Yesterday I attended the world premiere of a commission I’d written.
Holy Trinity Church in West Brom is home to Rev Neil Robbie, a tall well spoken man. His wife Amanda, who blogs as The Vicar’s Wife, had announced on Twitter that in preparation for Easter they were looking for suitable children-friendly songs to use in the church service. I offered to write them one if they fancied it. Neil got in touch to say he did. The rest is history.
More recent history is me turning up yesterday to witness a whole school sitting in church, acting out and singing along with the story of Moses, and linking it to the key events of Easter. And my song got sung. And I had to say “Hi” to a crowd of discerning critics, every one of them aged 11 or below. It was remarkable to hear words I’d penned being sung with proper gusto by the children. Even though I only tinker about with this writing thing, I love it.
Many thanks to Neil, and to his wife Amanda and their church team who provided cups of tea and a warm welcome to everyone who came through their doors.
And the title of this song? Well, it’s derived from the events of Exodus 32. It’s a warning of the dangers of worshipping graven images. So rather flippantly, I appear to have released a song called “You must be having a Golden Calf” on an unsuspecting world.
Andrew Clayton 