A NEW Christmas carol – written in Bromsgrove – will be performed publicly for the first time at the traditional carol concert at St John’s Church.
The Nine Lessons and Carols service is at 6pm this Sunday, December 21 – everyone is welcome.
Jenna Plewes has written the words for ‘A Place to Call Home’ and Steve Cowperthwaite, director of music at the church, has set it to music.
Describing her poem, Jenna said: “In this carol I’m seeing an ordinary man with a heavily pregnant wife in an occupied land, ordered to leave home and travel for a census taking.
“I follow them with their newborn baby, fleeing from murderers, living for years as refugees until it’s safe to return and find somewhere to settle.
“They find kindness along the way – a very special couple entrusted with Jesus, the Saviour of the world – an incredible story I have tried to see through eyes like ours in these turbulent dark times.”
Steve welcomed the challenge of setting this for the choir at St Johns.
He said: “I tried to reflect the trudging nature of the Holy family’s search for a home in the music with a wistful chorus (‘travelling onwards by highways and byways, seeking a shelter, a place to call home’), contrasted with the highs and lows of the journey in the verses.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing how it works with the wonderful singers of St John’s Choir.”
