The registered charitable purposes of MWF are: 1) the advancement of the Christian religion through music, media and other art forms, and (2) to advance the education of the public in Christian worship and music. We fulfil these objects by the provision of workshops, conferences and training events for those who are involved in leading worship and the use of music in Christian churches and elsewhere. The focus is on the effective use of high-quality music and other worship resources that will enable people to worship more meaningfully (object 1) and to help people grow in the knowledge and understanding of music, service leadership and other resources in Christian worship (object 2).

MWF operates the ministry of Engage Worship. This is led by Sam and Sara Hargreaves. They were both trained at London School of Theology in Theology, Music and Worship. Sam was on the faculty in the Worship Department at LST for five years, and now returns as a regular guest lecturer. Both Sara and Sam have Masters degrees from King's College London. In 2017 the Royal School of Church Music gave them the Associate award for services to worship in the UK.

They moved to Luton in January 2011 where they were volunteers at Stopsley Baptist Church before moving to a local Anglican church, St Matthews, and they now attend St Luke's, Leagrave. They are co-leaders of a missional community in a local park called Park Church.

Gemma Scharnowski has been employed part-time since February 2021 to grow and strengthen our work, especially among young adults in a project called Evergreen. As a graduate of LST’s Theology, Music & Worship programme, she is passionate about the local church and equipping it for creative and engaging worship in all settings.

Gemma is both a visual artist and a musician, and alongside her work for Engage Worship works part-time for 24-7 Prayer. She has previously worked for local churches both in a creative and administrative capacity, and also spent two years working for the Diocese of London.

Rev. Eileen (Eils) Osgood - Chair of Trustees, Eils serves as Associate Vicar at Holy Trinity Richmond, and has previously worked as a Worship Director and for Tearfund.

Andrew Mitchell - Vice-chair and Secretary of the charity, Andy runs his own business JM Supplies and is an elder at Mowbray Community Church, Harrogate.

Nicholas Bennett - Treasurer - Nick is Churchwarden and Contemporary Worship Leader at Norbury Church, Hazel Grove, and runs a small accountancy practice in his spare time.

Ron Jones, Ron has been a mainstay of MWF’s events and ministry for many years, alongside music ministry in his local Baptist Church.

Hannah Hodges - Hannah works at Nexus Institute of Creative Arts alongside serving as a worship leader at St Marks Coventry. She is passionate about singing, songwriting for the church and winning Mario Kart.

Mwidimi Ndosi - Mwidimi is University Lecturer and Health Researcher in Bristol. Originally from Tanzania, he has experience in training and leading worship in congregations and groups. He worships at Woodlands Church in Bristol and plays the guitar and bass.

Damian Herbert - Damian is Transformation Programme Director for the Diocese of Worcester, also bringing 8 years’ experience as a Worship Director and over a decade with BIG Ministries.

Sylvia Kalisch - Sylvia is Finance Secretary for St Michael's Church Chester Square in London with large experience in the charity sector, who loves singing in choirs and worshipping in church services.

Naomi Buckler - Naomi is a freelance fundraising consultant with over 20 years of experience in the Christian charity world as volunteer, donor, staff member and trustee. She sometimes leads all-age services at her church (where her husband is worship leader), and loves singing in choirs.

We have a long history dating back to 1984, when Music in Worship Trust was registered as a charity by Robin Sheldon. In 1994 the name changed to Music and Worship Foundation. In 1997 Roger Peach began as regional coordinator, and in 2008 Sam and Sara were employed part-time to begin Engage Worship.

In 2011 Roger stepped down and the regional hubs came to an end. At this point Engage Worship became MWF’s main ministry. In 2016 Sam became employed full time and Sara 2 days per week. In 2018 we made the shift to being a Charitable Incorporated Organisation - a CIO. This was an opportunity to update the form of charity that we are, and to revise our trust deed. The shift to CIO did not indicate any fundamental change in purpose or activity.

MWF has a long-held relationship with London School of Theology’s Music and Worship department. The charity assisted in the formation of the degree programme under David Peacock, and has continued to support and resource the programmes as they have grown and developed. This was particularly evident during the time Sam Hargreaves worked on the faculty in the department (2010-2015), and he continues to return as a guest lecturer.