Page 35 - Church Music Quarterly September 2018

INHARMONY OR IN DECLINE
THE STATE OF PARISH MUSIC
RICHARD HUBBARD
How often have you wondered what is really going
on with music for worship in churches in your area? How has the decline in church attendance in recent years affected music provision, and how have churches, especially in rural areas, been impacted by changes
in church music styles? Wouldn’t it be useful to have some statistics to show the real picture?
St Edmundsbury Cathedral thought just that, and so commissioned Richard Hubbard to carry out an extensive survey of the state of music in worship across the diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, which covers most of Suffolk. The aim of the survey was not only to find out what was going on, but also to gain an understanding
of areas in which churches wanted to change, and what type of training might help them achieve this. An online questionnaire was followed up by over 300 phone calls to achieve a final response rate of 444 churches –
94% of the churches in the diocese.
The results are published in the InHarmony Report –
a 140-page full colour document that uses maps and charts to present the data, and includes some in-depth analysis of the findings, together with six pages of recommendations. The research covers size and age ranges of congregations, provision of organs and organists, use of other instruments, choirs and music groups, and balance of hymns and worship songs.
It goes on to look at the type of training that churches would welcome to help them move forward.
The report finds that only 51% of churches hold services every week. 45% have no members aged under 50, and, alarmingly, 62% reported that they have no children in any services. Only a handful of churches have teenagers. Choirs sing in 36% of the 444 churches, though often these are benefice choirs, which sing only occasionally and are shared between several churches. RSCM members will be particularly alarmed to note that only 36% of
these choirs include children. Fewer than 150 children across the entire diocese sing in a church choir.
Organs are alive and well, and present in 96% of churches. Almost half the churches have an organist aged over 70, and only 4% have one aged under 30. 59% of organists are unpaid, and 34% are not church members.
In 17% of churches there is a music group, though only 22% of these play every week, 28% of churches regularly resort to recorded music due to shortage of musicians. In 44% of churches there is a desire to introduce new music, but two-thirds of those cited limitation of musicians as
a main reason for not doing so. Half said that lack of knowledge of suitable repertoire was a limiting factor.
Following on from the report, the cathedral has employed Richard Hubbard to develop InHarmony as a resource for churches across the diocese, providing workshops, training events, resource ideas and consultations, as well as encouraging the cathedral
to explore a wider range of music and worship genres.
At Chevington Church, the congregation responded to the retirement of the organist some years ago by forming a recorder group. Richard says: ‘Churches should be encouraged to think creatively about making their own music, rather than always relying on the decreasing number of organists. In a village context there is something quite authentic about a group of parishioners playing at the front of the church, creating a sense of shared ownership and community that is quite different from the organ at the back. It’s
a 21st-century reworking of the west gallery tradition that predates the use of organs in village churches.’
Is St Edmundsbury Cathedral encouraging churches to ditch the organ completely? Far from it. Richard says: ‘A well-played organ is a wonderful and uplifting accompaniment to worship, so of course we want
to encourage its use where appropriate. We’re exploring ideas to encourage more young people to take up the organ.’
The InHarmony Report is the most extensive piece
of research in this field since the 1992 Archbishops’ Commission on Church Music, In Tune With Heaven. Richard says: ‘Much has changed in the last 25 years, and the Church needs to be equipped to provide music of the highest quality across a range of musical styles in order to engage people in living and life-changing worship.’
Copies of the InHarmony Report can be ordered at http://stedscathedral.uk/inharmony/ where you can also subscribe to receive the InHarmony eNews.
INHARMONY OR IN DECLINE 35