Bread of Life
- Festivals and Seasons:
- Harvest
More than just a Harvest resource
The interesting thing about Bread of Life – one of the Royal School of Church Music’s “Young Voices Festival Books” – is how flexible and how well thought through the resource is. Not only might this celebration of “God’s physical and spiritual gift of food” be used at times of the year other than during the harvest season (One World Week, for example), but it is ideal for any small choir and congregation looking to stretch its repertoire and reflect faith in music.
Bread of Life is a service made up of hymns, songs, anthems, readings and prayers. Though carefully planned into five sections (Gathering; The heavenly banquet; Harvest for the hungry; I am the living bread; Sending Out), there is enough material here for a choir or worship planner to adapt and draw upon according to local needs.
Singing the Faith users may wish to use StF versions of any of the hymns included, but for more ambitious music groups or choirs pleasant arrangements and descants are included here – though transforming Graham Kendrick’s Beauty for Brokenness into something akin to a John Rutter anthem won’t be to everyone’s taste.
All you could possibly need to print out or project is included on a CD-Rom (including notes for teaching the music), while the entire sung contents of the service has been recorded by the young voices of The Bishop’s Singers in Salisbury on a demonstration and backing track CD.
More details are available on the RSCM website, as well as the complete range of Young Voices Festival Books.