Each week, you may find information here about the music in the traditional worship services at First United Methodist Church in Lewisville, Texas. Some of this information is original; most of it is copied from other websites such as Wikipedia, GBOD, and hymnary.org. It is my hope that this information will enhance your understanding and enrich your worship experience.
About the Organ Music:
Gavotte - Samuel Sebastian Wesley
(public domain)
Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876) was born in London, son of composer Samuel Wesley and named after his father and Johann Sebastian Bach. His grandfather was the hymn writer Charles Wesley and his great-uncle was theologian John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church. He is often referred to as S.S. Wesley to avoid confusion with his father Samuel Wesley.
As a child, he sang in the choir of the Chapel Royal and at St. Paul's Cathedral. He played the organ in several London churches and wrote music for melodramas in theatres. He became organist of Hereford Cathedral at age 22 and became focused on music for the Church. He trained at Oxford and held influential positions Exeter Cathedral, Leeds Parish Church, Winchester Cathedral, and Gloucester Cathedral. He received both his Bachelor of Music degree and a Doctor of Music degree from Oxford. He became a Professor of Organ at the Royal Academy of Music in 1850. He was offered a knighthood but chose to be given money instead. Famous in his lifetime as one of his country's leading organists and choirmasters, he composed almost exclusively for the Church of England, which continues to cherish his memory. His compositions are mostly anthems, organ music, and other church music, but they include some secular part-songs.
One notable feature of his career is his aversion to equal temperament, an aversion which he kept for decades after this tuning method had been accepted on the Continent and even in most of England. Such distaste did not stop him from substantial use of chromaticism in several of his published compositions.
While at Winchester Cathedral Wesley was largely responsible for the cathedral's acquisition in 1854 of the Father Willis organ which had been exhibited at The Great Exhibition, 1851. The success of the exhibition organ led directly to the award of the contract to Willis for a 100-stop organ for St George's Hall, Liverpool, built in 1855. Wesley was the consultant for this major and important project, but the organ was, arguably, impaired for some years by Wesley's insistence that it be tuned to unequal temperament. Wesley, with Father Willis, can be credited with the invention of the concave and radiating organ pedalboard, but demurred when Willis proposed that it should be known as the "Wesley-Willis" pedalboard. However, their joint conception has been largely adopted as an international standard for organs throughout the English-speaking world and those exported elsewhere.
About the Piano Music:
A Shepherd's Medley - Paul Tate
(c.2004, GIA Publications)
The text of "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us" first appeared in Hymns for the Young, 1830, which was edited by Dorothy Ann Thrupp (1779-1847). Although no author's name appears with the text, it is thought that Thrupp wrote it, since she often published hymns anonymously, under the pseudonym "Iota," or simply using her initials “DAT”. The tune we sing today, BRADBURY, was written by William Bradbury expressly for this text and appeared in his Sunday School collection, Oriola, 1859. Bradbury was a protege of the great music educator, Lowell Mason. Bradbury sang in Mason's Bowdoin Street Church choir and Boston Academy of Music as a youth, and later started similar church and school music programs in New York where he served as organist at First Baptist Church. Beyond his work as an educator and church musician, Bradbury studied composition in Europe, founded the Bradbury Piano Company with his brother, and edited a number of music books. Bradbury is probably most famous for writing the music to "Jesus Loves Me."
Savior, like a shepherd lead us, Much we need Thy tender care;
In Thy pleasant pastures feed us, For our use Thy folds prepare:
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Thou hast bought us, Thine we are;
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Thou hast bought us, Thine we are.
We are Thine, do Thou befriend us, Be the guardian of our way;
Keep Thy flock, from sin defend us, Seek us when we go astray:
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Hear, O hear us when we pray;
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Hear, O hear us when we pray.
Thou hast promised to receive us, Poor and sinful though we be;
Thou hast mercy to relieve us, Grace to cleanse, and pow'r to free:
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Early let us turn to Thee;
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Early let us turn to Thee.
Early let us seek Thy favor, Early let us do Thy will;
Blessed Lord and only Savior, With Thy love our bosoms fill:
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Thou hast loved us, love us still;
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Thou hast loved us, love us still.
Marty Haugen (b. 1950) was raised in the American Lutheran Church (ALC) in Minnesota, and also writes contemporary hymns and liturgies for the Lutheran church despite being a member the United Church of Christ. Despite being a non-Catholic, his music has found favor in the both liberal Roman Catholic and Protestant congregations. Haugen holds a B.A. degree in psychology from Luther College and an M.A. degree in Pastoral Studies from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. For the past 25 years Haugen has pursued a career as a liturgical composer and workshop presenter.
His best-known works are two Lutheran liturgies, "Holden Evening Prayer" and "Now the Feast and Celebration", and settings of the Catholic mass, the most widely-know being the Mass of Creation. He has also composed dozens of other works, including liturgy settings, choral arrangements, sacred songs, and hymns, including "Here in this Place (Gather Us In)", "Canticle of the Sun", "We Are Many Parts", "We Remember", and "Shepherd Me, O God," as well as several psalm settings and paraphrases.
“Shepherd Me, O God” was originally a responsorial which is used in alternatum with the reading or chanting of Psalm 23 from the Psalter. Later, Haugen added verses which are a paraphrase of Psalm 23.
Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants, beyond my fears, from death into life.
God is my shepherd, so nothing shall I want,
I rest in the meadows of faithfulness and love,
I walk bu the quiet waters of peace.
Gently you raise me and heal my weary soul,
You lead me by pathways of righteousness and truth,
My spirit shall sing the music of your name.
Though I should wander the valley of death,
I fear no evil, for You are at my side,
Your rod and Your staff, my comfort and my hope.
You have set me a banquet of love in the face of hatred,
Crowning me with love beyond my power to hold.
Surely Your kindness and mercy follow me all the days of my life;
I will dwell in the house of my God forevermore.
Not to be confused with the Sandy Patty or Johnny Cash hymns of the same name, the tune and text of this Shepherd of my Heart is by Father Francis Patrick O’Brien. Ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston in 1985, O’Brien has spent all of his priesthood in parish and campus ministry, where, along with his sacramental and parochial duties, he has frequently served as music director and composer. He is currently pastor of St. Matthias Parish in Marlborough, MA, a western suburb of Boston.
O’Brien began working in music ministry at age thirteen as accompanist for the children’s choir in his home parish. He moved up the ranks from fill-in organist to music director while still in high school. During those years, he began composing for liturgy. His compositions, beginning with “You Are All We Have” and “Shepherd of My Heart”, in 1991, are known for their strong melodies and solid texts. He is a frequent presenter of workshops and concerts throughout the New England area as well as with NPM and GIA. His commissions include works for Form Reform, the NCEA and the Archdiocese of Boston in celebration of its bicentennial year.
My shepherd is the Lord, for nothing shall I want;
green are the pastures where I'm led to repose.
Near waters still and deep God will refresh my soul.
I am led onward in ways true to the Name.
If I should walk one day into the vale of darkness,
no evil shall I fear with God at my side.
There with your crook and staff you give me strength and comfort;
you spread a banquet in the sight of my foes.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing;
goodness and kindness crown the days of my life.
Within the Lord's own house I dwell in peace forever;
within the house of God my soul is at rest.
Guide me, O shepherd of my heart;
lead me homeward through the dark, into everlasting day.
Show me the way of truth and light; keep me always in your sight.
May my life never part from the shepherd of my heart.
Paul A. Tate, a graduate of the University of Georgia, is a professional musician living in Sugar Hill, Georgia. As an active workshop presenter and concert performer, Paul has released a dozen recordings and published over 100 original songs and arrangements. His liturgical compositions appear in a number of hymnal resources, and his voice has been heard around the world on Sirius Satellite Radio.
Climb to the Top of the Highest Mountain - Carolyn Jennings
(c.1981, Neil A Kjos Music Company)
Carolyn Jennings is a Professor Emerita of Music at St. Olaf College where she taught for many years and also served in administrative roles, including being Chair of the Music Department and Associate Dean for the Fine Arts. She also recently retired as Music Coordinator and Director of the Senior Choir at St. John's Lutheran Church, Northfield, Minnesota, where she served as a church musician for over thirty years. Jennings is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music magna cum laude and the University of Michigan where she received her Master of Music degree as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow.
Over many years she has served on arts advisory panels, as a workshop presenter, and in leadership roles in several professional organizations. She has been active in promoting the use of inclusive language in texts for singing, and has worked to heighten awareness of how language shapes as well as expresses thought.
Her compositions and arrangements include works for voices, orchestra, and piano. She particularly enjoys composing for voices. Among her many commissioned works are children's musical, a choral song cycle, a composition for the Minnesota Aids Quilt Songbook, and many compositions for church, school and community choirs. She has received several major grants from the Composers Commissioning Program through the Minnesota Composers Forum. Her publications include over a hundred choral compositions and arrangements, a number of text translations, contributions to several hymnals, and articles for professional journals.
She is active in the American Choral Directors Association, the Music Teachers National Association, the Minnesota Composers Forum, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, and as a guest conductor and workshop leader.
Jennings has adapted this text from Isaiah 40.
Climb to the top of the highest mountain, Joyous tidings proclaim to the world,
Lift up your voice, shout the good news: Behold, your Lord comes to you.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd, He will carry the lambs in his arms,
He will ever keep them safe from harm. Behold, your Lord comes to you.
He who made the stars in the heaven, He who fashioned the earth and the sea,
From time eternal he was God, The Alpha and Omega, He.
Behold, your Lord!
He will come in power and glory, He will rule with mercy truth,
Hope of all the nations Light of all the world!
.
He will love the little children, He will hold them in his arms.
Love him and trust him as a child, Behold, your Lord comes to you.
Love him as a child, Trust him as a child.
About the Hymns:
O God, We Pray with Deep Concern - Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
(c.2026, Carolyn Gillette)
Carolyn Winfrey Gillette has been a Presbyterian pastor in rural, small town, suburban, and city churches; she has also served as a hospice chaplain, a hospital chaplain, and a school bus aide helping children with special needs. Carolyn is a gifted hymn writer who has written over 400 hymns. In addition to I Sing to My Savior: New Hymns from the Stories in Luke's Gospel, she has written Gifts of Love: New Hymns for Today's Worship (Geneva Press) and Songs of Grace: New Hymns for God and Neighbor (Upper Room Books). Her hymns have been published in over 20 books. Two of her hymns have been published by the Choristers Guild as anthems. Carolyn is a graduate of Lebanon Valley College and Princeton Theological Seminary.
Gillette wrote this hymn in response to escalation of threats in the war in Iran. She wrote this about the situation: Augustine is quoted as saying those who sing, pray twice. WCC gravely concerned over threats to Iran of attacks on civilian infrastructure. World Council of Churches (WCC) moderator of the central committee Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm and WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed grave concern over threats made by US president Donald Trump of imminent widespread attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran and the response of Iran promising serious retaliation. This hymn is based on Matthew 5:9; Matthew 6:9-13; Matthew 19:13-15; Ephesians 2:14.
O God, we pray with deep concern as flames of war increase.
Each day we hear the news and yearn for justice and for peace.
The young, the old, the sick, the poor often are in harm’s way.
How much, we ask, can they endure? Deliver them, we pray!
We pray for children caught in wars in many different ways.
They long for what they knew before— for peaceful, safer days.
O Christ, you welcomed children in— and said we also should.
May we stop wars that threaten them; may we work for the good.
We know your Way is one of love, through Jesus Christ your Son.
We pray each day, “Thy kingdom come,” and yes, “Thy will be done.”
In Christ, you break dividing walls and give us life anew.
May we respond when Jesus calls and work for peace for you.
It is Well with My Soul
For more than a century, the tragic story of one man has given hope to countless thousands who have lifted their voices to sing, It Is Well With My Soul. Horatio Spafford (1828-1888) was a wealthy Chicago lawyer with a thriving legal practice, a beautiful home, a wife, four daughters and a son. He was also a devout Christian and faithful student of the Scriptures. His circle of friends included Dwight L. Moody, Ira Sankey and various other well-known Christians of the day.
At the very height of his financial and professional success, Horatio and his wife Anna suffered the tragic loss of their young son. Shortly thereafter on October 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed almost every real estate investment that Spafford had.
In 1873, Spafford scheduled a boat trip to Europe in order to give his wife and daughters a much needed vacation and time to recover from the tragedy. He also went to join Moody and Sankey on an evangelistic campaign in England. Spafford sent his wife and daughters ahead of him while he remained in Chicago to take care of some unexpected last minute business. Several days later he received notice that his family's ship had encountered a collision. All four of his daughters drowned; only his wife had survived.
With a heavy heart, Spafford boarded a boat that would take him to his grieving Anna in England. It was on this trip that he penned those now famous words, When sorrow like sea billows roll; it is well, it is well with my soul..
Philip Bliss (1838-1876), composer of many songs including Hold the Fort, Let the Lower Lights be Burning, and Jesus Loves Even Me, was so impressed with Spafford's life and the words of his hymn that he composed VILLE DE HAVRE to accompany the lyrics. The song was published by Bliss and Sankey, in 1876.
Original lyrics:
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
A song in the night, oh my soul!
O Lord, Hear My Prayer
(c.1984, Les Presses de Taize, admin by GIA Publications)
Jacques Berthier (1923-1994) was a French composer of liturgical music, best known for writing much of the music used at Taizé. Berthier was born in Auxerre, Burgundy; both of his parents were musicians. His father Paul was the kapellmeister and organist at the Auxerre Cathedral and his mother Geneviève Parquin was a composer. Learning first from his parents, Berthier was trained in music at the École César Franck in Paris. In 1955, Berthier was first asked to compose music for the Taizé Community, which was then just a monastic community of twenty brothers. Six years later he became organist at the Church of the Jesuits in Paris, Saint-Ignace, where he worked until his death. In 1975, Berthier was again asked to compose for Taizé, this time for chants to be sung by the increasing numbers of young people coming to worship there. Over nearly twenty years, Berthier built up a body of church music that has been utilized around the world. In 2006, the Jubilate Deo Award was granted to him posthumously.
In more than twenty years, Berthier left an important corpus (232 songs in 20 different languages) in wide use today by other communities and around the world. He is also the author of Masses for organ, a cantata in the form of the cross and a cantata for Saint Cecilia. In total, he wrote over 1,500 pieces of work.
Berthier wrote the text and music of “O Lord, Hear My Prayer” in 1991. The text is adapted from Psalm 102: 1-2.
O Lord, hear my prayer. O Lord, hear my prayer. When I call, answer me.
O Lord, hear my prayer. O Lord, hear my prayer. Come and listen to me.
The Spirit Sends Us Forth to Serve
(c.1993, Delores Dufner, adm. OCP Pub)
“Let us bring to life and liturgy the gifts that differ . . . for the building up of our sisters and brothers into the one Body of Christ,” proclaims Delores Dufner in her introduction to her hymn collection, Sing a New Church. She actively motivates us in this collection to “Sing a new church into being, one in faith and love and praise.” Sister Dufner (b. 1939), a member of St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, Minn., has published over 155 hymns in her lifetime, much to the acclaim of Alan Hommerding who named her the foremost female Roman Catholic hymn text writer in the United States in the October 2000 issue of the journal, The Hymn.
Sr. Dufner holds master’s degrees in liturgical music and liturgical studies and is a very active member of her monastery as well as the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minn. She has received several awards throughout her lifetime for her contributions to liturgy and music following Vatican II (1962-1965), from institutions such as St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., and the University of Notre Dame. Her work has taken her to various conventions, hymn festivals and meetings throughout the United States and the world. Music consultant work has even taken her on a 15-month journey to the Diocese of Ballarat, Victoria in Australia. Several of her texts have appeared in anthems, cantatas and even an opera/oratorio by prolific contemporary composers. One of her most famous texts is “Sing a New Church,” commissioned for the 1991 convention of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians.
Her hymnody is derived from her experiences of the Roman Catholic Church during Vatican II along with her involvement with liturgy and music. Sr. Dufner writes texts that function within Catholic liturgy, as well as texts which speak centrally from the Word of God. It was her realization that the Catholic Church was in need of English texts after the Vatican II reforms which challenged her to follow in the ways of Martin Luther. She began her hymn writing by creating texts for specific public domain tunes, free of copyright restrictions.
Her texts challenge congregations to keep the church progressing into the future and have earned her a respected presence in hymnals of several denominations throughout the world. Sr. Dufner is also known for her award-winning hymn texts centered on the Virgin Mary and her passion to speak out about women’s rights and injustices.
“The Spirit Sends Us Forth to Serve,” based on Isaiah 61:1-4 and Luke 4:16-22, highlights our Christian mission here on Earth by challenging readers to live out the gospel. Sr. Dufner’s modern English writing style is simple and dynamic, calling the assembly into vibrant prayer and action. This hymn flourishes with action verbs: bring, comfort, help, serve. Sr. Dufner cleverly reiterates the first stanza through the last stanza, as she sends the congregation forth in Jesus’ name through the working of the Holy Spirit. Her texts are often paired with familiar hymn tunes, for practical purposes and to remind us as citizens of the world of our rich ecumenical heritage shared between all. We sing tunes from the past to connect us with our past, and by pairing a fresh text with a durable and loved tune, we bridge the gaps between the past and present and become active witnesses to our evolving faith and church.
LAND OF REST is an American folk tune with ballad roots from Northern England and Scotland. It is traced back to The Christian’s Harp, published in 1832, and has associations with the Appalachians as a shape note tune. Previously assigned the title NEW PROSPECT in the 1844 edition of The Sacred Harp, it was named LAND OF REST for its pairing with the hymn, “O Land of Rest! For Thee I Sigh.” Annabel Morris Buchanan is responsible for the common harmonization of this tune, as she published it in her 1938 Folk Hymns of America.
The spirit sends us forth to serve; we go in Jesus' name
to bring glad tidings to the poor, God's favor to proclaim.
We go to comfort those who mourn and set the burdened free:
where hope is dim, to share a dream and help the blind to see.
We go to be the hands of Christ, to scatter joy like seed
and all our days, to cherish life, to do the loving deed.
Then let us go to serve in peace, the Gospel to proclaim.
God's Spirit has empowered us; we go in Jesus' name.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
