Mr. Greenfield had to make the best of the existing harmonium for five years but in 1883, a year after the opening of the new church, there was a bill for £8 0s 0d from 'Scotcher & Son' for a harmonium. Sometime in the intervening years Mr. Greenfield had left his position and Miss Gertrude Mellor had taken his place. Gertrude was an elder sister of the Miss Clara Jane Mellor who was associated with Acocks Green for many years and who is still remembered by some present church members. She was one of a family of six - Gertrude, Sarah, Fanny, Clara, John and William Mellor. In 1884 Miss Mellor resigned and her place on the harmonium stool was taken by Mr Simeon (or Simon) T. King, one of the chapel Trustees and who lived on the Warwick Road at Tyseley. He was described in the Trust deeds as a merchant, (possibly of coal). It is possible that Mr & Mrs. King were connected earlier with Saltley Methodist church because still in the school hall at Saltley there is an inscription on a stone plaque to Mrs. S.T. King.

With the new church seven years old in 1889 the need for decoration arose. At the same time the Trustees felt confident enough regarding the finances to moot a scheme for the provision of an organ to replace the harmonium. On January 18th, 1890, the Trust, with the circuit superintendent in the chair, the Rev. Cuthbertson, resolved that the "tender from Mr. Bamfield to erect an organ at a cost of £200 be accepted." A month later they agreed that a further £50 would be well spent in providing a sixteen ft. stop plus extra smaller stops. Four weeks later the Trust stirred up a hornet's nest in approving a motion "showing the organ in the corner, pulpit in opposite corner and communion rail in centre." Exactly why this proposal sparked off a vociferous and vehement protest is unknown but it was so and a Memorial was submitted, signed by two Trustees and nine members of the congregation, asking that their views be heard. Again, what alternative proposals these gentlemen had in mind is unknown, but they were not given a chance to state their case to the Trust and the Memorial was rejected out of hand. Plans had already been made for the dedication and opening services to be held, using the new organ, on the first and second Sundays in June and for the preachers to include the Rev. F. Luke Wiseman. The opening service in the event was postponed until Sunday July 13th, 1890. Possibly this was because it had been only the month before that official permission had been received from the Wesleyan Chapel Committee in Manchester consenting to the erection of an organ at Acocks Green at a cost of £252 providing that there was no debt upon the Trust.

Perhaps Mr King did not feel confident in his ability to play an organ instead of the harmonium. Just three weeks before the organ dedication an advertisement was placed in the local papers announcing the vacant position of organist with an honorarium of £12 p.a., plus £2 p.a., for an organ blower. Mr King's successor was appointed in August of the same year, a Mr Glassey, as organist and choirmaster. So began a long and sometimes tumultuous association between the Trustees and organist which was to last for 20 years.

Mr Glassey lost no time in petitioning for chant books for use by the choir and in December of the same year, 1890, the Trust reluctantly gave its permission. Less than a year later Mr Glassey was advocating that the Ten Commandments be read monthly to the congregation. The Trust baulked at this, the reason given being that "it was too soon after the introduction of chants into the service..." Mr. Glassey bided his time and seven months later, in May 1892, he again made application for the Commandments to be read monthly. Whether the Trustees had a change of heart or whether they thought that a second refusal would only spur Mr Glassey on to a third application is unknown, but they agreed, at the same time decreeing that the congregation should receive the Commandments in a kneeling posture. The crusading Mr Glassey then turned his attention on to the choir members and just six months later submitted a set of rules entitled "For the Governance of the Choir." The long-suffering Trust declined to interfere or to authorise the publication of these rules "judging the choir quite capable of governing themselves." Mr. Glassey's other proposal to turn the choir stalls through an angle of 90° so as to face the congregation and so give added volume was judged acceptable and Messrs. Williams and Boddy were paid £5 10s 0d for carrying out this operation.

Only one month later, in January, 1893, came the fire at the church referred to previously. Apparently, Mr Glassey had left his bicycle in the schoolroom on the fateful night and it was destroyed in the blaze. Three days later he submitted a claim to the Trust for its loss and valued it at £9 10s 0d. The Trust declined to accept this claim stating that as it was not school furniture it was not covered. To present day readers the refusal may sound un-Christian and decidedly churlish, but it would have had to be a very special bicycle indeed to cost so much. A good bike could be purchased for as little as £3 0s 0d. The 'Birmingham Daily Mail' for Monday, January 16th, 1893, carries an advertisement for the National Cycle Show at the Crystal Palace where "one court of the west side of the nave will be devoted to the india rubber section, a most important annex now that pneumatic tyres are so extensively used."

The first direct mention of the choir's performance comes in June, 1897, when the choir members were asked to sing special hymns in connection with Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Unfortunately, there is no record as to what was considered appropriate for the old Queen on that joyous occasion. The new century was only a year old when Mr Glassey suggested that he organised either a musical service or a sacred concert, to which the Leaders Meeting agreed. What went wrong is not detailed in the minutes of the Leaders Meeting, but they had received a letter from Mr Glassey stating that he had not been fairly dealt with in respect of the concert. The Leaders remained unimpressed by his plea and the secretary wrote that "the Leaders Meeting was amply justified in the action it had taken. Resolved: That the concert be abandoned and 20/- already incurred be paid." Mr Glassey wrote another letter the same month, this time to the Trust asking for an increment in his honorarium. The Trust debated this at length and at the same time gave serious consideration to his conduct. At last they agreed to advance his salary from £15 to £20 p.a. but on the understanding that "he must consider himself on trial for three months."

Whatever Mr. Glassey's relationship may have been with the officers of the church he was undoubtedly a conscientious and gifted choirmaster and organist. Extra choir stalls had to be added in 1905 to accommodate the growing numbers. One of our oldest church members, Mrs. Gladys Pardoe, remembers the bi-weekly practices taken by Mr Glassey for the Sunday School anniversaries. At these he wrote out all the hymns in tonic sol fa on large sheets of paper and hung them on the walls of the schoolroom. His enthusiasm for the music communicated itself with the young children gathered about him.

After twenty years' service matters came to a head in January, 1910. The Trust minutes record: "Attention was called to the conduct of the organist, Mr Glassey. His conduct, demeanour, irreverence during the services and lack of sobriety were discussed and deliberated at great length, all remonstrance in the past having failed to work any reformation. It was with regret resolved to send Mr Glassey three month's salary in lieu of notice and that his services were no longer required." The reference to lack of sobriety makes all plain and this is confirmed by two of the oldest members still connected with our church - Mr Glassey drank and to excess and was not always steady either at 'practice' or during the service: He was known to absent himself from the organ stool during the sermon and to leave the church, returning in time for the last hymn. So ended twenty years' colourful association.

The Trustees were determined never again to lose control of the situation and the next organist, Mr. Green, only lasted a year. The minutes in 1911 recorded "Mr. Green declined in any way to recognise the authority of the Trustees Choir Committee. He was therefore asked to submit his resignation." The post was then split with two existing church members being appointed - Mr. Corley as choir master and Mr. Oliver as organist. Sir Kenneth Corley, son of the choirmaster, recalls that his mother would say that on Sunday evenings she could hear his father's voice singing in the choir from their home at 52, Shirley Road. She stayed at home when young Kenneth was tucked up in bed. An often overlooked adjunct to the organist was the organ blower. Before the coming of electricity the organ had to be pumped by hand by boys. A first hand account by one who filled this position records:

"As boys two of us often used to blow the church organ at some services and anniversary practices. By our heroic efforts at pumping the handle up and down we filled the bellows and caused the lead marker to fall; the organist would pullout more stops, deflate the bellows and cause the marker to rise. It was a veritable tug-of-war, especially in sustained grandiose efforts like the 'Hallelujah' chorus. If we lost the tug-of-war the noble chord would suddenly give way to a furious shriek and then a miserable whimper. I think that only happened once or twice at rehearsals when we hadn't quite the right sense of occasion."

In 1915 there is for the first time mention by name of a choir anthem, "While the Earth Remaineth", which was sung for that year's Harvest Festival services.

Mr. Oliver was succeeded by a new organist, Mr. Turner, about whom little is known. In 1924 he was succeeded by Mr. Bate, who held the position until 1929. Mr. Bate had only been in office for a year when there was a fall from grace by the choir. The minister, the Rev. Davison Brown, was requested by the Trustees to address the choir on "the dignity of their office." Another admonition of the choir by the Trust was contained in a letter to the choirmaster expressing its disappointment with attendance and unpunctuality of some members. In this respect the choir was neither better nor worse than the congregation. As far back as 1915, it was reported that "At the annual Church Social Mr. Corley had a few interesting remarks in his own style and particularly deplored the fact that there were certain people who could not, or would not, make up their minds to attend service in time." Worse was to follow. In 1929 the Trust heard a complaint made about choir members "loitering in the vestibule prior to the services. The minister was to speak to those concerned." A reader studying the choir minutes of the 1920s gains the impression that the choir members were not regarded as part of the congregation, giving the gift of their voices to enrich the services, but rather as a recalcitrant troupe of singers to be admonished at will.

In 1930 Mr. James Lile was appointed choirmaster and organist. So began an association with the church which was to last for the next 37 years. Jimmy Lile is still remembered by many within the congregation with great affection. Under his leadership the choir's repertoire was greatly expanded. However, the choir again fell foul of the Trust for some reason in 1936. Whilst agreeing to the customary annual grant of £10 for a choir outing or social the Trust stipulated that it was not to be given unless the choir asked for it.

During the years of the 2nd World War choir numbers were depleted and there was little scope for attempting major new choral works and so the yearly offering at Eastertide was either 'Olivet to Calvary' or the 'Crucifixion'. At the choir A.G.M. in 1947 Alan Fitton, representing the Trust, asked the choir to "forget Olivet and the Crucifixion for at least ten years and to do something different." The choir took the hint and the next year performed the "St. John Passion." During the years following choral works by Gounod, Thiman, Mendelssohn, Handel and Haydn were performed.

Mention must be made of the recitals given at Acocks Green church by the soprano, Isobel Baillie. She came three times and for the first two concerts was accompanied by Mr. Lile on the organ and with the choir giving support. On the third occasion in March, 1952, she gave a song recital which included works by Delius, Grieg, Schumann and Schubert.

On Sunday, 5th January, 1964, Acocks Green church was chosen by the B.B.C. to broadcast the morning service which took the form of the annual Covenant Service, and this was heard nationwide.

Following Jimmy Lile's retirement in 1967 the church had for some months the gifted services of a young man, Andrew Fletcher. He gave the choir a new insight into the presentation and performance of many anthems. Mrs. Betty Boddington, who for many years was deputy organist, graciously bridged the gap between Andrew Fletcher's departure and the coming of the new organist, Arthur Williams, in 1970. Five years later he was succeeded by Syd Cheshire. He made music through the organ and choir to the glory of God and all people within the church were inspired by his courageous fight against a finally fatal illness. In 1981 Peter Harding was appointed organist and choirmaster. Recognising that the days of the big Victorian style choir anthems are unsuitable for today's small choir he has been adventurous in his choice of new music and has introduced a number of musical arrangements of his own composition.