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You Are My Rock featuring the Mustard Seed Soul Band from the album Heart and Soul recorded and produced by Ross Gill

Last year we hoped to put on our Risen! The Musical at the new Arden Theatre of the Titchfield Festival Theatre (TFT) but were unable to because of an injunction placed on it by Fareham Borough Council (see blog Blog February 1st Risen! The Musical – The Arden Theatre Saga – Part One | Risen)
It would appear that the TFT has lost its latest and probably final appeal – The Daily Mail reports:
A theatre company has claimed Shakespeare would be ‘turning in his grave’ after a local council ordered it to tear down its £1.7million stage and auditorium. The Arden, the newest of three stages at Titchfield Festival Theatre in Hampshire, is still hosting performances despite being declared illegal by a planning inspector in August 2024. The theatre lost a High Court appeal against an order to close the stage.

The 450-seat theatre recently held performances of The Sound of Music over Easter and is still due to host productions next month. An enforcement notice by Fareham Borough Council said the land only had planning permission for storage and there was no lawful use for a theatre.
Kevin Fraser, artistic director of the theatre company told The Times Shakespeare would be ‘turning in his grave’ after he was told to tear the theatre down. He added: ‘I am clearly broken hearted at the decision from the planning Inspectorate. ‘The country will lose one of its greatest community arts assets and Shakespeare must be turning in his grave.’
The theatre said the council was pursuing a ‘vendetta’ against it and has started an online petition to save the stage, with already 6,000 signatures.
The theatre company has a link to Shakespeare through Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, who lived on the family estate at Titchfield Abbey near Fareham and was a patron of the playwright. Mr Fraser said they took legal advice before they began construction of the stage. He claims he was advised that the company could claim ‘deemed permission’ for full theatre use, arguing that after ten years if a decision has not been made it is deemed to have been acceptable.
The High Court did not agree and ruled in favour of the inspector who said the Arden theatre was effectively a new unit for planning purposes. Titchfield Festival Theatre has operated out of a converted barn for 13 years and claims to be the largest community theatre in Europe.
After two failed attempts to gain planning permission to convert a storage space into a theatre in 2019, Mr Fraser decided to start building the Arden theatre in August 2022.Since 2013 it has hosted performances, in November that year the council took action against the building.
Mr Fraser called the planning committee ‘Scrooges’ as he then launched an appeal against the decision by the Planning Inspectorate. Nick Walker, chairman of the planning committee, said: ‘It beggars belief that anyone would build a new 450-seat theatre without first securing planning permission.’
An application for a 567-seat theatre was rejected by Fareham Borough Council in 2019. Another application was also rejected later that year. In their objection, councillors said the site was unsustainable and in a ‘poorly accessible location’. The council added that a lack of adequate parking would cause an increase in disruption and noise for neighbours.
In a statement, Titchfield Festival Theatre said: ‘The trustees are obviously disappointed with the ruling from the Judicial Review. We are taking further legal advice on the potential outcomes. In the meantime the Arden Theatre continues to operate.’

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Living It Up featuring the Mustard Seed Soul Band from the album Heart and Soul recorded and produced by Ross Gill

So, St George’s Day was not on April 23rd as I said last week – was I totally wrong then? Well not really – traditionally St George’s Day is celebrated on 23rd April every year, but the Church of England has changed the date this year because no saint’s day can take place in the week before or after Easter.
According to the Church of England any saint’s day falling in Holy or Easter week moves to the week after the Easter fortnight, usually to the first Monday, so this year it was Monday April 28th
Anyway, featured today is another moment of sunshine for you – I thought David Tennant was great and had a lot of nerve performing this classic
And if you want to hear the original by The Proclaimers

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Do I Need To Worship? From the album Heart and Soul featuring the Mustard Seed Soul Band recorded and produced by Ross Gill

I am sure you knew that yesterday was St George’s Day but did you know these things about him?

1. ST GEORGE WASN’T ENGLISH…
St George might be hailed as a national hero, but he was actually born – in the 3rd century AD – more than 2,000 miles away in Cappadocia (modern day Turkey).
He is thought to have died in Lydda (modern day Israel) in the Roman province of Palestine in AD 303. It is believed that his tomb was in Lod and was a centre of Christian pilgrimage.

2. AND HE WASN’T A KNIGHT EITHER
Although George is often depicted in popular culture as a knight in shining armour, the truth is less fanciful.
Whilst St George was depicted from the 11th century as a chilvaric knight or a warrior on horseback, it is more likely that he was an officer in the Roman army.

3. ST GEORGE WAS A MARTYR …
Like many saints, St George was described as a martyr after he died for his Christian faith.
It is believed that during the persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian in the early 4th century, St George was executed for refusing to make a sacrifice in honour of the pagan gods.

4. … BUT HE NEVER VISITED ENGLAND
Although St George never visited England, his reputation for virtue and holiness spread across Europe and his feast day – the 23rd April – was celebrated in England from the 9th century onwards.
He became popular with English kings. Edward I (1272-1307) had banners bearing the emblem of St George (a red cross on a white background) and Edward III (1327-77) had a strong interest in the saint and owned a relic of his blood.
The St George cross was not used to represent England until the reign of Henry VIII.

5. THE DRAGON WAS ADDED LATER
The story goes that St George rode into Silene (modern day Libya) to free the city from a dragon who had a taste for humans.
But it’s a story which post-dates the real George by several centuries.
Images of George and the dragon survive from the 9th century – 500 years after his death. Originally these may simply have been representations of the battle between good and evil.
But the story was developed and popularised in the Middle Ages in a compendium of stories about saints’ lives, The Golden Legend.

6. ST GEORGE WAS A SAINT FOR 1,000 YEARS BEFORE THE ‘HOLIDAY’
St George was canonised in AD 494 by Pope Gelasius, who claimed he was one of those ‘whose names are justly revered among men but whose acts are known only to God’.
A feast day of St George has been celebrated in England for hundreds of years on 23 April, which was possibly the date of his martyrdom.
Following the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, St George’s Day became one of the most important feast days in the English calendar.

7. ENGLAND ISN’T THE ONLY COUNTRY TO CELEBRATE ST GEORGE
St George is truly an international saint and England is not the only country or region to claim him as its patron.
England shares St George with Venice, Genoa, Portugal, Ethiopia and Catalonia among others as their patron saint and many of these places have their own celebrations and ceremonies in his honour.

8. PEOPLE TURNED TO ST GEORGE FOR PROTECTION
During the Middle Ages, people believed that St George was one of the ‘Fourteen Holy Helpers’ – a group of saints who could help during epidemic diseases.
St George’s protection was invoked against several nasty diseases, many fatal and with infectious causes, including the Plague and leprosy.
From around 1100, St George’s help was also sought to protect the English army.
In Shakespeare’s Henry V, the eponymous hero calls on the saint during his battle cry at the Battle of Harfleur in the famous ‘Once more unto the breach, dear friends’ speech, crying ‘God for Harry! England, and St. George!’
Five hundred years later – during the First World War – a ghostly apparition of St George is said to have aided British troops during their retreat from Mons, and the naval commander of the Zeebrugge Raid cited the saint as inspiration.

9. ST GEORGE REPRESENTS THOSE WE HONOUR
The Order of the Garter (founded by Edward III in 1348) is the highest order of chivalry in the country. To this day St George’s cross still appears on the Garter badge and his image is the pendant of the Garter chain.
In 1940 King George VI created a new award for acts of the greatest heroism or courage in circumstance of extreme danger. The George Cross, named after the king, bears the image of St George vanquishing the dragon.
The image of St George also adorns many of the memorials built to honour those killed during World War One.

Source English Heritage

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A video taken from Risen! The Musical for Good Friday

A video of what I have been speaking of these past two weeks

Risen! The Musical

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From all at Mustard Seed Songs

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Still in Tears featuring Lucy Stimpson-Maynard from the album Uplifted recorded and produced by Bob Ross

So, as I said last week at the Mustard Seed 25th Anniversary celebration my wife had invited a friend of hers who plays whistle and flute in a very well -respected local folk group. I was reminded of a folk song I had made up many years ago- in fact 17 years ago! It had been inspired by an Easter Sunday Selwyn Huges devotion in “Every Day With Jesus.” The song had never been recorded as there never seemed an opportunity to do so – none of the CDs and musicals we produced were appropriate for a folk song – until Monday of this week that is!!
So “Sarah the Singer,” “Emma the Singer,” “ Deborah the Fiddle,” “Tim the Whistle,” “Chris the Guitar and Drums,” and “Ron the Bass” together with the tech team of Jim Nolan, Leo Higgins, Chris Binns and of course Mustard Seed Songs’ Production guru, Joffy Girling (Joffy James Productions) arrived at Holy Rood church, on Monday about 6.00 pm and by 10.00 pm all was recorded and filmed and packed away.
Many, many thanks to all involved – I can’t wait for you to be the first to see and hear the outcome next Thursday!

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There’s Going To Be A Party featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album Uplifted recorded and produced by Bob Ross

At the Mustard Seed 25th Anniversary celebration my wife had invited a friend of hers who plays whistle and flute in a very well -respected local folk group. I was reminded of a folk song I had made up many years ago- in fact 17 years ago! It had been inspired by an Easter Sunday Selwyn Huges devotion in “Every Day With Jesus” –the page of which is today’s featured pic. The song had never been recorded as there never seemed an opportunity to do so – none of the cds and musicals we produced were appropriate for a folk song – until now that is!!
Back in 2008 I adapted Selwyn’s words to the below:
THE NEW YEAR’S DAY OF THE SOUL
Mary comes to the tomb at the break of the day,
And sees that the stone has been rolled away,
She hurries to tell Peter and John the news,
Who run to the tomb- a race Peter will lose.

John hesitates but Peter bursts in,
To find all that’s there, are strips of linen,
John follows, looks sees and believes,
All that’s happened on this planet this supersedes.

In amazement they gaze at the cloths lying there,
All neatly arranged, no sign of despair,
No laborious unwinding,
But a glorious uprising,
Oh, Resurrection power.

We live and die, Christ died and lives,
And because He lives, we live also,
He is risen! And we will rise too,
Easter’s the New Years Day of the Soul.
Taken from a devotion by Selwyn Hughes in “Every Day With Jesus” Easter Sunday, March 23rd 2008

And to cut a long story short Mustard Seed Songs are going to record and film it – I’ll tell you more next week!

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His Story featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album Uplifted recorded and produced by Bob Ross

I remember well the boxing matches between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali and I have had a George Foreman grill or at least a look alike George Foreman grill. Here is a tribute to him printed in Premier Christian News:
Tributes are being paid to the US heavyweight boxing legend George Foreman who has died at the age of 76.
The two-time champion became a Christian in 1977, three years after his famous match with Muhammad Ali which became known as the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’.
His family said in a post on Instagram on Friday night: “Our hearts are broken. A devout preacher, a devoted husband, a loving father, and a proud grand and great grandfather, he lived a life marked by unwavering faith, humility, and purpose.
“A humanitarian, an Olympian, and two-time heavyweight champion of the world, he was deeply respected – a force for good, a man of discipline, conviction, and a protector of his legacy, fighting tirelessly to preserve his good name – for his family.”
Paying tribute, US President Donald Trump said he was “a great person with a personality bigger than life”, while the former world champion Mike Tyson said Foreman’s “contribution to boxing and beyond will never be forgotten.”
Born in Texas in 1949, Foreman and his six siblings were raised by a single mother. Growing up poor in the segregated American South, he dropped out of junior high school, but through a Job Corps, part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” reforms, 16-year-old Foreman was encouraged to channel his frustrations into boxing.
At 19 he won the heavyweight boxing gold medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Turning pro, he won 37 straight matches on his way to face reigning champion Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica, winning by technical knockout in round two.
Foreman defended the belt twice more before meeting Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire, in the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ one of the most celebrated boxing matches in history.
Ali had been stripped of his crown seven years earlier for refusing to be drafted into the Vietnam War and came into the match an underdog against the bigger, younger champion. But Ali won and Foreman took a year off before returning to the ring.
After a defeat to Jimmy Young in 1977 Foreman had a deeply religious experience that changed his life forever. Even though he was a top contender to regain the heavyweight title, he retired from boxing, at the age of 28, to serve the Lord. He became an ordained minister and set up The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
On his website he explained how the church came about:”(In the late 1970s) I had been preaching occasionally in the church, and I loved to preach, so I bought thirty minutes of radio time on a Houston station and continued preaching. On my show, I talked a little about boxing and a lot about the good Lord. I was living in Humble, a suburb of Houston, so when I went into the city to do my radio show, it wasn’t unusual for several friends from my former church to ask me to lead a Bible study or to pray with them. Three or four of us met in various homes; soon there were six or eight, then ten people attending…
“Before long, the crowds became too large for most houses to accommodate.
“Eventually, we bought a piece of land and an old, dilapidated building on the north-east side of Houston.
“I owned a large tent that I had intended to use in holding outdoor ‘evangelistic’ or ‘revival’ services, so we put up the tent in the lot next to the building and held services there while we renovated the old structure. I didn’t really intend to start a new church, but eventually we found it beneficial to organize.”
Foreman came out of retirement in 1987 to raise money for a youth centre he founded. He won 24 matches before losing to Evander Holyfield after 12 rounds in 1991.
His last match was in 1997, ending his career with a professional record of 76 wins and five losses.
In 1985, he married for the fifth time to Mary Joan Martelly, with whom he remained for the rest of his life. He had five sons – all called George – five biological daughters, and two adopted daughters.
Throughout the 1990s and after retirement, he was an enthusiastic salesman for various products, most notably an electric grill to which he later put his name. It went on to earn him millions.
Writing in his autobiography, he said:
“What I do is fall in love with every product I sell.
“That’s what sells. Just like with preaching.”

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We have been keeping this one pretty much under wraps so readers of this blog will be first to view this YouTube “unlisted” video.

It is very different to what we have produced before, but it features a life issue which should be treated with care and compassion. A story we felt very much worth telling.

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What Would Jesus Do? featuring featuring Yvette Page and the Mustard Seed Girls Choir from the album Uplifted, recorded and produced by Bob Ross

I have not shared a “moment of sunshine” for some time but when I saw this I thought “ oh yes!”
Btw thanks to all those who have been patiently waiting on the release of our musical theatre themed Bible Study “A Journey of Faith” – it wont be long now !!

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There’s More Than One Way Of Saying I Love You featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album Uplifted recorded and produced by Bob Ross

Well as I said, Mustard Seeds’ 25th Anniversary Celebration went really, really well. And if you missed it, here it is – and by the way:
Please do not adjust your set!
The video freezes at 57 mins 06 secs and then continues at 57 mins 20 secs, but the sound is lost until 1.00 hour 08 secs.

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