RSCM Annual Lecture 2024

The tendency to suspect scarcity rather than surfeit runs deep in church music. Where there is no permanent musician, few music readers or an ‘ageing’ congregation, pessimism regarding the future often runs deeper than hope. In this lecture, John Bell challenges such negativity, drawing on the experience of the Iona Community of which he is a member, and local churches throughout the world who have moved from scarcity to surfeit.

John Bell is a minister of the Church of Scotland and a Fellow of the RSCM. Most of his working life, he and colleagues in the Iona Community have develop innovative strategies in music and worship for a wide range of churches. He has co-authored over fifteen volumes of hymns and songs, several collections of choral music, and numerous liturgical publications.