The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM)

THE ROYAL SCHOOL OF CHURCH MUSIC (RSCM) Choir Project is offering ways of effectively engaging unchurched and de-churched youth and families across England through choirs for children and young people. You can find out more about the training and support available through Beacon Churches and other resources.

Missional challenge

Across the Church of England there has been a decline in the number of children and young people involved in church choirs and music ministry. In many places, churches lack the confidence, leadership capacity or practical structures needed to establish or sustain choirs for young people. As a result, opportunities for children and young people to participate meaningfully in worship and grow in discipleship through music are limited.

Missional opportunity

Music ministry offers a powerful and accessible way for churches to engage children and young people in the worshipping life of the Church. The Choir Project, led by the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) in partnership with the Church of England, aims to support the launch or reinvigoration of 200 choirs for young people in churches across the country.

These choirs will be supported by a network of Beacon Churches that already engage successfully in ministry with children and young people. Beacon Churches will share learning, stories and experience with other churches starting or renewing choirs, helping build confidence and sustainability across the network.

Resource

The RSCM Choir Project will provide national coordination, training and support to help churches establish or strengthen choirs for children and young people. Some churches will work directly with the RSCM coordinating project team. In these cases, dioceses will not have a formal role beyond their existing relationships with the churches involved.

Alongside this, the RSCM will partner with a number of dioceses to ensure the programme’s impact is felt nationally. Partner dioceses will support the project by promoting music ministry as a means of discipling children and young people, incorporating relevant materials into local training, and ensuring churches are aware of opportunities to participate.

This diocesan involvement is expected to be relatively light-touch, typically requiring around one day per month of staff time. Each partner diocese will need a lead person to support the partnership, alongside engagement from relevant diocesan teams such as Mission and Ministry, Education, Children and Families, and clergy training, with the support of the Diocesan Bishop.