The Royal School of Church Music is the heart and home of church music; we promote the study, practice and improvement of music and other matters relevant to the conduct of Christian worship. We are proud of and, celebrate, our choral heritage; we also recognise the diverse nature of music making, in parallel to the extraordinary kaleidoscope of musical styles in wider society. As such, we also work with music groups of diverse kinds, and the many churches which have modest musical resourcing, or none at all. We continue to re-image our work in the twenty-first century context around us.
The Church of England remains the principal focus of our work, since most of our membership (local churches) is Anglican in nature, however we are an ecumenical organisation and are seeking to broaden our links with, and support for, other denominations.
The RSCM has a particular interest in education. We work to establish patterns of life-long learning, which enable us to engage with people of all ages and from a wide range of backgrounds. Our work encounters and serves people at all skill levels, and it aims to encourage them onwards in their own personal Christian journey.
Founded by Sir Sydney Nicholson in 1927, the RSCM’s original emphases were English and choral. Now, in a diverse international context, the RSCM’s work is far broader and more diverse, and we aim to make all our work ecumenical in purpose, nature and content. Our main activities in pursuit of our objective are the provision of programmes of education, training courses, resources, publications and advisory services to subscribing individuals, churches, colleges and other bodies, both in house and by working in partnership with other organisations. Our annual report for 2018 shows 400 people attended RSCM nationally run courses and hundreds of young people attended local courses in RSCM areas, many working to achieve our internally recognised, bronze, silver and gold awards. Safeguarding our young members is a high priority for RSCM and the team continues to ensure best practice is followed diligently across the UK. We provide training and information for those interested in worship through music, regardless of background, age, gender, faith - or no faith.