Music Sunday
Music Sunday is a way for us to celebrate the gift of music, recognise its contribution to the life of the church, and make a commitment to securing the future of music in worship.
The RSCM is inviting all its affiliates in the UK to designate one Sunday in the coming year as Music Sunday, and to use the day to celebrate this gift as a congregation. To assist with this we have suggested some prayers and music that you could use in your services and ways that you can use Music Sunday to support the musical life of the church.
What is Music Sunday?
Music Sunday is intended as a day for congregations to thank God for the gift of music, to reflect on and celebrate all that it has brought to their lives, and to make a commitment to securing its future in their worship.
When is Music Sunday?
There is no set date for Music Sunday. We hope that churches will find a date that is appropriate for them. If your choir or musicians take a break in the summer, you might want to celebrate Music Sunday before they leave or when they come back. There might be a particularly significant time for your own congregation, or you might want to include it with other stewardship Sundays.
What could we do for Music Sunday?
- Use readings, prayers, sermons and music to reflect on the gift of music, thank God for it, and ask for his blessing on music in our worship.
- Encourage people to support music in your church through their time and their talents.
- Ask people to make a financial donation towards music in your own church and in the wider church community.
If you have any suggestions for further prayers, music or other resources or have any questions, please contact musicsunday@rscm.com. We would also be delighted to hear about the services you hold.
Gathering Prayer
Father of all,
we come into your presence
to offer to you our prayers and praises
through your creative gift of music.
We give you thanks for every blessing,
but above all for the incarnation of your Son
who gave his life upon the Cross,
a living sacrifice
for our redemption.
May we be inspired by your holy Word
and share the bread of life
that is the source of salvation.
We ask this through your risen Son, Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever.
Amen.
Thanksgiving Prayer
We give thanks to God for all his blessings.
We give especial thanks for the music of this church/parish/cathedral,
and for the work of the Royal School of Church Music throughout the world.
God our Father, supreme Creator
we give you thanks
for the skills and imagination
to shape sound and silence into music.
Enriched by your Holy Spirit,
may our song always tell of your love and saving power,
and may our lives be ever committed to your service.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Prayer for those who teach and learn
Gracious God, your Son taught us to know you as Father.
May your Holy Spirit guide and support
all who teach and learn.
Enable them to discover and share
the wonders of your creation,
the mysteries of your divinity;
and bring them to knowledge of your peace,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
Prayer for those who minister in the Church
Pour down your blessing, Lord,
on all who minister in your Church,
the body of Christ.
Grant us the inspiration to lead
and the humility to serve,
that all your people may
come closer to your presence
and to one another.
We make this prayer through your Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Blessing Prayer
May the songs of the angels sustain you,
May the praises of the saints inspire you,
May the silent music of the Unseen Trinity be in your heart.
And may the blessing of God,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be upon you, and remain with you now and always.
Amen.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Amen.
Prayer for Choristers
Bless, O Lord, us thy servants,
who minister in thy temple.
Grant that what we sing with our lips,
we may believe in our hearts,
and what we believe in our hearts,
we may show forth in our lives.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
See note on possible origins of this prayer.