The Salvation Army Chatham

As we reported a couple of weeks ago Carolynn Woodman and Rachel Horwood have been on tour with the International Staff Songsters to Finland, Estonia and Sweden.

Carolynn & Rachel

We asked both of them to tell us about their own particular highlight of the tour.

Carolynn said:

There are many highlights from the International Staff Songsters’ Tour of Sweden, Finland and Estonia – both spiritual and social.

The camaraderie within the ISS is truly unique and very special. The sense of unity is heightened particularly on tours; the humour that prevails generally is a binding factor when spending hours on a coach with the same people for days on end! (In fact, a sense of humour is essential in order to survive!).

One of my highlights was the evening spent at Lonkoping Corps in Sweden, where we shared the festival with their corps’ gospel choir ‘Joyful Voices’, a choir predominantly made up of students (which at full strength, numbers over a hundred).

Their leader, Frederik P, had written a song especially for the two groups to sing together, aptly named ‘United in Christ’. He also led the performance with Joyful Voices standing amongst the ISS – moving and clapping in time and even some ‘shoulder action’! The words said it all: ‘United in Christ, In celebration across the nations’. The joy and exuberance of the gospel choir was infectious and it was a real treat to sing with others who love to express their faith through song.

with Joyful Voices

Rachel, on her first tour with the International Staff Songsters, had this to say:

Easter weekend on our tour was spent in Estonia, visiting corps and local areas and really seeing the changes that have been made through the Army’s work in that country. The Salvation Army has only been in Estonia for 12 years and it really is like the Army has gone back to its roots in getting out into the community and helping to make visible changes to people’s lives.

We started the weekend on the coach to Tartu where we held an open air style concert in the town square. Many people came to listen due to a radio feature earlier that morning which had us singing ‘Ride the Chariot’ down a mobile phone on the coach which was broadcast live on the radio! We then went on to Voru for a festival in the Culture Centre which celebrated the 1st anniversary of the Voru corps. This was also a very memorable occasion as the newly formed band from Kopli corps played publicly for the first time.

Easter Sunday started with the ISS in prison! We were very privileged to have been granted permission to lead a short service in Tallinn prison as this was the first time that The Salvation Army had been allowed to visit the prisoners in this way. From the prison it was on to the meeting at Kopli corps where morning worship was already in full swing and the excitement amongst the congregation in this growing corps was almost tangible. With a brief drive through the surrounding area to see where the Army is working, we were then given lunch in Hope House – The Salvation Army’s hostel in Tallinn where we met a team of people who serve meals to over 800 people each week who otherwise would have nowhere to go.

This was a very challenging weekend and one which gave us real encouragement to take with us for the rest of the tour.

The International Staff Songsters

For some years Chatham corps has had a number of of members of both the International Staff Songsters and the International Staff Band. We count it a privilege to be represented in this way. Currently we have two staff songsters and one staff bandsman and we prayerfully support them all in this demanding ministry.