"Encouraging a lasting future"

The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM), founded in 1927 and based in Salisbury since 2006, is an international educational charity seeking to promote the study, practice and improvement of music in Christian worship.

Since lockdown, the charity has been hard at work addressing issues raised by the pandemic, and has produced a raft of new online materials to support choirs and musicians, with FAQs to help parishes.

RSCM is also making substantial changes to how it organises local activities, to better support the Church, and is appealing for a representative from each Church of England diocese, ahead of a re-launch of its regional structure on 1st April 2021.

In this Diocese, Director of Music for St John's Devizes Chris Totney has already agreed to be our Diocesan Representative.

Regarding Diocesan Representatives, Chair of RSCM Council the Very Revd Dr John Hall says:

"They might be ordained or lay, and they might not be a musician. But they would need to work with us to help music be the vital, enlivening presence in the life of the Church we believe it can, and must, be.

"RSCM is keen to encourage more young people into Church. Significant new resources are currently in preparation to link church and other schools and to enable connections with their parish church to flourish. We believe that well-founded musical commitment can provide growth for the church community. We are committed to encouraging a lasting future for the Church's choral and musical tradition."

Diocesan Representatives would be voluntary, and would work together with RSCM and the Diocese to publicise resources and support, especially to churches most in need of them, and help organise festivals and events.

Ultimately, RSCM is seeking to serve the needs of its members and the wider Church, to continue developing first-class resources, and help musicians and clergy to make best use of music in worship, ahead of a return to a more normal life.