Open Mic Night at Seymour Street
SEYMOUR STREET METHODIST:
Music is a significant way to communicate with people from every aspect of life. Some people love Rock and Roll, some love Blues music, some adore (like myself) Country and Western music (particularly one wonderful artist!) and again others love Soul, Gospel, Traditional and International music – the range is vast. When I heard about the Creative Ministries Grant an idea formed.
There is a lack of venues for people to perform in our area, plus knowing that the love of music can really bring people of all ages together. This was an opportunity to try something different, an opportunity to provide a venue for people who love music, people that are perhaps disconnected from church because they do not what to engage with ‘traditional’ music, so we decided to host an ‘Acoustic/Music Group Open Mic Night’.
The purpose of the event was to invite those who love to play music (and listen to it) to do so, in a local context and to come to the event and either take part as a music group or sing solo – plus giving others the opportunity to appreciate their different and varied talents in a relaxed setting.
For a first event we were pleased with the numbers of people who attended, which ranged from 20-year-olds to 60/70+ year-olds, but all enjoyed a great evening listening to a number of very talented people who performed. Music ranged from Coldplay to Adele covers, plus some original songs. Included in the evening was the opportunity to operate a ‘Zero Zone’ drinks station which proved to be very popular as well.
The initiative for the event was to open our premises to the community and allow people to engage in a non-threating inclusive way through the medium of music. We offered a safe place to express musical talents and connect with our neighbours. Some of those who attended the evening had not been inside a church building for some time and found the event to be both engaging and relaxed. Our Creative Ministries grant allowed us to provide a proper Karaoke station, have a full Zero Zone outlet, provided lighting plus a full sound equipment facility and enabled us to also advertise the event as well.
The outcome for us running the event was that we had a good community connection, engaged with those from outside our church setting and it allowed those at the event to see that loving music is not just for a secular world setting.
Shirley Carrington
(Pastoral Assistant)
The Methodist Church in Ireland is committed to the ongoing learning and development of its lay people and to the ministries they are involved in. To further enable this, creative ministries grants were made available to lay people within the Methodist Church in Ireland, whether voluntary or employed, for exploring, starting or maintaining creative ministries within their local church/context.