Music for Worship November 2

FirstLight worship will begin with "Fairest Lord Jesus" in an arrangement that includes a new bridge section.  We'll also sing Chris Tomlin's "How great is our God."  Caroline P. will sing "For the glory of your name" at the offering.  We'll sing "One bread, one body" at communion and close our service with "The trees of the field."

Hymns at 11AM will include "Arise, your light has come" (FESTAL SONG) and "We are all one in mission" (ES FLOG EINS KLEINS WALDVOGELEIN).  The choir will sing "I song a song of the saints of God" at the introit, the familiar Greatorex "Gloria Patri" at the confession and "The trees of the field" at the benediction.  The choir anthem (at the offering) will be John Ferguson's setting of "Hymn of Promise."  Organ music at the prelude and postlude will be Johann Pachelbel, a Fantasy and a Toccata.

In Advent we will be introducing a setting of the "trees of the field" text by Mary Louise Bringle. A paraphrase of Isaiah 55, Bringle brings out the very pastoral sense of the text.  Matched with music by William Rowan, the hymn is a compelling contrast to the jubilant version we are singing this week at both services.  I hope to have the up-beat setting fresh in everyone's minds when we begin using the new setting in Advent.

Bandwagon, anyone?

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) published a new hymnal last year, a successor to the Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW) of 1978. That hymnal began a whole round of hymnal revision projects among Protestant denominations.

It seems they have started it again. I have previously discussed the new Presbyterian hymnal project, including most recently the personnel selected for the committee. Last week we got the names of persons to constitute a hymnal revision committee for The United Methodist Church, and this week the chairs of that group. The UMC book is scheduled for publication following the 2012 General Conference meeting of the denomination (similar to the Presbyterian General Assembly).

Here is the initial release from last week:

UM Hymnal Revision Committee Named

Nashville, October 9—The Hymnal Revision Committee, authorized by the 2008 General Conference of The United Methodist Church, is announced today.

The committee is charged with preparing and presenting to the 2012 General Conference a hymn and worship resource for adoption as an official hymnal of The United Methodist Church for congregational use in the United States.

As the first comprehensive resource since publication of the initial United Methodist Hymnal in 1989, the new resource will aspire to

• reflect the changes that are occurring in music and liturgy throughout the connection and the larger Christian world
• enable United Methodists to sing and worship in ways that honor God and transform persons and congregations toward personal piety and social holiness
• provide a common language of prayer and song
• remember and celebrate the rich Wesleyan (Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren), sacramental, evangelical, and diverse theological traditions
• incorporate expressions of worship in new and revitalized congregations to engage all persons, including new, younger, and diverse people
• hold broad appeal across cultural, geographical, age, and congregational settings
• incorporate the newest technologies and ways of communicating the music and liturgy of the Church
• offer a clear expression of hope that The United Methodist Church is growing in its love of God and neighbor to transform the world
• enable all who use it to express their own heart-language for God and to hear the heart-language of others

As provided for in action by the General Conference, a total of 27 voting members were named by the Council of Bishops, The Order of St. Luke, The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts, the General Board of Discipleship, and The United Methodist Publishing House.

The first meeting of the Hymnal Revision Committee will be held from January 20-22, 2009, in Nashville. The voting members are as follows:

Bishops

William W. Hutchinson

Deborah L. Kiesey

Ernest S. Lyght

Lay Persons

Neil M. Alexander

Beverly Clement

Mary Jo Dahlberg

Stacy Hood

Heather Josselyn-Cranson

Jorge Lockward

Raquel Martinez

Marcia McFee

Shannon Meister

Mark Miller

Clergy

Laura Jaquith Bartlett

Grace Cajiuat

Patricia Farris

R. Carl Frazier

Karen Greenwaldt

Trey Hall

Hyoik Kim

Walter Kimbrough

Andy Langford

Robert H. McMichael III

Donna Strickland Smith

Eric Smith

John Thornburg

Mark J. Webb

The committee includes 13 women and 14 men. Three of the members are bishops, 7 female and 9 male clergy, 2 male clergy candidates, 6 female laity, 3 male laity. A further breakdown shows 17 Caucasians, 5 African Americans, 2 Hispanic/Latino/Spanish/ Portuguese, 1 Asian American/Pacific Islander, 1 Korean, 1 Native American. Members bring a vast array of experience to this new task, including work on the first United Methodist Hymnal, The Faith We Sing, Zion Still Sings!, and Mil Voces para Celebrar.

And here is information about the chairs announced this week:

Nashville,
October 17—Neil M. Alexander, President and Publisher of The United Methodist Publishing House, and Karen Greenwaldt, General Secretary of the General Board of Discipleship, The United Methodist Church, announced today that the role of editor of the new hymn and worship book authorized by the 2008 General Conference will be shared by Dean B. McIntyre and Gary Alan Smith.

Dean B. McIntyre is the Director of Music Resources at the General Board of Discipleship, where his responsibilities include development of music and worship resources, planning and leading field events related to music and worship, and continued development and expansion of GBOD’s music Web site. A native of New York City, McIntyre holds a Master of Music from Eastern New Mexico University and a Ph. D. in Fine Arts from Texas Tech University. He is a composer, author, and teacher and chaired the General Conference Music and Worship Study, 2004-2007. McIntyre chaired the national introductory event for The Faith We Sing and served on editorial committee for Zion Still Sings. He is a member of ASCAP and a Life Member of The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts. He will continue as Director of Music Resources while serving as co-editor.

Gary Alan Smith is Senior Music Editor at Abingdon Press. A native of Milwaukee, Smith holds a Master of Sacred Music from Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and a Master of Theology from the Perkins School of Theology at SMU. He is an author, speaker, composer, clinician, and church music director and served as editorial manager of the Hymnal Revision Project that resulted in The United Methodist Hymnal; editorial manager of Mil voces para celebrar; sponsoring editor of The Faith We Sing; and consultant for Zion Still Sings. Smith will also serve as project director for the new hymn and worship resource.

Some dish on the UM committee members: Carl Frazier is a pastor in eastern NC; Andy Langford is a published author who is now pastor of Central UMC in Concord, NC; in additional to being a clergyperson, John Thornburg is a published hymn text author (his "God the sculptor of the mountains" appears in Sing the Faith #2060); Mark Miller is a composer of some reknown especially in Methodist circles.

It will be interesting to see how the two concurrent hymnal projects proceed and what similarities will be evident in the scope and design of the projects.

Understanding All Saints Sunday

"American Presbyterians have been observing All Saints Day/Sunday for at least 50 years." That statement is found in a 1982 article in the Presbyterian Associations of Musicians' journal (Reformed Liturgy and Music, XVI.4, p 154.) Twenty-six years further on, we still should remind ourselves of the "whats" and "whys" of All Saints celebrations.

Whenever we state the Apostles' Creed we affirm our belief in the "communion of saints." Far more than having "something to do with the Lord's Supper," this statement lies near the heart of an understanding of All Saints observance. "All Saints is a time to rejoice in all who through the ages have faithfully served God. It reminds us that we are part of one, continuing, living communion..." (ed. Richardson, et. al., The Westminster dictionary of Christian theology, Westminster, 1983). The communion of saints draws on the message of Hebrews 12, that there is a great company of witnesses surrounding us like a cloud. The death of God's disciples does not end their relationship with God, but indeed they enter into a fuller fellowship in the glory of God. The family of God is "united in heaven and on earth, as one body, in which all members are 'alive unto God.'" Our communion is not interrupted, let alone ended, but is merely changed.

Important to Presbyterians is the notion of the "priesthood of all believers." This is right in line with how we understand All Saints Sunday. We acknowledge the Godly lives of our spiritual ancestors and by drawing the example of their lives of faith and worship and mission to mind, we seek to emulate the same in our own lives. Veneration and adoration can be taken to extreme, hence the on-going Protestant re-interpretation of the doctrine surrounding All Saints. The meaning is captured fully and quite simply in the line from Lesbia Scott's hymn "I sing a song of the saints of God:" "I mean to be one too."
To celebrate the Lord's Supper at an All Saints celebration is singularly appropriate. "This service is a deep remembrance in which we encounter anew the most profound dimensions of what it is to be the church. There is a clear eschatological vision and tone to this celebration, since it reminds us of those for whom the battle is over, the victory won, and also of our continuing pilgrimage toward God and heavenly banquet" (Hickman, et. al., Handbook of the Christian year, Abingdon, 1986). The service is meant to be solemn without being sad, a service of remembrance not dwelling on persons but rather on the grace of God evidenced in persons' lives and encouragement to seek similar attitudes of devotion and service in our own lives.

In the weeks between now and All Saints, be reminded, each time we say what we believe, that in a few weeks we will have a wonderful opportunity to enact and live out our faith as we "rejoice in God's saints."

Rejoice in God's saints, today and all days!
A world without saints forgets how to praise.
Their faith in acquiring the habit of prayer,
their depth of adoring, Lord, help us to share.

Some march with events, to turn them God's way;
some need to withdraw, the better to pray;
some carry the gospel through fire and through flood:
our world is their parish: their purpose is God.

Rejoice in those saints, unpraised and unknown,
who bear someone's cross, or shoulder their own:
they shame our complaining, our comforts, our cares:
what patience in caring, what courage is theirs!

Rejoice in God's saints, today and all days!
A world without saints forgets how to praise.
in loving, in living, they prove it is true:
The way of self-giving, Lord, leads us to you.
Fred Pratt Green, 1977

Worship Music October 19

First Light worship will begin this week with "Sanctuary," "Jesus, name above all names" and Chris Tomlin's "Forever." We will use our familiar "Celtic Alleluia" at the confession and Jimmy Owens' "Doxology." Andy Gwynn will play a guitar solo for the offertory. Worship will close with Karen Lafferty's "Seek ye first the kingdom of God."

Worship at 11AM will include the hymns "Rejoice the Lord is king" (DARWELL’S 148^TH); "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God ((LAFFERTY); and "The church of Christ in every age" (WAREHAM). The choir will sing Erik Routley's "Let all the world in every corner sing (468.1) at the Introit, the Greatorex "Gloria Patri" and Marty Haugen's "Three-Fold Amen" at the benediction. The choir anthem will be Paul Sjolund's setting of the hymn "My Jesus, I love thee." The guest organist will be Noah W. Allen, III, who will select the organ prelude, offertory and postlude.

Her Other Life

Our own Keithie Knowles keeps a busy performance schedule. A violinist with the Asheville Symphony, Keithie also has other gigs on the side. When she's not with us on Sunday mornings singing in choir or playing violin, very often she is in Bristol, TN living her other life. Here's a link for the Paramount Players a chamber ensemble with whom Keithie plays in her "spare" time. They recently finished a performance weekend, and I thought it was time to give a shout out to one of our own. Keithie has also enjoyed a long relationship with the folks at First PC(USA) in Bristol including musicians Steve and Vickie Fey. Steve recently was selected to be on the hymnal committee of the PC(USA) which will prepare a new songbook for our denomination.







That's Keithie, second from the left.

Music for Sunday October 12

FirstLight music will include these Gathering Song(s): "This is the day," "I will call upon the Lord," and "You are holy (Prince of peace)." We will sing "Amazing love (You are my king)" at the confession, including for the first time the bridge, creatively employed as the introduction to the song. We will once again dance the Peace the the Israeli worship song, "Shalom chaverim."
Mike and Melissa will play Ned Rorem's "Mountain Song" at the offering, and lead "Give Thanks" as our doxology. We will be welcoming Glenn Bannerman as our centennial celebration guest preacher. He has chosen to help us dance to "I danced in the morning" (SIMPLE GIFTS) as our closing song.

Worship at 11 AM will include Hymns: 482, Praise ye the Lord the Almighty (LOBE DEN HERREN); "I danced in the morning" (SIMPLE GIFTS); and "All things bright and beautiful" (ROYAL OAK). We'll sing together our Introit, Garrett's "This is the day"
our response after forgiveness, Hopson's "We are forgiven;" and the popular though anonymous Benediction response, "Rejoice in the Lord always." The Choir anthem will be Phillip Deitterich's "Followers of the lamb." This Shaker hymn has been set by many, but I think Deitterich's really captures the exuberance of the original.

O brothers ain’t you happy…
O sisters ain’t you happy…
Sing on, dance on, followers of Emmanuel…
I mean to be obedient…
I’m glad I am a Christian…

We will enjoy the violin playing of our own Keithie Knowles this week at the prelude and offertory: Prelude: Albert Becker, Adagio, Opus 20; Offertory: Charles Callahan, Valediction; Postlude: Joel Martinson, Miriam’s dance. That last organ piece is a toe twister in 10/8, 4/4, 5/4 and probably a couple of meters I have repressed at the moment! It's a raucous interpretation of what the dance might have been like after our ancestors crossed the Red Sea.

Hymnal Committee Personnel

Persons selected for the committee to create a new hymnal for the PC(USA) have been announced (September 15). Among the names are Mary Louise Bringle, on the faculty at Brevard College and Steve Fey on the staff at PFC Bristol, TN. Mel Bringle is professor of religion at Brevard, and a prolific writer of hymn texts. She presented at Montreat W&M Conferences in 2008. Steve and his wife Vicki have been fixtures at the Montreat conferences for years. Our own Keithie Knowles has worked with them extensively.

If anyone can point me toward the news release online, I'd be happy to link to it here.

In the comments, Bob references this article from the Presbyterian News Service. It's good, but doesn't have the bios of the committee members that the PPC release has. But FWIW you can take a look at it.

Looking for some mentors

I had a first rehearsal with youth bell ringers and youth choir singers yesterday evening. It was very exciting: There were 8 ringers for bells. Double what we had last year. Problem is the new four are totally new to ringing. We had 9 singers for youth choir. Lots of enthusiasm, but, especially among the boys, not a whole lot of confidence.

Thus began a note to our adult musicians this morning. I continued with this:

I would like your help in identifying some mentors to help me with these groups. Bell ringers for the youth bells (1 person, no more than 2) and singers for youth choir (one male; one female). These persons need to be pretty solid in their own abilities and be able to guide and lead new talent. A big part of the job is yucking it up with the kids and being pals with them while also modeling good rehearsal behavior.

In bells it will be a matter of helping mark up music and tap out beats and correct technique; maybe some subbing when someone is away. In singing it will be a matter of learning notes quickly and leading the section(s) vocally. Especially in choir the mentor needs to be comfortable with and facile at contemporary music as well as traditional church anthem fare.

These are the future church musicians, so mentoring them at this stage is vital. As director I can do quite a bit, but nothing compares with having a sympathetic partner in music-making right beside the young singer or ringer.

Please help me think who might be interested and qualified and willing to help out in this way. Notice I am not explicitly asking any of you to take this on. You can volunteer yourself, but be mindful of your own prior commitments.

We'll talk about it in rehearsal. Thanks very much!

One of the most important parts of my music career was playing in brass ensemble as a teenager at my church. The other players were adult men. Most were a whole lot better than I, but everyone of them wanted the best for me as a musician and as a young Christian. I still reflect on that experience from time to time. It motivates considerably my collaborative methodology of church music practice. I'll keep you posted on what shakes loose.