Music Sunday — 14th June 2020
Thank you for joining us in celebrating the role of music and musicians in church life
A huge thank you to the nearly 2,000 of you who joined the Big Music Sunday Service on Sunday 14th June and to the 5,000 or so watching it subsequently, especially those in other time zones. It was wonderful to see all the comments in the chat section, and to feel the camaraderie of all those being brought together to worship and join in song at a time when physically getting together in church is still against UK Government guidelines.
We would also like to thank the participating choirs, our readers, special guests and all of those who worked so hard behind the scenes to bring this special service to fruition.
Of course, we very much hope that for Music Sunday 2021 churches will be able to hold their own special services and events, as previously, but we will also continue to develop the wider relationships and opportunities that lockdown has brought us.
RSCM Music Sunday 2021 will take place on Sunday 6th June. We cannot tell yet what that will look like, but do put the date in your own diary as well as the church diary.
Just a few examples of feedback from Music Sunday 2020
“Thank you RSCM – a great service in both senses of that word.”
“Wonderful uplifting music and worship. Thanks to each and everyone who has participated in any way to make it a memorable occasion. Here’s to us being able to sing together again very soon.”
“Just a big thank you for last night’s Evensong. Such a special event.”
A list of churches that participated in this year’s virtual service:
| All Saints, Brixworth |
| Windmill United Benefice: Burstow, Horne and Outwood |
| United Church of Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Good Shepherd Church, Cambridge |
| Holy Trinity, Hildersham |
| St Giles and St Nicholas Sidmouth Parish church choir |
| St. Paul’s Episcopal Fort Collins CO |
| Uppingham Parish Church |
| St Andrew’s church Ipplepen |
| Newport Cathedral |
| St Hilda’s Anglican Church, West Cliff, Whitby |
| Crawley Down All Saints’ |
| St Georges RC Church, Taunton, Somerset |
| St Andrew’s Church Choir Shifnal, Shropshire |
| Eastham St Mary’s |
| St Andrew’s Church Pau, SW France |
| St Mary’s Church, Moseley, Birmingham |
| Melbourne Parish Church, Derbyshire |
| St Nicholas Church Choir Old Marston Oxford |
| St.Bartholomew, Crewkerne |
| St Leonard’s Church, Wollaton, Nottingham. |
| Stour Vale Benefice Choir |
| Stanwick Group of Churches |
| Rayleigh Parish Choir, Holy Trinity Church |
| Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Southern Pines, NC |
| All Saints’ Church, Botley |
| St John the Evangelist, Farncombe |
| St Peter & the Holy Rood church choir |
| St Martin’s Dorking |
| Holy Trinity Leverstock Green |
| Holy Trinity Stevenage |
| Cantate |
| Holy Trinity, Amberley, Stroud. Glos |
| St John’s, Boxmoor (Hemel Hempstead) |
| St Andrew’s, Backwell |
| Barrington all Saints/Orwell Group Benefice |
| St. Mary’s Church, Woodbridge |
| Fisherwick Presbyterian Church |
| St Albans Church, Tokyo (as an individual) |
| St. Peter’s Church, Sharnbrook BEDFORD |
| St John the Baptist, Lustleigh, United Benefice of Moretonhampstead, Manaton, North Bovey & Lustleigh |
| St Mark’s, Highcliffe |
| Christ Church, South Ashford, Kent |
| St Leonard’s Church Seaford East Sussex (The Parish of Sutton with Seaford) |
| St Michael’s Parish Church Choir, Kirkham |
| St George’s Church, Whyke, Chichester |
| St Mary the Virgin, Lytchett Matravers Dorset |
| St James Church, New Brighton, Wallasey |
| St. Mary the Virgin, Walkern |
| Stamford All Saints |
| Congleton Parish |
| St Eustachius’ Parish Church, Tavistock, choir |
| Holy Trinity Broadstairs |
| St Edward the Confessor, Dringhouses, York |
| Keswick, St.John |
| The Gransdens Church Choir |
| St Mary Magdalene, Richmond |
| St Mary’s Church, Chesham |
| Pelham choir, Laughton, Ripe and Chalvington churches, East Sussex |
| St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Burlingame, California, US |
| St. Margaret’s Betley |
| St Michael and All Angels’ Lambourn |
| St Andrew’s Church, Stapleford |
| Gonzaga University |
| St Andrews Parish Church, Chippenham, Wiltshire |
| Christ Church Radyr |
| St Peter’s Wootton |
| St Catherine’s of Siena, Cocking |
| St. Andrew’s Stogursey, Quantock Coast Benefice |
| Preesall St Oswald |
| St Margarets Ilkley |
| St John’s, St Raphael, France |
| St Luke’s Church, Grayshott |
| St Paul’s Chichester |
| St Martin of Tours, Epsom |
| St Mary’s, Ross-on-Wye |
| St Luke’s Anglican Church Choir |
| St Mary’s Diptford (Three Rivers Mission Community) |
| Lichfield Cathedral Youth Voices, Lichfield Cathedral Boy & Girl Choristers, Lichfield Cathedral Chamber Choir & Lichfield Cathedral Chorus |
| St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lynchburg, VA |
| St Saviour’s, Oxton, Wirral. |
| Rushall Parish Church (St. Michael the Archangel) |
| United Church of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA |
| Stoke St. Michael’s Coventry |
| Hertford St Andrew |
| Woodbury/Ogwell |
| St Lawrence Church, Barnwood, Gloucester |
| All Saints’, Kings Heath (Birmingham) |
| St James Episcopal Church / The St. James Choir |
| St Margaret’s, Topsham, Exeter |
| St Augustine with St Luke Bromley Common |
| Christ Church Belper |
| St Mary Magdalene’s Episcopal Church, Dundee |
| St Phillip and St James, Alderley Edge |
| All Saints’, Catherington with St. James’, Clanfield |
| St Matthew’s Church, Buckley |
| St.Katharine Southbourne Bournemouth |
| St Gabriel – Walsall |
| St Philip’s Church, Kelsall |
| St Mary Blessed Virgin Luddenden |
| St Luke’s Morton |
| St. Peter’s, Bengeworth. |
| Portsmouth Cathedral Consort |
| St James the Great, Cupar |
| St Peter’s Church Choir, Irthlingborough. Holy Trinity Church Choir, Freetown, Sierra Leone. Leoa Academic Male Voice Choir London. |
| St. Helen’s Abingdon |
| Holy Trinity, Lamorbey, Sidcup |
| St. Michael and All Angels, Anglican Church Choir |
| St Blasius, Shanklin |
| St. Michael & All Angels Bramcote Nottingham |
| St Peter’s Weston Favell |
| St Luke’s Church, Maidenhead |
| St Michael and All Angels, Beaconsfield |
| St. Michael and All Angels, Headingley, Leeds. |
| St John’s Edinburgh |
| St John’s Penshurst |
| All Saints with St James Brightlingsea Essex |
| St James Church Finchampstead |
| St John the Evangelist, Withycombe Raleigh |
| St Mary’s Cathedral Choir, Limerick, Ireland |
| Pelham Choir of Laughton, Ripe and Chalvington, East Sussex |
| Parish of Par |
| Newport Methodist Church, Isle of Wight |
| St Lawrence, Barnwood |
| St. Leonard’s Church, Wollaton, Nottingham |
| Wivelsfield church choir |
| Dickleburgh All Saints |
| St Luke, Newton Poppleford |
| Newtownbreda Presbyterian Church Belfast (St John’s) |
| Gulval Church |
| St Wulfram’s Church Choir, Grantham |
| Yardley Hastings Benefice |
| Church Choirs of the Avon Valley Churches (around Fordingbridge), and members of the Keble Choir around the country |
| Danby chaple |
| St Giles, Farnborough, Kent |
| St Lawrence, Morland |
| Holy Saviour Church, Hitchin |
| St Nicholas Guisborough |
| St Leonards Dinninghton |
| Wallingford Parish Church Choir |
| Milford Singers |
| First Presbyterian Church, Evansville |
| St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Bryan, Texas, USA |
| St Michael and All Angels Boksburg South Africa |
| St Mary Magdalene, Newark |
| St Mary’s Herbrandston, Pembrokeshire |
| St George’s, Parish of Christchurch, Dorset. |
| St Stephen’s Church, Canterbury |
| St Chads, Pattingham, Staffordshire |
| Byfield, Holy Cross |
| Kloof Methodist, KZN, South Africa |
| St John the Baptist Church, Devizes |
| Holy Trinity Scottish Episcopal Church, Stirling |
| St Edmund’s Church Roundhay |
| St. Clares Episcopal Church |
| St. Clare’s Episcopal Church, Blairsville, Georgia |
| Prestonkirk |
| St Michael’s Amberley |
| St. Giles, Farnborough, Kent |
| Portsmouth Cathedral |
| St Chads, York |
| St Stephen’s Westminster |
| Bellville Catholic Church |
| Eaton Christ Church, Norwich |
| St. Martin-in-the-Fields Anglican Church |
| Cantorij of the Opstandingskerk, Houten, The Netherlands |
| St Mary Redcliffe Church, Bristol |
| Perranzabuloe Benefice Choir |
| Trinity Festival Choir, Sutton |
| Christ Church, Esher |
| Trinity Methodist Church, Loughborough |
| All Saints, Brailsford |
| St John’s Anglican Church, Ghent |
| St Mary’s Cathedral Glasgow |
| St. Nicholas’ Church Godstone |
| St Dunstan’s Cranbrook |
| St. Michael the Archangel, Chagford |
| Ashley Saint John, in diocese of Lichfield |
| St. Mary’s Luddenden |
| St George’s Church, Benenden, Kent |
| St Mary the Virgin, Gillingham (Dorset) |
| Brixworth All Saints |
| St Mary Magdalene , Richmond |
| St Johns Hemel Hempstead |
| Bedfordview Methodist Church |
| St Mary Charlton Kings |
| St Nicolas, Kings Norton, Birmingham, UK |
| St Robert’s Church Pannal |
| St Lukes Church, Maidenhead |
| St Margaret’s Scottish Episcopal Church, Rosyth |
| St John’s Church, Newport, Isle of Wight |
| St Mary’s Horsham |
| St Luke , Newton Poppleford |
| Kingsbury and Baxterley Group of Parishes |
| St Mary’s Parish Church, Wigton, Cumbria |
| St Helen’s Northwich |
| Broadway URC |
| St.Johns Dormansland |
| Kathedrale St.Gallen Switzerland |
| St George’s Whyke, Chichester |
| Ottery St Mary Parish Church |
| St Giles Pontefract |
| St Mary & St Botolph Whitton, Ipswich, Suffolk UK |
| Wylde Green URC |
| First United Methodist Church |
| St. Paul’s Chichester |
| All Saints Queen’s Park, Bedford |
| Binfield All SS and St Mark’s |
| St Edward the Confessor, Dringhouses York |
| St George’s, Norton, Letchworth Garden City |
| Anglican Church of St. Anna & St. Mary, Haarlem, the Netherlands |
| Orwell Benefice Choir |
| All Saints, Holbeach, Lincs |
| St Mary the Virgin Bathwick |
| The United Benefice of Standon and the Mundens with Sacombe |
| St Peters Petersfield |
| St. Paul’s Burlingame |
| St Mary’s Storrington |
| St Johns Maindee |
| All Saints Rockwell Green |
| St. Peter’s , Bengeworth, Evesham |
| St Cross Knutsford |
| St John the Baptist Devizes |
| St Miichael’s Bramcote |
| St Saviours Oxton |
| St NIcholas Church Choir Guisborough |
| All Saints Yelvertoft |
| St Johns Keswick |
| St John’s Church, Kirk Merrington |
| St Mary’s Merevale |
| St Michael & All Angels Lambourn |
| St John’s Bellville |
| Moulton |
| St Mary Ware |
| St Thomas of Canterbury, Goring-on-Thames |
Top 5 Suggested Activities
Learn the new piece specially commissioned by the RSCM for Music Sunday 2020
Hymns and Psalms and Sacred Songs by Thomas Hewitt Jones is now available exclusively to RSCM members as a free download, and to members and non-members as printed copies for purchase.
Find Out More Here
Plan an extended service
Here you will find a bespoke service put together by Revd Canon Anna Macham, RSCM Council member and Canon Precentor of Salisbury Cathedral.
Download the materialsHold a Songs of Praise event
Join with other local churches and come together to sing a variety of hymns, possibly from different traditions. These could be interspersed with speakers, readings or prayers.
Plan a concert
Stick with an old favourite or try something new!
Click here for ideas on how to maximise incomeAfternoon Tea
A Sunday afternoon in June is a splendid time for Afternoon Tea. See our guide below for other events combining refreshments into your event.
Further Information
General Resources
Please register your event as soon as possible using the online registration form or click here for a downloadable form.
After your event please complete the online feedback form or click here for a downloadable form. We would be grateful for feedback from all participants. In particular it will help us claim Gift Aid where possible
Click here for a list of other fundraising ideas.
It can be daunting deciding to plan an event, however our guide will take you through the stages to make your event a success. Click here to read more.
If you have decided to hold a sponsored event, this generic sponsorship form may suit your requirements.
Gift Aid can be claimed at any gathering where donations are collected.
One way for us to claim Gift Aid on donations is by individual donors completing Gift Aid envelopes which you are able to request on the booking form. These must be sent to us with the donations.
However, it may also be possible for us to collect Gift Aid on donations via small collections. The information that we require will be the date, venue and nature of the event (which we will have from your registration form) as well as the approximate number of attendees. Please include this in your feedback form.
Liturgical Resources
Use or adapt the service here
Publicity
Please use the Music Sunday logo in your communications and publicity.
Next Steps
We are sure that churches and other organisations will want to capitalise on their event and have included these editable resources to allow you to reach out to your audience or congregations.
Find out more cards – choir
Find out more cards – music groups
What is the 50:50 campaign?
Recognising the financial needs of our churches, we introduced the Music Sunday 50:50 campaign 3 years ago to allow churches to share event and service proceeds and collections with us rather than necessarily donating 100%. It is up to churches themselves to decide how they want to participate this year. The logo will be the same for all events and publicity material whether you are raising money for the RSCM or not, but we do ask you to ensure that you are clear with your audiences and congregations about how any funds raised are being used. All donations to the RSCM will support us in our mission to sustain music within churches and communities.