Easter Meditation 2023 at Royal Tunbridge Wells
Towards the end of the year, Christmas carols and music seem to dominate our sound world for months. Easter music, by comparison, is confined to a few days in Spring – yet it is the pinnacle of the Christian year. It has been the privilege of the South London Fellowship Band each year, to lead a Meditation at the commencement of Holy Week and for several years, it has been both a privilege – and a pleasure – to share this with the Royal Tunbridge Wells Corps.
In his prayer, Adrian Horwood challenged all with “…may this be a powerful time of personal renewal as we worship through words and music this evening…”.
The focus of the evening was on the cross and the events of upcoming Good Friday. As people gathered in the hall, the Band played three pieces that set the scene for the service: The Old Rugged Cross (Leidzén), Here At The Cross(Steadman-Allen), and Time To Be Holy (Sharman). After welcoming all to the Meditation, the Band’s Musical Director, Derick Kane, led the Band in George Marshall’s arrangement of God So Loved the World, from Stainer’s Crucifixion. Later, the Band played Noel Jones’s arrangement of Fewster (“When Jesus Looked o’er Galilee”).
Following a reading from Mark 15, which tells the story of Jesus before Pilate, the Band sang the male voice song By The Way Of The Cross (Ferguson).
Vocal support was also given by the Royal Tunbridge Wells Songsters. Under the leadership of Mike Wickham, the Songsters sang two much-appreciated songs that complemented the music of the Band: I Know A Fount (Cooke/Harlan), and We Saw Love (York/ Blenkenship arr Blyth).
Scripture passages and two Easter readings – Lord, we lift our hearts to you and Love Overcame (Palmer) – interspersed the musical items, and the readers were Mike Wickham, Christine Wickham, Helen Finch and Tim Finch.
Bandsman Dave Harrison (Hadleigh Temple) was a founder member of the South London Fellowship Band and had occupied with distinction the soprano cornet chair for 29 years. Dave had been Promoted to Glory just four weeks previously. The Easter Meditation was paused for a few minutes to remember Dave’s contribution to the Band’s life during that time, to give thanks for his service and to bring the family to God in prayer.
In his Easter Thought, Band Chaplain Roger Gadsden invited us to “…reflect upon the words of Jesus in John’s gospel chapter 10, which commences with Jesus saying that ‘I am the good shepherd’…” – the Band had earlier played All In The April Evening (Roberton arr. Ball) which ponders on Jesus as the Lamb of God. After assuring the congregation that (Jesus is) “Alive – Alive this evening”, Roger was able to say, “…The good news is that because of all that Jesus has done, we are brought back into a relationship and fellowship with him who loved us and gave himself for us…”.
The Band’s two major contributions came towards the end of the evening. First, Dean Goffin’s Selection The Challenge Of The Cross, which dates from 1955. A companion to ‘The Shadow of the Cross’, this selection contains the following well-known songs:-‘Clinging to the Cross’, ‘I am coming to the Cross’, ‘Take up thy cross and follow Me’ and ‘When I survey the wondrous Cross’ (Rockingham).
For its final item, the Band ended on a triumphant note as it returned to the Shepherd theme with Brian Bowen’s Meditation My Comfort and Strength, which is based on ‘The God of love my Shepherd is’, a paraphrase of Psalm 23 by the English poet George Herbert (1593-1632) to the tune ‘University’.
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