News from Christian Music Ministries - Alison Fuggle

A little tax collector: a wonderful message.

On 28th September, a new musical, Zac, had its premiere. “Thank you for coming to this premiere of my final musical,“ Roger Jones told the packed audience at Bromsgrove Baptist Church. Cue much laughter; they had heard this before, several times. The trouble (or rather blessing) is that the Lord’s plans for our retirement don’t always coincide with pension ages, although his benefits are rather more secure.

Roger and I had long been discussing whether to write another musical. There was encouragement from those who had enjoyed past works, sharing fellowship as they rehearsed, and then singing about the Lord to others. As we toyed with Bible stories and characters, possible lyrics and melodies were exchanged. We began to doubt we’d complete anything.

Then suddenly: “We should definitely write this, the studio’s getting booked, some of the soloists are picked. So we’d better get it all written!” Amazingly, within a few months, we did — with lots of help and inspiration from the Lord, our families, and your prayer support via GPS.

• Thank you all for your support and interest, and please keep praying for those who go on to hear and use this material.

The story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19: 1-11) is fortunately well known. Many of us grew up with the song, “Zacchaeus was a very little man”, about the tax collector who climbing a tree to see Jesus, and ended up with a new start in life. Luke’s account ends with Jesus’ words: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” I memorised that verse as a child and it’s been wonderful to revisit the story. What a challenge it holds: the invitation to each of us to come down from whatever tree we’re hiding in, to stop being a spectator, and to dare come closer and to dine with the Lord himself.

In the musical, Jesus and Zac sing together, “I want to spend time with you, walking with you, talking things through.” The final song proclaims, “Salvation has come to this place. See where the Saviour has come. Listen, he’s calling…today will you welcome him?”

• Please pray that this challenge speaks clearly of Jesus to receptive hearts.

Bromsgrove Baptist Church was packed for the Premiere, even hotter inside than a very full Sunday morning at St John’s! The eight soloists, two narrators, large orchestra and massed CMM choirs, including several members from St John’s, performed magnificently. The improvising and prophetic singing spoke to many hearts, and there was a real sense of God with us. As the applause died and a beaming Bishop Maurice Sinclair gave the blessing, we prayed that the melodies and their words of love will linger and continue to speak.

So what now?-

Please continue to pray:

• Zac is the focus of various CMM residential weeks during 2025.

• It will be used as part of opportunities for ministry by the CMM team.

• Local churches and regional choirs will be performing it as part of their outreach programme.

• The Birmingham-based CMM choir have planned various performances of Zac next year in venues around the region. They’re also currently preparing a programme of Christmas songs. See the website for details, or even consider joining them yourself. Rehearsals are at Harborne Baptist Church.

• Pray for a real opportunity for many to grow closer to the Lord through all of these.