Survey of music at services - results - St James's Church Piccadilly London

Survey of music at services - results

16/4/2015

Towards the end of 2014 we ran a survey asking regular attenders at the 11am Eucharist to comment on our music. We had 26 replies. We asked about style, variety, standard. We also asked specific questions about inclusive language, particularly in relation to historic or poetic texts. We asked about our voluntary choir of Lay Singers and our practice of having a music rehearsal for the congregation before the service.

Thank you very much to everyone who took part. The Liturgy Group (a committee of the PCC) looked at the results at its April meeting. A huge variety of views were expressed as you will see here. No clear consensus emerged but in response to the survey and the views expressed there, we will experiment with different accompaniments to more contemporary music, with a greater variety of instruments. We will also organise a drumming workshop during this year for those who would like to learn. We will move towards once a month using the piano more, with other instruments to accompany the congregational singing. We will experiment more with a greater variety of accompaniment to the range of music we use. All views are always welcome and we will continue to evolve our liturgical musical diet as we go along. Thank you for taking part and keep telling us what you think.

The survey replies can be seen here

2 Comments

HughV

17/4/2015 04:15:55

The survey resulted in many very contradictory views. A good reminder that seeking to be inclusive does not equal uniformity of opinion. But much shared and genuine appreciation of Lil, Malcolm and our Lay Singers. A reminder, too, that the liturgical life of the church is not there to make us feel good, but to help us pay attention.

Matthew Sexton

19/6/2015 13:53:50

I always loved working with Lil and Malcolm. I learnt so much in terms of discipline and rehearsals were good humoured and often funny and alot of patience learnt.

Although I generally prefer listening to pop, I found I could often be moved by the traditional sacred music at St James.

I wonder though, where the line is between sacred and secular music and how far the music most often used in church simply reinforces the socially conservative nature of formal religion. Is it possible to ask of secular music, for example, what an artist is really talking about when they are referring to another in a song. And who decides? And if this is a valid question who and how should we be challenged to think about this?

I'm not saying that we should suddenly start singing any old song from the charts in church, but that the relationship could be a bit more porous.

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Survey of music at services - results

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