When I’m introduced as a church musician, the first question I get asked is, ‘Is that a full-time job?’ Well, as I only work one day a week, here’s what I did last Sunday.
7.45 Breakfast and Match of the Day with Philly (my wife) and the boys (Ollie, 3 and Charlie, 1).
9.15 Arrive at church. Dave the violinist has been there since 8.45, as he’d got his Sunday alarm clock mixed up with his weekday one (yes, he has two). I’ve got half an hour before the rehearsal to check mikes, music and chords so we can use the time efficiently.
9.45 Start rehearsal. We always start in prayer. Just to show that we’re just like anywhere else, I’m a drummer and bassist short for the first 20 minutes of the rehearsal, giving us just ten minutes to rehearse four songs with the whole band. It’s also only the second time the bassist’s ever played at church. I decide to leave the drums and bass out of one of the songs so we can do a better job on the other three. The other song in the set is the starter (‘Christ triumphant’), which I can take on the organ.
Christ triumphant?
10.30 Meeting starts. ‘Christ triumphant’ doesn’t go that well, and to my total surprise, two people tell me afterwards that they’d never sung it before. I’m sure it’s been one of our staple anthems for years, but it’s amazing what you can take for granted.
11.55 Meeting ends. I was really encouraged with the singing during the rest of the meeting. All the musicians played and sang well, but what pleases me most is when the congregation sings with real passion. We finished with ‘How wonderful, How marvellous’. Hugely encouraging.
12.00 Spend ten minutes getting a hard time for playing ‘How wonderful’ in the wrong way. Apparently, the chorus is supposed to be a lot faster, and needs tambourines and maybe even castanets. I forget all my own advice from my last EN article and fight my corner, also momentarily forgetting the message from the sermon about the priority of sins being forgiven over every other trivial matter. Fortunately, I’m encouraged by others who loved singing it in the way we did.
12.30 I meet up with Philly and the boys who’ve gone on ahead of me to a friend’s child’s baptism at the Temple Church on Fleet Street. We try to make as many of these occasions as we can to keep up with old friends.
No Happy Meals
13.30 Back to the City for lunch with the family. Something else I’d taken for granted was that every McDonald’s serves Happy Meals. No Happy Meals at Moorgate.
14.00 I take Charlie back to church in the buggy, still eating his chicken nuggets and chips. He falls asleep just in time for the 2.30 rehearsal.
14.30 Start rehearsal for the 4.00 pm meeting. This meeting has only been going since last April, and we’re still short of musicians, many of whom are away on a church weekend. It’s a tough rehearsal. The bassist is really a singer, so he’s out of his comfort zone, and the drummer we’ve had to ‘borrow’ from the 6.00 pm congregation. He’s never played hymns before. Charlie sleeps all the way through the rehearsal.
15.35 End rehearsal. Again, I’ve gone over time, but I think we’ve at least got intros tight.
16.00 Meeting starts.
17.14 For some inexplicable reason, the biggest mistake of the day is made by me as I finish the last song on an F chord instead of a C. Fortunately (again, for some inexplicable reason), the bassist didn’t play the last note, so absolutely no one noticed, and it didn’t sound too bad really. The important thing is not to flinch, however big the mistake. Then it makes it look like you planned it all along.
17.15 The musicians arrive to sound check for the 6.00 pm meeting. They’ve been rehearsing in a different building till now. Time for a quick bite to eat before the meeting. The food cooked for us is fantastic after the 4.00 pm meeting. I feed the boys moussaka because Philly is tied up in a conversation. Then she takes over so I can go back for the 6.00 pm meeting.
18.00 Meeting starts. I don’t play for this meeting, but the music buck still stops with me, so I like to listen to how the musicians are doing.
Am I bitter?
18.40 The slot about inviting people to A Passion for Life has gone on a bit too long. They’ll have to cut a song. The song that gets the chop was written by me. I’m not bitter.
20.1 I’m speaking to about 60 students for an hour after the meeting on the purpose of music in church.
21.30 Home on the bus to prepare for a whole week of putting my feet up and drinking fizzy pop — till I go back to work next Sunday.
Richard Simpkin
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