Melbourne Staff Songsters celebrate 30 years of ministry
Melbourne Staff Songsters celebrate 30 years of ministry
22 April 2017
The Melbourne Staff Songsters celebrated their 30th anniversary at a special lunch over the recent Easter weekend.
The Melbourne Staff Songsters (MSS) celebrated their 30th anniversary over the recent Easter weekend.
The event was marked by a special lunch held on Easter Saturday, attended by past and present leaders of the MSS, executive officers, members and partners, Australia Southern Territory Chief-Secretary-in-Charge Colonel Graeme Rigley, and Secretary for Program Lieutenant-Colonel Winsome Merrett. Special guests were the leadership and members of the touring International Staff Songsters (ISS).
The lunch was both a reflection on the past and, in a segment conducted by Lieut-Colonel Merrett, a rededication of the current members of the songsters. Executive officers Majors Mark and Judith Soeters gave a brief history of the MSS and current leader Merryn Steel shared some memories. Former leader Rod Reeve led the ISS, MSS and alumni in singing More Than Wonderful. The event concluded with the singing of John Rutter’s benediction, The Lord Bless You, as people stood around their tables.
“This celebration comes at a historic time in the life of The Salvation Army as we move towards a new and revitalised Salvation Army in Australia," said National Commander, Commissioner Floyd Tidd, in sending a greeting to MSS members.
"May each of you continue to be a demonstration of what God chooses to accomplish through lives surrendered to him and his power working through them. As you continue sharing the love of Jesus as part of this music ministry, we pray that our gracious Father God will not only bless you and those you love, but will bless others because of who you are.”
The origins of the MSS date back to 1978, the year The Salvation Army musical Glory was performed in Melbourne, with a local cast of singers and performers. The bringing together of this group led to the formation of an elite vocal group, The Master’s Singers, which operated for eight years, initially led by Wes Young (until 1983), then Bruce Dench (until 1986) and finally Owen Harris.
When then-Commissioner Eva Burrows became Territorial Commander of the Australia Southern Territory in 1982, she had the vision of The Master’s Singers becoming the nucleus of a territorial singing group, with a wider range of opportunities to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ in music and song. Commissioner Burrows commenced the procedures which eventually resulted in the inauguration of the Melbourne Staff Songsters in April 1987, by which time she had become the Salvation Army’s General.
Hence, it was Commissioner Donald Campbell who, on 11 April 1987, conducted the inauguration of the Melbourne Staff Songsters, the group to be led by Owen Harris and executive officer Lieut-Colonel Keith Earl. At the inauguration, Commissioner Campbell linked the formation of the Melbourne Staff Songsters to the event 97 years earlier, when a group of bandsmen was given the title, Melbourne Staff Band. He exhorted the members of the Melbourne Staff Songsters to “... sing for the salvation of people and to the glory of God!”
Reporting on the inauguration in The Musician, Major Howard Davies wrote: “The night not only included high quality music, but I could sense a seriousness underlying proceedings, in that this new service group in the territory was being properly and carefully appointed to its task. ... I left with the feeling that the Melbourne Staff Songsters will provide a high standard of both music and salvationism, of which our territory should be proud. May God bless its service in coming days.”
During the past 30 years, the MSS, in addition to supporting territorial events, has made around 300 Salvation Army corps and centre visits in the Southern Territory. There have also been visits to NSW, Queensland and the ACT, three visits to the United Kingdom, one each to Canada, the United States, and New Zealand, and extended mission trips to Brisbane and rural Queensland, and rural South Australia, Central Australia, and Darwin. One of the UK tours was in 2000, when the MSS joined other staff songster groups in supporting the International Staff Songsters’20th anniversary celebrations.
In its 30-year history, there have been four songster leaders (Owen Harris, Rod Reeve, Brian Hogg and Merryn Steel), 114 singers (including 96 alumni), 15 executive officers, seven pianists, six percussionists, five guitarists, seven technicians and three marketing assistants.
Comments
No comments yet - be the first.