Announcement: Download EP

We released our first CD not too long ago and it was great getting the team to push themselves with arrangements. It was brilliant see the results of people's hard work and while it was fantastic having an end product seeing how the project developed the musicians was priceless.

 We've were recently approached by a guy on the music team who has access to a music studio, who said we could record a few songs if we wanted. We jumped at the chance and so on Saturday 3rd March we will be heading over to oxford to record a few songs we haven't yet recorded.

Last time we layered each section with each part being recorded individually but due to it being recorded on one day we are recording everything pretty at the same time, which will create a slightly different feel. We've used synths in a way we haven't before and so that has added a new texture to our sound.  The guys and girls who will be recording have been hard at work practising over the past few week and we're excited by how the songs have taken shape.

The songs will be:
1.O For A Thousand Tongues
2.Victorious
3. if we have enough time a version of sorts of "Your Child" (tbc)

We won't be producing a CD this time, instead we'll post it up on http://readingfamilychurch1.bandcamp.com/

 Looking forward to sharing what we've done with you all

Beats, loops and Sunday Meetings...

On Sunday i will be attempting something a tad different. We're constantly trying to think of creative things we can use to help stop us being stale musically and that people don't turn up already knowing exactly what's going to happen. We also want to use our creativity to help draw people closer to Jesus rather than taking attention away from Him.

What will be different this week is that we won't have a drum kit (though we will have a djembe), instead for the first 3 songs we'll be using beats & loops to create most of the rhythm for the songs. 

We'll see how it goes, just gotta hope Mr. Mac doesn't decide to switch off randomly!

Keep Singing Of The Cross - released

So on Sunday we released the CD and gave them away for free. You can still grab a copy from the church office.

You can also download the album from this website:
 http://readingfamilychurch1.bandcamp.com/

Below is a player if you want to have a listen to some of the songs.




There is also a songbook which we've made up which you can download from here:
http://issuu.com/rfcmedia/docs/songbook

   

So after many months the CD is out, hope you enjoy listening to the songs!

Worship Leader Meeting

Last night we had our first worship leaders meeting of the year. It was great fun as we sat, ate some chinese takeaway first, had a few laughs and then talked about how we felt about worship leading currently and some other practical stuff.

 It was a brilliant time of encouragement and re-envisioning for us. It's fantastic to be on team with these people and a real privilege to serve with them.

Worship Song "Audit"

I'm a big fan of looking at stats... it's a great way of being able to see things that at a glance you may not be able to see.

I've done this before, but today i complied a list of all the songs we've played so far this year and tallied up how many times we've played each song, and also what individually each worship leader has played... on top of this i also put the year each song was written on the totals (just because it interested me really!)

Our top 14 songs were (because there were 5 joint number 10s)

And can it be (2010) - homewritten remake of the hymn
To God be the glory (2010) - Lou Fellingham
Keep Singing (2011) - homewritten
Stronger (2008) - Hillsong
Amazing Grace (trad)
Because of your love (2008) - Al Gordon
How great thou art (trad)
See his love (2005) - Tom Lockley
There's no condemnation (2005) - Simon Brading
I delight (2010) - homewritten
Our god he reigns (2007) - Simon Brading & Matt Redman
The righteousness of god (2010) - Jordan Dillon
When I survey (trad)
Yahweh (2009) - Hillsong

It's an interesting mix of songs, and in our top 3 we've written as a church 2 of them!

As a team we don't want to get stale and simple play the same songs again and again... As one would hope, it's encouraging seeing the top songs we played last year not getting played as often this year as we hopefully keep trying to stay fresh in the songs we sing and not kill songs by playing them every week...

While it's good to not making 'singing the latest song' the be all and end all, we similarly want to keep pressing on and singing the timeless truths in a fresh way... i'll be interested to see what songs RFC are singing when i do this next year!

Craig and Ellie

Today saw my FP mentor Craig get married to the lovely Elli, was a fantastic day and a joyous occasion... It's great being part their family's day... I had "the view from the music seats"...

Prayer Meeting

Last night we had another one of our new monthly prayer meetings where we gather together as one church instead of meeting as life groups. We started by Richard giving an exposition on Psalm 24 before we launch into some songs.

It's always stirring seeing people passionately worship Jesus at these meetings and last night was no different. We try to choose songs that lift our gaze to our Saviour and remind us of biblical truths to help lead us into action. I think it's always good to be remind just how big a God we have before we start praying!

There was loads to pray about and we saw prophetic words spoken. We prayed about buildings, salvation, people to be set from and for people serving overseas. One of my favourite moments was seeing the church family huddle around Laura (who's going out to South America) and pray blessings over her.

It's such a privilege to be at nights like last night and to be standing side by side with other RFCers as we cry out to our Father. I'm looking forward to what He has in store for us! Do try to get along to the next one... you won't want to miss it...

Father's Day @ RFC, 19th June

On Sunday 19th June at 12:30pm we're going to be celebrating Father's Day together as a church (that means both meetings). There's going to be a BBQ, a bouncy castle, inflatable joust, a tug of war and the infamous "Young Pups Vs Old Dogs" football match which i'm sure will be just as much fun as last year.

I'm looking forward to chatting to some new people, great food and lots of fun! Hopefully see you there (maybe on the pitch!)

Musician Team Meeting

On Tuesday night, the musician team gathered together for the first time this year. It was a brilliant time where we worshipped together, celebrated what has happened over the last year, reminded ourselves of some important things to keep in our minds and prayed for this coming year and over some needs within the team.

The musician team are brilliant... they work diligently & humbly and it's a real privilege to serve with these guys and girls. Whether it's at a Friday night practice after a long week or packing down at the end of the evening service I love the commitment that they all show and their willingness to make things work.

We're served as a team brilliantly by our deacon Kat Starling who's passion and joy is so infectious, as evident by tuesday night. After the meeting I think it's fair to say we're all excited by what this year holds for the church and how we can contribute.


Things to thank God for in 2010:

* Full bands throughout the year!
* Serving youth at Butlins
* Evening meeting
* New songs including some of our own!
* New worship leaders
* Carol concert


Things to pray for this year:
* Drummers
* A team of musicians for the evening service
* Diversity within teams
* Creativity in sounds/styles
* God’s protection over us as a team
* Grace to keep going!



If you'd like to know more about the team or want to get involved do fill out the form on this website or grab Kat or (myself at the PM meeting)

RFC Unplugged - my fave of the night

Abi Hope - Keep on Movin' from Gecko Collective on Vimeo.


As promised we now have plenty of photos and videos being uploaded from the fantastic RFC Unplugged. Check the videos out here (being edited very well by the talent Joe Smith). I have to say my favourite song of the night was Abi's very clever looped version of "Keep On Moving" by that group Five... enjoy the immense nostalgia factor when listening...