The Vision

At the heart of cjm|music's mission and vision is a commitment to resourcing pastoral musicians, liturgical ministers, worship leaders, teachers and catechists; engaging the skills of young people and to serving the church through the ministry of music and liturgy.

We live in a time of great change and opportunity.
The Second Vatican Council set in motion a process of liturgical renewal that is still working itself out in the Church today.

cjm|music stands within in this tradition, firmly committed to being actively involved in this process of continuing liturgical renewal, in the hope that "those who approached the Liturgy with faith can take part fully aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite and enriched by its effects"
(Sacrosanctum Concillium)

We believe that Catechesis, Evangelisation, and Liturgy are inseparable strands of the life of the Church; each informing and giving resonance to the other in turn. cjm|music seeks to bring these strands together in a way that is creative and accessible for people of all ages and walks of life.

How it started

The seed was first sown at Soli House - a residential youth retreat centre in Stratford upon Avon. In 1994
Fr Mike White - then director of Soli House, encouraged Jo and Mike to work together on a new recording project. The first song they wrote together was 'Bread of Life, Truth Eternal'. It became the title track of the cassette album they were working on, and if you know the song, you'll know why Jo and Mike believe that their singing, song-writing partnership is more part of God's plan that their own.

Bread of life was the third cassette album the be released through Soli House. In 1993 there was Earth Calling Heaven, which mostly featured the work of Jo Boyce. Prior to that, in 1990, Mike Stanley over saw the production of the first ever 'Soli House tape' Lead Kindly light.

After a hat-trick of tapes, it seemed time to gradute to compact disc... so, in 1995 And Again I Say Rejoice, was released, featuring 18 songs that represented the 'best of' the tracks on the previous three tapes.

Before long, schools and parishes across the Archdiocese of Birmingham were listening to the music of Boyce & Stanley and wanting to use it in their own liturgies. It became obvious that it was time to publish the music in a more formal way. Meeting Chris Rolinson, enabled them to do just that.

Chris started co-writing new material with Jo and Mike and also set about transcribing and arranging music for many of the existing songs. The results were published in a music book called Rejoice 'n' Sing.

And so cjm|music was born.... first a publisher, then a record company, then a music ministry team. Jo & Mike took the decision to enter into music minstry full time, while Chris remained a teacher. More than ten years on, the work and reputation of cjm|music is firmly established as part of the life of the Church in the UK.

who: meet the team