Music and Worship

 

At Burlington we are committed to using a variety of musical styles in our worship. Andrew Maries puts it well: “Our God is too small if He is only able to speak through one kind of art form stamped with the orthodox seal of approval.” We are closely associated with the music and worship foundation and share many of their aims and objectives. For news of our latest activities, click here

Music for Worship Principles

In practical terms we try to make sure that our music:

• is accessible to the majority of our members - inclusive
• is approachable for the un-churched - especially in the morning
• involves and develops as many people’s gifts as possible
• is of a high quality, without exclusiveness, because we want to give God our best and not have music being a stumbling block to worship
• involves all ages and abilities because the church is a family

Sunday morning worship is normally led by our worship group - with the organ where appropriate, while the evening communion services tend to be quieter. The first Sunday of each month is The Gathering.

On special occasions the Burlington Family Orchestra turn the whole event into a amazing Celebration!

Worship Group

The Worship Group forms the core of Music at Burlington and leads the music for most morning services. As well as the normal line up of vocalists, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, drums and bass we also feature Sax (all four varieties), Flute, Clarinet, French Horn, Trumpet, Flugel Horn, Oboe and Cello at various times.

Recently we have been learning many new songs from Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, as well as the Fellinghams and Phatfish. The latest Soul Survivor songs are always popular, along with Delirious and Hillsongs, or even Wellspring and (occasionally) the London Community Gospel Choir!

We are still very committed to using the Organ whenever appropriate – particularly for hymns where you can't beat it!

We rehearse from 9am to 10am every Sunday morning.

Burlington Family Orchestra

The Family Orchestra plays around 2 or 3 times per year (usually Christmas, Easter and a few other special occasions). The Candlelight Carol Service on the Sunday evening before Christmas each year is a particular highlight.

The orchestra is open to all-comers, church, congregation and friends; children, young people and adults from absolute beginners to Grade 8 and beyond.  Most times we have around 35-40 players from beginners upwards, and they all seem to get better each time. We are very fortunate to have most instruments represented - Flutes, Oboes, Clarinets, French Horn, Trumpets, Violins, Viola and Cello - sometimes even a Tuba.   We make all our own arrangements using Sibelius. We have over 35 hymns, songs and carols in our repertoire. Favourites include Name of all Majesty, In Christ Alone and See What a Morning.  For Easter 2010 we attempted three (Jesus is Lord, Come People of the Risen King and The Power of the Cross) of the arrangements from Keith Getty available to purchase from his website.  They proved rather ambitious, but we just about managed to do them justice

When we are preparing for a service we rehearse from 7pm to 8:30pm on Wednesdays.

The Gathering

The Gathering is a contemporary music based worship service which usually occurs on the first Sunday evening of each month at 7pm. There is an emphasis on creativity and extended times of sung worship - usually led by members of the Worship Group and special guests! It seeks to provide an opportunity for us to relax in God’s presence and listen to what he might say to us.

Check out the homepage and the this week page for the next date and for more information look at the Gathering page.

Burlington Ensemble

Occasionally a small group of us get together to lead worship using orchestral-type instruments - perhaps for a Maundy Thursday Communion or other quieter evening service. We call this the Burlington Ensemble. In the past the ensemble has consisted of Oboe, Clarinet, French Horn, Trumpet, Violin and Cello as well as piano and organ.