November 2, 2014

Each week, you may find information here about the organ music and hymns in the traditional worship services at First United Methodist Church in Lewisville, Texas.  Some of this information is original; much of it is "borrowed" from other sources 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:

Allegro, from “Stücke für die Spieluhr” - Ludwig van Beethoven

          (In Honor of Time Change Sunday)

These five pieces surfaced after Beethoven's death, bringing with them several very puzzling mysteries. Most challenging of them all was the instrument for which they were written. Piano, strings, harp and most other common instruments were instantly ruled out, building on the perplexing mystery and adding to the frustration. Eventually, Albert Kopfermann set forth a convincing argument that their strange scoring seemed a perfect fit for the Flötenuhr or Spielühr, a mechanical organ or clock. He observed that the notation in No. 1, in F, matched that in Mozart's K. 608 Fantasia (for Flötenuhr), the score of which Beethoven possessed. Other circumstantial factors pointed to the Flötenuhr as the instrument Beethoven designed these pieces for.  None of these five pieces was published until the twentieth century, and, not surprisingly, all are rarely heard.  "While the musical clock of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries might seem like a toy to the twenty first century ear and eye, its owners -- usually members of the aristocracy -- regarded it as a quite sophisticated device, not least because it was the only way to hear music away from the concert hall and parlors. Its chime-like tones may have limited its expressive range, but composers like Beethoven took compositions for the musical clock quite seriously.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of the Holy Roman Empire, Beethoven displayed his musical talents at an early age and was taught by his father Johann van Beethoven and by Christian Gottlob Neefe. During his first 22 years in Bonn, Beethoven intended to study with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and befriended Joseph Haydn. Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792 and began studying with Haydn, quickly gaining a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. He lived in Vienna until his death. In about 1800 his hearing began to deteriorate, and by the last decade of his life he was almost totally deaf. He gave up conducting and performing in public but continued to compose; many of his most admired works come from this period.  His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 concertos for piano, 32 piano sonatas, and 16 string quartets. He also composed other chamber music, choral works (including the celebrated Missa solemnis), and songs.

Adoro te Devote – Charles Callahan

Adoro te devote is one of five beautiful hymns St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) composed in honor of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament at Pope Urban IV's (1261-1264) request when the Pope first established the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264. The hymn is found in the Roman Missal as a prayer of thanksgiving after Mass. 

The paraphrase of the Latin text found in our hymnal is:

            Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face;

            Here would I touch and handle things unseen,

            Here grasp with firmer hand eternal grace,

            And all my weariness upon thee lean.

Charles Callahan (b. 1951) is one of America’s leading organist-composers.  A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, he is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Catholic University of America.  In recognition of his service to the church and his commissioned compositions for Papal visits to the U.S., he was awared the Papal Honor of Knighthood in the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 1999.  In addition to compositions and performances, Charles Callahan is a noted educator and author whose two books on American organ-building have become standard reference works.

March - Caleb Simper

Caleb Simper (September 12, 1856 – August 28, 1942) was an English composer and organist. He gained fame for his prolific output of choral and organ works.  Simper was born in the village of Barford St Martin, Wiltshire, the son of a shoemaker. After a period in Worcester, where he worked in a music shop near that was owned by the Elgar family, he moved in the 1890s to Barnstaple where he spent the remainder of his active life working as a choirmaster, organist and composer. He produced a prodigious amount of Anglican church music and organ pieces, written in an unsophisticated, popular style and aimed at small parish choirs and unskilled organists. Although ignored if not derided by critics, his anthems in particular became widely popular and were sold by his publisher under the slogan "Sung throughout the civilized world". Over five million copies had been sold by the 1920s and a few remain in print today, though Simper's musical style has long since fallen from fashion.  Amongst Simper's larger works are the cantatas, The Rolling Seasons and The Nativity of Christ. He wrote about 200 pieces of organ music.

About the Choral Music:

The Body of Christ – David Lantz

Composer David Lantz III is a full time vocal music teacher in a public school system in Pennsylvania. He is also a prolific composer of sacred and secular choral music, with approximately 500 published compositions with many major publishers across the United States. He has written for orchestra, symphonic band, jazz ensemble, and chamber groups. He is also an accomplished music editor and engraver, church choir director, and performing bassist/vocalist in the pop and jazz idioms. His wife, composer Marti Lunn Lantz, wrote the text of this anthem.

          The body of Christ is our salvation and His love is the grace of God.

            We gather here for communion, though we’re imperfect, with spirits flawed.

            As we share the body of Christ, we share His love,

            And as we drink from His cup, we share His mercy from above.

            We came here as many, and leave here as one:

            One body, the body of Christ.

            The body of Christ is our redemption, and it’s straight from the heart of God.

            We kneel and pray before Him, hearts full of reverence, minds full of awe.

            As we share the body of Christ, we share His love,

            And as we drink from His cup, we share His mercy from above.

            We came here as many, and leave here as one:

            One body, the body of Christ.

About the Hymns:

I Come With Joy

“I Come with Joy” was written in 1971 by Brian Wren (b. 1936), Emeritus Professor of Worship, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He is a writer, preacher, worship and workshop leader, and internationally published hymn-poet, with entries in most recent denominational hymnals in North America, Britain and Australia. Some of his hymn-poems have been translated into Finnish, French, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish and Korean. Brian holds undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Oxford University. He is a Minister of the United Reformed Church (UK). His publications include What Language Shall I Borrow? - God-Talk in Worship: A Male Response to Feminist Theology (1989 and 2009), Praying Twice: The Music and Words of Congregational Song (2000), Advent, Christmas and Epiphany: Liturgies and Prayers for Public Worship (2008), Hymns for Today (2009) and seven hymn collections totaling 250 hymns.

One Bread, One Body

John Foley, S. J. (born 1939) is an American composer of Catholic liturgical music and a professor of liturgy at St. Louis University.  Written in 1978, “One Bread, One Body” is based on I Corinthians 10:16-17, ”Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.”

Where Charity and Love Prevail

Omer Westendorf (1916-1997) was one of the leading composers following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.  Beginning at age 20, he received his master’s degree in music at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and for most of his professional musical career served as organist and choirmaster at St. Bonaventure Church in Cincinnati. Under his direction the Bonaventure Choir sang concerts and recorded sacred music for several decades.  One of his greatest achievements was the founding of the World Library of Sacred Music in 1950 and World Library Publications in 1957. These organizations have been primary distributors of music for the Mass in the United States and beyond.

Westendorf was also known for his lectures and seminars on sacred music, consultations on liturgical music and as a hymn writer.  Westendorf’s People’s Mass Book, 1964, was the first vernacular hymn and service book to implement the Catholic liturgies decreed by Vatican Council II. He wrote Music Lessons for the Man in the Pew to teach the art of sight reading choral music.

“Where charity and love prevail” (1961) provides an English hymn version of a 9th-century Latin hymn, “Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est” (Where there is charity and love, God is there) based on 1 John 4:16. Traditionally, this is the final hymn on Maundy Thursday, called in the Latin tradition Mandatum novum (New Commandment), referring to the act of washing of the disciples’ feet initiated by Jesus.

Scholar H. Myron Braun comments on this ancient ritual: “[The Latin chant] is said to date from the ninth century . . . with its emphasis on community within the faith, on Christians holding one another in love and concern . . . It is appropriate for . . . [Maundy Thursday] when we note the “new commandment” that we love one another, and also several times in Eastertide when the lectionary leads us to reading on love from the Gospel and the epistles of John.”

The text draws directly on John 13:34, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” This version appeared first in Westendorf’s People’s Mass Book (1976). Before the publication of The UM Hymnal in 1989, the hymn appeared in the Supplement to the Book of Hymns (1982) with a plainsong melody.

October 26, 2014

Each week, you may find information here about the organ music and hymns in the traditional worship services at First United Methodist Church in Lewisville, Texas.  Some of this information is original; much of it is "borrowed" from other sources such as Wikipedia, GBOD, and hymnary.org.  It is my hope that this information will enhance your understanding and enrich your worship experience.  

BE THE CHURCH – Gathering devotional - 9 a.m.

About the Choral Music:

God of This City - Bluetree

Written by the Irish band, Bluetree, "God of This City" is truly a prophetic and powerful song, a statement of faith and a passionate prayer simultaneously.  Bluetree and a few other members of their church went on a mission trip to Pattaya, Thailand, where there are over 30,000 female prostitutes over the age of 18.  As they were walking around the town looking for places to perform, they walked into a local bar there called "The Climax Club". The owner agreed to let them play as long as they brought all 30 of their group and they bought Coke, as Coke was more expensive then alcohol there.  So for over 2 hours this band sang worship songs to these prostitutes and their customers.  Suddenly this song "came down from heaven," as one of the band members recalls. Spontaneously they started singing:

You’re the God of this city.
You’re the King of these people.
You’re the Lord of this nation.  You are

You’re the light in this darkness.
You’re the hope to the hopeless.
You’re the peace to the restless. You are.

For there is no-one like our God.
There is no-one like our God.

Greater things have yet to come;
Greater things are still to be done in this city.
Greater things have yet to come,
And greater things have still to be done here.

You’re the Lord of Creation,
The Creator of all things.
You’re the King above all Kings.  You are

You’re the strength in our weakness.
You’re the love to the broken.
You’re the joy in the sadness.  You are.

Lord, I Want to Be a Witness – A. L. Butler

A L. (Pete) Butler (b. 1933) is Minister of Music at First Baptist Church, Ada, Ok., and retired Professor of Church Music at Midwestern Baptist Seminary in Kansas City.  He has published children and adult anthem and written a number of hymn tunes. 

            Lord, I want to be a witness ev’ry day in all I do and say.

            Lord, I want to be a witness ev’ry hour, in the Saviour’s power.

            I want to share the wondrous news of my salvation,

            And tell how Jesus’ love came into my soul.

            I want to spread the blessed word to ev’ry nation

            And show how Christ can make a sinner man whole.

Lord, I want to be a witness today.

            Here’s my soul, come on and take control.

            Lord, I want to be a witness, shining bright with the heav’nly light.

            Lord, I want to be a witness, leaving all for the Master’s call.

            I want to live so Christ can work in those about me

            And have His wondrous way within their hearts.

            I want to take the word of God to those without Him,

            So they can know the joyous love He imparts.

            Lord, I want to be a witness,

            Here’s my sould, come on and take control.

            O Lord, blessed Lord, make me a witness.

About the Hymns:

The Gift of Love

Among the most prominent New Testament texts is the discourse on love found in I Corinthians 13. Hal H. Hopson has paraphrased part of this beautiful text in what has become one of the most popular late 20th-century hymns, appearing in many major hymnals published in the U.S. since 1980. "The Gift of Love" first appeared as a very popular anthem in 1972. Both the text and the music are effective paraphrases -- the text of I Corinthians 13:1-3 and the melody as an adaptation of the beautiful folk melody "O Waly, Waly." The original tune was collected by American folksong specialist Cecil Sharp and published in his Folk Songs from Somerset (1906).  "The Gift of Love" is very flexible and, according to Hope Publishing Co., is Mr. Hopson's most popular composition -- widely used as an anthem, solo and as a hymn. Speaking of the popularity of his hymn, Hopson said: "The first 'Gift of Love' was a two-part choral arrangement. Years later, at the suggestion of  George Shorney at Hope Publishing Company, I cast it in a form to be used as a congregational hymn. Since then it has become a standard hymn to be included in many hymnals. It is noteworthy that The United Methodist Hymnal, 1989, was the first hymnal that included 'The Gift of Love.' I was once surprised to be introduced at a seminar as the Gift-of-Love-Man."

Mr. Hopson (b. 1933) is a native of Mound, Texas, and now resides in Dallas. He has an international reputation as a clinician and composer, and has published more than 1,300 compositions, which comprise almost every musical form in church music. With a special interest in congregational song, he continues to make a significant contribution to the new repertoire of hymn tunes and responsorial psalm settings as evidenced by the proliferation of his settings that are included in newly published hymnals and psalm collections.

BE THE CHURCH – Celebration - 5 p.m.

About the Organ Music:

Siyahamba – Robert Buckley Farlee

The history of South Africa under white British rule is marked by the existence of one of the most brutal systems of racial segregation that the world has ever known. A system by the name of “Apartheid”, literally meaning “separateness” in the Afrikaans language, made Africans of color aliens in their homeland. The laws of Apartheid forced millions to live in impoverished townships where they were denied the most basic human rights. Apartheid, under which the white minority held power over the entire population, was met with strong internal and external resistance, prompting global boycotts of sales and trade with South Africa. The most powerful form of resistance, however, was the refusal of South African blacks to remain prisoners in their own land.  Throughout every stage of the struggle, the “liberation music” both fueled and united the movement. Song was a communal act of expression that shed light on the injustices of apartheid, therefore playing a major role in the eventual reform of the South African government.

Siyahamba is a South African hymn that became popular in North American churches in the 1990s. The title means "We Are Marching" or "We are Walking" in the Zulu language.  It is said to have been composed around 1950 by Andries van Tonder, an elder of the Judith Church.   Tonder’s composition was in Afrikaans (with the title "Ons marsjeer nou in die lig van God") and was subsequently translated into Zulu by Thabo Mkhize.  But according to SAMRO, these claims are unsubstantiated, and the original composer is unknown.   In the Southern African Music Rights Organisation SAMRO's records, Siyahamba is in public domain.

In 1978, the Swedish choral group Fjedur toured South Africa at the invitation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Africa. It was during this tour that Fjedur's musical director, Anders Nyberg, heard and recorded "Siyahamba" at a girls' school in Appelsbosch, Natal. Subsequently this song has been used around the world by schools in their prayers.  In 1984, Nyberg arranged "Siyahamba" for a four-voice setting and published it in a songbook and recording called Freedom is Coming: Songs of Protest and Praise from South Africa. In 1994, GIA Publications included the song (under the title "We Are Marching in the Light of God") in Gather Comprehensive,^[2] a hymnal widely used in American Catholic parishes. A year later, the United Church of Christ included the song, under the same title, in The New Century Hymnal .^[3] The Unitarian Universalist Association included the song in its 2005 supplemental hymnbook, Singing the Journey.

Siyahamba ekukhanyen' kwenkhos
We are marching in the light of God

We are singing in the light of God

We are praying in the light of God

We are dancing in the light of God

Robert Buckley Farlee (b. 1950) is Associate Pastor and Director of Music at Christ Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.  Bob Farlee and his wife Jane Buckley-Farlee (pastor at Trinity Lutheran Congregation, ELCA, Minneapolis) were ordained on July 13, 1980, in St. Louis, Missouri, at Unity Lutheran Church, Bel-Nor. It was at Unity Lutheran that Bob served as music director. Then in November of 1981, Bob joined the staff at Christ Church Lutheran, Minneapolis, where he has served both as a pastor and as cantor. Farlee is a graduate of Christ Seminary-Seminex, St. Louis, Missouri. He also serves on the worship editorial staff at Augsburg Fortress Publishers, and was deeply involved in the recent publication of Evangelical Lutheran Worship, the new book of worship for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

About the Choral Music:

Praise His Holy Name! – Keith Hampton

          Souled Out – youth choir

Keith Hampton, affectionately known as “Doc”, is the founder and Artistic Director of the Chicago Community Chorus.  Hampton is an organist, conductor, composer, educator, church musician, adjudicator, and workshop clinician.  He is the K-8 Vocal and Instrumental Music Instructor at the Chicago International Charter School and the president of Dr. KT Productions.  He is director of music and organist at St. Thomas Episcopal Church.  A specialist in the field of gospel music, the North Central American Choral Directors Association selected Dr. Hampton as one of the top 25 Contemporary Composer in 2010, “whose composition Praise His Holy Name should be standard repertoire for choirs.” 

            Sing till the power of the Lord come down.

            Shout Hallelujah!  Praise His Holy name!

            Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me;

            I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.

            Jesus, Jesus, how I love Thee!

            Shout Hallelujah!  Praise His Holy name!

            Must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free?

            No, there’s a cross for everyone and there’s a cross for me.

            Holy Jesus, Praise His Name.  Oh! Hallelujah! Praise His Holy Name!

            Hallelujah!  Let us Praise His Name, Hallelujah, Lord!

            Hallelujah! Praise His Name!

            Praise His Name!  Praise His Holy Name!  Praise Him!

About the Hymns:

Build Your Kingdom Here

“Build Your Kingdom Here” is a song by the Rend Collective Experiment, written in 2012 and found on their album “Campfire”.  This song is a prayer, a confession, and a call to action all at the same time. We need to do our part to help Jesus prepare to build His Kingdom here. It takes Christians demonstrating their walk with the Lord for people to desire to be part of God's Kingdom. Listening and singing along with this song is a challenge for believers to live for Jesus and earnestly ask Him: "Set Your church on fire, Win this nation back, Change the atmosphere, Build Your kingdom here, We pray." Together as the Church, we can start a revival.

In Christ Alone

“In Christ Alone” was the first hymn written by Keith Getty (b. 1974) and Stuart Townend (b. 1963).  Getty wrote:

In 2000, I sat down with Stuart Townsend for one of our first songwriting sessions. We'd recently been introduced and encouraged to collaborate as musicians. Stuart's strengths center around an extraordinary ability with lyrics, while mine lean toward composing melodies, though we each enjoy the freedom of speaking into each other's work. As artists, we both brought to the table a conviction that rich theology greatly matters in the songs we sing on Sunday morning, that what we sing week after week ultimately makes its way into every part of our faith and life.

I believe the lyrics of "In Christ Alone" succinctly express theological truths about the life, death, and saving power of Christ through his sacrificial death on the cross. Yet the song is more than didactic theology. As we've shared the hymn in churches, we've witnessed the passion and emotion it evokes. I think this is what makes it so memorable.  Believers are hungry to celebrate truth put to music, and Stuart and I are grateful to have played a small part in helping facilitate such opportunities for the church.

How Great is Our God

"How Great Is Our God" is a song written by Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, and Ed Cash, originally featured on Tomlin's album Arriving, that reached number one on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart. As of February 2007, it also is the most popular worship song today, according to CCLI's top 25 worship songs chart.  The song won "Song of the Year" and "Worship Song of the Year" at the 2006 GMA Dove Awards, and "Worship Song of the Year" again at the 2008 GMA Dove Awards.

To God be the Glory

Fanny Jane Crosby (1820-1915), born in New York and died in Connecticut, wrote over 8,500 gospel hymns. In 1972, Hope Publishing Co. found over 1,000 unpublished manuscripts. Her work defined what it meant to be a successful writer of gospel hymns.  By the age of six weeks, Fanny Crosby was completely blind. She entered the New York School for the Blind at age twelve. She began writing hymns and poetry at age twelve.  Her collaborators in publishing gospel hymns included the most successful and popular composers of her day, including William Bradbury, William Doane, Robert Lowry, Ira Sankey, and William Kirkpatrick. Crosby used numerous pen names in publishing her songs, including: Ella Dale, Mrs. Kate Gringley and Miss Viola V. A.  She married blind musician Alexander Van Alstyne, and the British most often refer to her by her married name rather than Fanny Crosby.  She was a lifelong Methodist and her contributions to The United Methodist Hymnal (1989) include: “Blessed Assurance,” “Close to Thee,” “I Am Thine, O Lord,” “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross,” “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior,” “Rescue the Perishing,” and “To God Be the Glory.”
Frances Jane Crosby’s hymns have historically been among the most popular songs sung by Methodists.  “To God be the glory” was included in William Doane’s Songs of Devotion in 1870.  Ira Sankey probably saw the hymn in Doane’s collection and incorporated it into the first edition of his Sacred Songs and Solos (1875).  Dwight Moody and Ira Sankey helped to establish the hymn’s popularity during their revivals in Great Britain in the late 19th century.  It also appeared in some British hymnals including the Methodist Hymn Book (1933).

However, it was not until the 1954 Billy Graham Crusade in Nashville that Cliff Barrows introduced this song to congregations in the United States.  Mr. Graham and Mr. Barrows had learned the song during the 1952 revivals they had conducted in Great Britain.  Hymnologist William J. Reynolds, writing in his hymnal companion Hymns of Faith (1964), documented the return of this hymn to the USA: “It is most extraordinary that this long-forgotten American gospel song should have been imported from England and become immensely popular during the last decade.” 

God’s People Have Dirty Hands

October 19, 2014

Each week, you may find information here about the organ music and hymns in the traditional worship services at First United Methodist Church in Lewisville, Texas.  Some of this information is original; much of it is "borrowed" from other sources 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:

In Gottes Namen fahren wir – J. C. Bach

“In Gottes Namen fahren wir” is found in varying forms from the 14th to 16th century, and was very much used by travelers on land and water, by the crusaders, at pilgrimages and processions, and for the sending out of missionaries.  The oldest appearance is in a Munich manuscript of 1422.

In God’s name we go as one,

His help and consolation with us,

That when we come down to the place,

From all harm, God will protect us.

We ask you, Father in heaven,

Protect us as we dedicate body

And soul as you command.

Kyrie eleison.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s life was surrounded by Johann Christophs:  an uncle, a cousin, an older brother, and a son.  Here we have a chorale prelude by his 1st cousin once removed, who became the town organist in Eisenach in the year 1665 and court chamber musician there in 1700.  Prior to Johann Sebastian, Johann Christoph (1642-1703) would have been considered the most famous musician of the Bach family. His work is of the highest quality and, in some instances, has been improperly attributed to Johann Sebastian himself (e.g. the motet Ich lasse dich nicht). Johann Christoph composed choral works (motets and cantatas) and works for organ (preludes and fugues). Johann Sebastian described his cousin as "the great and expressive composer," and performed his works often as did Carl Philipp Emanuel.

Mit Freuden zart – Charles Ore

George Vetter (1536-1599) was a Moravian Roman Catholic priest who wrote 6 published hymns.  He wrote this text on the melody of a Huguenot Psalm (probably originally of Guillaume Franc,1543).  It was first published in Kirchengeseng darinnen die Heubtartickel des Christlichen Glaubens gefsset (also called the Bohemian Brethren’s Kirchengeseng), 1566.  The text was translated by Martin H. Franzmann (1907-1976), a theologian and poet of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.

With high delight Let us unite
In songs of sweet jubilation.
You pure in heart, Each take your part,
Sing Jesus Christ, our salvation.

Let praises ring; Give thanks, and bring
To Christ our Lord adoration.
His honor speed by word and deed
To every land, every nation.

In addition to being an accomplished organ recitalist, Dr. Charles Ore (b. 1936) composes organ and choral music, and is a leader in the use and development of improvisation in organ playing. He is organist at First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln, Neb.

Trumpet Fanfare on “Rescue” – Don Hustad

Frances (Fanny) Jane Crosby (1820-1915) became blind at the age of six weeks.  At the age of fifteen, she entered the New York Institution for the Blind and was a teacher at the institution from 1847-1858.   She wrote the words to many songs for Dr. Geo. F. Root, then the teacher of music at the blind institution.  Subsequently she wrote the words for the cantatas of The Flower Queen and The Pilgrim Fathers, all of which were very popular in their day, though it was not generally known at the time that she was the author.  In addition to the thousands of hymns that she has written (about eight thousand poems in all), many of which have not been set to music, she has published four volumes of verses. The first was issued in 1844 and was entitled The Blind Girl, and Other Poems, a second volume, Monterey, and Other Poems, followed in 1849, and the third, A Wreath of Columbia's Flowers, in 1858. The fourth, Bells at Evening and Other Verses.

It is as a writer of Sunday-school songs and gospel hymns that she is known wherever the English language is spoken.  She began to write Sunday-school hymns for Wm. B. Bradbury in 1864.  She spent regular hours on certain days at the office of The Biglow & Main Co., the firm for which she did most of her writing, and for whom she has composed over four thousand hymns.  She said that had it not been for her affliction she might not have so good an education, nor so great an influence, and certainly not so fine a memory. She knew a great many portions of the Bible by heart, and had committed to memory the first four books of the Old Testament, and also the four Gospels before she was ten years of age.  Most of Fanny's published hymns have appeared under the name of Fanny J. Crosby or Mrs. Yan Alstyne, but many have appeared under the nom de plumes of Grace J. Frances, Mrs. C. M. Wilson, Lizzie Edwards, Ella Dale, Henrietta E. Blair, Rose Atherton, Maud Marion, Leah Carlton, nearly two hundred different names.

Fanny Crosby loved sharing the Gospel with anyone who would listen. In 1869 she penned the words to “Rescue the Perishing.” When asked about the song, she explained, “It was written following a personal experience at the New York City Bowery Mission.” She went on to explain that she would go one night a week to talk to “her boys.”  One night while speaking to them, she kept having the thought that there was a boy present who had wandered away from his mother and must be rescued that night, or he would be eternally lost. She made a plea to each boy that was there that night. At the end of the service, one of the young men came forward and said, “Did you mean me, Miss Crosby? I promised my mother to meet her in Heaven, but as I am now living that will be impossible.” She prayed with him and led him to Christ. As they finished, he said, “Now I am ready to meet my mother in Heaven, for I have found God.”

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Refrain:
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;
Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;
Back to the narrow way patiently win them;
Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.

Don Hustad (1918-2013) was one of the giants of Christian music of the 20th century. Hustad had a distinguished ministry and a life-long profession as a recording artist, composer, arranger, teacher, conductor, hymnal editor, and author.  He began work as staff musician of Chicago's WMBI in the early 1940s, worked with soloist George Beverly Shea on a weekly broadcast called "Club Time," and served for some 20 years as organist for a popular radio broadcast "Songs in the Night." He taught at Olivet Nazarene College in Kankakee, Illinois from 1946 to 1950, at which time Hustad was appointed director of the Sacred Music Department at Moody Bible Institute—a position he held until 1961.  During his 11-year tenure at Moody he developed the Moody Chorale into a superior choral ensemble that achieved fame nationally and internationally.   In 1961 he became Crusade organist for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and directed the Crusader Men Choir in the "Hour of Decision" broadcasts.  His publications include over 100 articles and five books.  Throughout his career, Hustad devoted considerable energy to music arranging and hymnal editing, serving as editorial consultant and musical advisor to Hope Publishing Company. Among his editorial contributions are fourteen hymnals and songbooks, as well as dozens of collections.  In 1989, Hustad was awarded Fellow of the Hymn Society for his outstanding contribution to American hymnody.  In 2008, he was honored by the American Choral Director's Association Southern Division Conference for his contributions to church music. He earned diplomas as an Associate of the American Guild of Organists (AAGO) and a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO), London, UK.

About the Choral Music:

Christ has Broken Down the Wall – Mark Miller

Mark A. Miller is a lifelong United Methodist and the son, grandson, brother, and cousin of United Methodist clergy.  He serves on the faculty at both the Drew Theological School and the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University, where he teaches music and worship. He also is Director of the Gospel and Youth Choirs at the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City.  Miller is well known throughout the United Methodist Church as a worship leader, teacher, and performer of sacred music. 

Mark Miller's text affirms several great themes from 2 Corinthians 5.  It reminds and calls us to break down those walls between us, just as Christ broke down the wall and reconciled us to God.

            Christ has broken down the wall.

            Let us join our hearts as one.

            We’re accepted as we are.

            Through God’s love all is reconciled.

            Cast aside your doubts and fears.

            Peace and love freely offered here.

            We will tear down the walls!

            God has called us one and all;

            Christ has broken down the wall.

Be Strong! – Sandy Wilkinson

          God’s Project children’s choir

The text of “Be Strong!” was written by Trilby Jordan and is based on Isaiah 41:10 and Joshua 1:9.  The music was written by Sandy Wilkinson.

            From wisdom of the Bible we know God loves us so.

            We know that God is by our side wherever we may go.

            But when we look around us at problems on parade

            Sometimes we need to hear and heed: “Be strong! Don’t be afraid!”

            Be strong, Be strong.

Don’t be afraid, Don’t be dismayed, our God has given this command:

            Cast off all fear.  God’s help is near; We are held in God’s righteous hand.

            Oh, Joshua had courage, and Bible readings show

            In days long past, with trumpet blast, he conquered Jericho.

            God strengthened him with courage to see the challenge through.

            Take up the song, “Be strong! Be strong!”  There’s so much we can do.

            We are held in God’s righteous hand.

            Be strong!

About the Hymns:

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty

Reginald Heber  (1783-1826) wrote this text for Trinity Sunday, the day for which lectionary in the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer prescribes the reading of Revelation 4. Using reverent and apocalyptic language, "Holy, Holy, Holy!" alludes to Revelation 4:6-11; 5:13; 15:2-4; and Isaiah 6:1-3 to sing the great majesty of the triune God. Note the cosmic scope of the text: human beings (st. 1), saints and angels in glory (st. 2), and all creation (st. 4) praise the name of the Lord. Though God's holiness, love, and purity are cloaked in mystery, we can still experience God's mercy and mighty power, and we can participate in praising God.  It references the Sanctus, which is often called the "Holy holy holy" in English. The name is a tribute to the First Council of Nicaea which formalized the doctrine of the Trinity in 325.

It was first published in the third edition (1826) of  A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for the Parish Church of Banbury  and was also published posthumously in Heber's Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church Services of the Year (1827). The unusual single rhyme (all on the "ee" sound) and the uneven number of syllables in some lines have not detracted from the hymn's popularity.  It was soon adopted by hymn-book compilers, and is the best known and most widely used of the author's hymns.

Take My Life and Let It Be

Frances R. Havergal (1836-1879) originally composed her text in eleven couplets as a hymn of "self-consecration to Christ" on February 4, 1874. She told the following story about writing this hymn:

I went for a little visit of five days [to Areley House, Worcestershire, in December 1873]. There were ten persons in the house, some unconverted and long prayed for, some converted but not rejoicing Christians. [God] gave me the prayer, "Lord, give me all this house." And He just did! Before I left the house, everyone had got a blessing. The last night of my visit. . . I was too happy to sleep and passed most of the night in praise and renewal of my own consecration, and these little couplets formed themselves and chimed in my heart, one after another, till they finished with "Ever, only, all, for Thee."

The text is a "catalog" hymn that lists aspects of our lives and offers them in Christ's service.  "Take My Life and Let It Be" was first published in the 1874 appendix to Charles B. Snepp's Songs of Grace and Glory (1872). A twelfth couplet was added at some later point, producing the six stanzas published in the Psalter Hymnal.

Although her formal education was sporadic because of poor health, Havergal learned six foreign languages, including Greek and Hebrew, and was well read in many subjects. She began writing poetry at an early age and was also an accomplished singer and pianist. The daughter of a clergyman, she had a conversion experience at the age of fourteen and was confirmed in the Church of England in 1853. Taking seriously her own words "take my silver and my gold," she sent all her jewelry to the Church Mission Society to be sold. She also supported other charitable organizations. Her more than one hundred hymns were originally published in leaflets and later gathered into seven collections: Ministry of Song (1869), Twelve Sacred Songs for Little Singers (1870), Under the Surface (1874), Loyal Responses (1878), Life Mosaic (1879), Life Chords (1880), and Life Echoes (1883), as well as in one large volume, Poetical Works (1884).

We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations

H. Ernest Nichol (1862-1926) had begun a study program in civil engineering when he decided to study music instead. In 1888 he received a bachelor's degree in music from Oxford University. Nichol wrote some 130 hymn tunes and texts, many under the pseudonym “Colin Sterne” (derived from his middle and last name); many were first sung at church school programs.  “We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations was written in 1896 and published in Sunday School Hymnary, 1905.