St. John's, Hereford. 23 February 2007.

On February 23rd 2007, the members of CMCC packed their weekend bags, and made their way up to The Greenman Inn in Foundhope near Hereford. They came not only from Cardiff, but Manchester, London, Birmingham, Aberdeen, and Brussels. The hotel was quaint and set in the middle of the countryside way off the beaten track and about 20 minutes from Hereford itself. None of the floors or walls were level and there were many little winding corridors with tiny doors leading off into the bedrooms.

Throughout the evening members arrived and eventually we all sat down to dinner. Halfway through dinner the hotel was plunged into darkness, and dark is dark when you are in the country. A power cut had hit the village. The hotel staff collected all the candles they could find and when dinner was finished by candlelight we moved into the bar to sit by the huge open fireplace where we all had a nightcap before turning in.

Rehearsal for the concert was desperately needed, so at one o’clock, on Saturday, the choir and friends met at St.John’s Methodist Church in Hereford. Rev. David Meacham and Peggy and Lou Probert very warmly greeted us with hugs and handshakes, after all, this concert had been in planning for nearly a year, and it was good to see the faces behind the frantic telephone calls and emails.

The church was beautiful, with its gallery and openness, and we set about rehearsing. Every now and then the members of St. John’s would interrupt us with a tea break (made in their brand new kitchen), and it soon became apparent that they had arranged a rota system so that there would always be someone around to help us. Whatever we needed was tended to with open, smiling hospitality, and no request was too much trouble. We needed some photocopying done, it was done there and then, we needed music stands – they were a couple of telephone calls and they were produced, we needed wall space for our projections, furniture was moved, and the church rearranged. Tears of frustration, tiredness and anxiety were wiped and cared for by Peggy and her team.

By 7.30, the hall was packed out, and the choir were given a wonderful build up of an introduction. Everyone was nervous and the air back stage was fraught with tension. I could feel the anxiety of the choir as I walked to the stage to introduce them. Rachel started the piano introduction and the choir moved in!

From the very first note sung to the very last, the atmosphere was electric. Rev Meacham bounced up to the front and called for an encore. The audience roared with approval. CMCC looked as if they had woken from a dream, they had worked so hard, focussing their minds and voices on the task in hand – to spread and share the word of God, and they had achieved it. Everyone was greeted and thanked, kissed and hugged, the audience were buzzing with enthusiasm.

The program had asked the audience to:

BE READY TO…… 

• give the sign of peace
• Hold hands with your neighbour
• Say the Lord’s prayer
• Follow simple actions
• Cry
• Laugh

All this happened. The father of one of our choir members, still had tears in his eyes as he thanked me, saying that it had been one of the most moving concerts he had ever attended. We all trundled back to the hotel, again to sit by that huge fire and recap on the day’s events.

The next morning, we attended the 10.30am service and again opened our mouths in song. One of the members of the congregation had just turned 90 years of age, and Rev Meacham had sent us a poem written in her honour. We sang it to the tune of ‘O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing My Great Redeemers Praise’. Mary, whose birthday it was, came up onto the stage, stood between Sue and Hazel and sang out loud with us. 

The service was about the abolition of slavery, and our male choir members all took part in the dramatisation of the council that put an end to slavery in Britain. When the choir sang an adapted version of I Believe, tears ran, not only amongst the congregation but amongst the choir members as well. The touch of God was powerful.

We returned to the hotel for lunch and the reading of the limericks, where everyone had to write a limerick about someone else and we all had to guess who the limerick was about. So the weekend ended with much laughter and then tears as we all said our goodbyes and drove back home.
 
Rev Meacham spoke for the community of St.John’s as he said

‘You have a wonderful ministry, don’t ever stop’

With God’s help we won’t.