.
A joint Summer Concert as part of the Moseley Festival was very well received by a large and appreciative audience including many from our local community who had not been inside the church before. A number of jolly secular pieces were included to the delight of the audience, together with instrumental solos by Philip Simons (Trombone) and Edwin Kaye (Horn).
After the summer break I was banned from practices for a fortnight while Ian Biggs hijacked the choirs, who laid on a humbling Choral Evensong and Concert for my 30 years at St Mary’s. Both were wonderful occasions which brought together past choristers, friends and relatives in heart warming musical and social gatherings. This was a great way to begin the next 30 years in Moseley.
Christmas saw the “Cracking Carols” event which brought together so many from the local community in a shared celebration of the festive season. It was an occasion which gave great pleasure to many from within St Mary’s and without. The New Year began with both choirs recording Songs of Praise programmes with the BBC in the company of many other choirs from the City and the region in the Town Hall. Exhausting but entirely worthwhile.
Individually, the Choirs have had a varied and interesting time of it, too. The Robed Choir undertook a residency at Portsmouth Cathedral for a week last August. This was greatly enjoyed by all participants in view of the excellent weather and the hospitality and enthusiasm of the Cathedral authorities. They, also, were pleased with the contribution of the Choir to their worship and have fulsomely invited us to return. It was nice to have Jeremy with us to share part of that visit to his former parish haunts. Christmas was its usual hectic time for the Robed Choir including singing for KPMG at the ICC, for the second time at the WI Carol Service in St Martin’s in the Bull Ring (in the presence of the Mayor), at Victoria Hall, Leamington and at several festive events round the City.
The Singers embarked on a residential visit of their own in 2008, a bonding week in Prague in May last year. Purely social, it was an excellent and greatly enjoyed experience.
They also led the music once again for the opening and closing services of the Diocesan 3D course at Birmingham Cathedral, as well as participating in memorable services within St Mary’s for Advent, Epiphany and Candlemas.
The experience gained by all members of St Mary’s music team is something I would heartily recommend to all members of our congregation. Try it out yourself - see what it does for the confidence and learning skills of your youngsters! Very, very few churches in the region offer the range of musical activities available in St Mary’s as part of their worship and Christian nurture. The teamwork and camaraderie are a tonic! My heartiest thanks to everyone involved in the music team, with honourable mention of Ian Biggs, Mark Simons, John Carey and Bob Meikle for their musical, organisational and personal support this year as in many before.
Mick PerrierRegular Sunday service ringing was maintained throughout the year at St Mary’s, and also at St Anne’s from September: also occasional weddings and weekly practices. In May we held our ‘Ringers Outing’ on which we visited and rang at three ‘towers’ in North Worcestershire: Clent, Belbroughton and Chaddesley Corbett, and over the year we welcomed five visiting bands of ringers to St Mary’s. During the year we had one minor catastrophe and one major success.
Firstly the catastrophe in St Mary’s in May. Unfortunately for, and to the shock of, the visiting band of ringers which was ringing the bells at the time, the tenor bell, weighing approximately 16 cwt, broke its bearing on one side and fell into the ‘pit’ below the bell frame. Fortunately the floor structure was strong enough to withstand the impact and load, but there it remains to date, awaiting the decision of whether to spend time and money re-hanging the bell on new bearings, and probably new wheel and fittings, or whether, preferably, to save that potential cost and put it towards a replacement ring of bells.
The major success of the year was the completion of the re-hanging of the bells in St Anne’s. This was achieved after a period raising the necessary funds and eventually employing a professional bell-hanger, who with support of a band of volunteers, removed the bells to the bell-hanger’s works, had new fittings and wheels made, and eventually re-hoisted and re-hung the bells, together with a beautiful brand new bell specially cast for us in Royal Eijsbouts Bellfounders in the Netherlands. The ‘new’ ring of six bells was eventually rung for the first time in September, and since then has been rung regularly for Sunday morning services. Also, a practice night of Tuesday has been established with several newcomers learning to ring. As these are much lighter bells and are easier to ring than those in St Mary’s they make a good ‘training’ ring of bells.
We will always be pleased to hear from prospective new ringers, so if you would like to have a go or just to see what we get up to please come along, on a Monday evening to St Mary’s or on a Tuesday evening to St Anne’s, or preferably first speak to one of our ringers to check times. For further information contact:
The Flower Guild arranges flowers for all services except during Lent and Advent. It also decorates the Church for weddings when requested. Anyone in the congregation can give flowers for a personal anniversary or for a festival. Members of the Guild usually buy their own flowers. Gavin Carter of the Fine Flower Company is always very helpful when members need advice about flowers.
There are thirty-three members, but not all play an active partly due to illness and infirmity. Sadly Jessamy Otway, who had been a very active member of the Guild since she came to Birmingham in 1998, died on April 28th 2008 in her 91st year. Her wit, humour and energy are much missed. Shirley Smith is not able to play a full part because of illness and is also much missed. We have welcomed new members this year and look forward to having more.
This year the members decorated the church for three weddings in August, for the Patronal Festival on September 7th, for the Harvest Festival on October 5th and decorated trees and arranged flowers in the windows for the Christmas tree festival on December 17th Betty Clarke is Chair of the Flower Guild (449 1189), Barbara Hanes is Vice-Chair, Dorothy Pridham is Treasurer and Joyce Rimmer is Secretary (444 3516).
Joyce RimmerOver 2008 we have arranged the flowers on the altar and pedestals at various positions in the church. As before, members of the congregation have given money for us to purchase flowers to celebrate anniversaries and memories of loved ones. We have also arranged flowers for weddings and funerals. For special days such as Christmas, Easter, Harvest festival, etc. some members of the congregation have helped to decorate the church. We have tried to encourage members to help on a regular basis, without success. The task of decorating is very rewarding.
Pat Burrows and Val Field