October 12, 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:

I Would Be True – Harold DeCou

Howard Arnold Walter (1883-1918), a recent graduate of Princeton, sailed to Japan for a year to teach English at Waseda University. From Tokyo, he mailed his Connecticut mother a two-stanza poem written as a private exercise. "My Creed" listed eight idealistic "I woulds."  Impressed with the poem, Mrs. Walter submitted the verse to Harper's Bazaar, who published it in 1907.  Walter returned to the States, went to seminary, and then sailed to India as a YMCA staff member.  There, still a young man, he died of influenza in 1918.

I would be true, for there are those who trust me;

I would be pure, for there are those who care;

I would be strong, for there is much to suffer;

I would be brave, for there is much to dare;

                I would be friend of all—the foe, the friendless;

I would be giving, and forget the gift;

I would be humble, for I know my weakness;

I would look up, and laugh, and love and lift.

                I would be faithful through each passing moment;

I would be constantly in touch with God;

I would be strong to follow where He leads me;

I would have faith to keep the path Christ trod;

Harold H. DeCou (1932-2008) attended Temple University in Philadelphia and was long associated with Billy Graham and the Singspiration staff.  His output as artist, composer, arranger and orchestrator ensures that he will be remembered as one of the giants of Christian gospel music. He served as church organist at Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria from 1988 to 2001. He was also an Honorary Fellow of Shenandoah Society Award.

He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands – Charles Callahan

"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is a traditional American spiritual. It was first published in the paperbound hymnal Spirituals Triumphant, Old and New in 1927. In 1933, it was collected by Frank Warner from the singing of Sue Thomas in North Carolina. It was also recorded by other collectors such as Robert Sonkin of the Library of Congress, who recorded it in Gee's Bend, Alabama in 1941. That version is still available at the Library's American Folklife Center.   Frank Warner performed the song during the 1940s and 1950s, and introduced it to the American folk scene. Warner recorded it on the Elektra album American Folk Songs and Ballads in 1952. It was quickly picked up by both American gospel singers and British skiffle and pop musicians.

He´s got the whole world in His hands.

He´s got the wind and the rain in His hands.

He´s got the the tiny little baby in His hands.

He´s got you and me, brother, in His hands.

He's got ev'rybody here in His hands.

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.

Fanfare on “True-Hearted, Whole-Hearted” – Ellen Jane Lorenz

Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879), daughter of the Rev. W. H. Havergal, was born at Astley, Worcestershire.  In 1850, she entered Mrs. Teed's school, whose influence over her was most beneficial. In the following year she says, "I committed my soul to the Saviour, and earth and heaven seemed brighter from that moment."  Rev. James Davidson said of her and her writing:

Miss Havergal's scholastic acquirements were extensive, embracing several modern languages, together with Greek and Hebrew. She does not occupy, and did not claim for herself, a prominent place as a poet, but by her distinct individuality she carved out a niche which she alone could fill. Simply and sweetly she sang the love of God, and His way of salvation. To this end, and for this object, her whole life and all her powers were consecrated. She lives and speaks in every line of her poetry. Her poems are permeated with the fragrance of her passionate love of Jesus.  Her religious views and theological bias are distinctly set forth in her poems, and may be described as mildly Calvinistic, without the severe dogmatic tenet of reprobation. The burden of her writings is a free and full salvation, through the Redeemer's merits, for every sinner who will receive it, and her life was devoted to the proclamation of this truth by personal labours, literary efforts, and earnest interest in Foreign Missions.

Miss Havergal's hymns were frequently printed by J. & R. Parlane as leaflets, and by Caswell & Co. as ornamental cards. They were gathered together from time to time and published in collections, as well as appearances in hymnals of the time.  “True-hearted, whole-hearted, faithful and loyal” was published in Loyal Responses (1878) with the subtitle, “Faithfulness to the Saviour”, and in the Universal Hymn Book (1885).

Truehearted, wholehearted, faithful and loyal,
King of our lives, by Thy grace we will be;
Under the standard exalted and royal,
Strong in Thy strength we will battle for Thee.

Refrain
Peal out the watchword! Silence it never!
Song of our spirits, rejoicing and free;
Peal out the watchword! Loyal forever!
King of our lives, by Thy grace we will be.

Ellen Jane Lorenz Porter (1907-1996) led a wonderfully productive and varied life filled with creativity, self-improvement, and commitment to her passions. From age eight, when she began piano lessons, through the fall of 1996, where she was a vibrant member of a religion class, self-improvement was a constant goal. From age 13, the date of her first published composition, through November 1996, when she composed two pieces premiered at her memorial service, creativity was a constant companion. From her own introduction to handbells in 1955 through the revision of her "first significant bell composition" (her words), "Bell Jubilee," first published in 1969, handbells was one of her passions.  Ellen Jane joined the Lorenz Publishing Company in 1932 as Editor-in-Chief and was made a partner (third generation) in 1940.  She also became an acknowledged world authority on handbells and hymnology, was active in numerous music and literary societies, and had literally thousands of published compositions to her credit.

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:

Come Christians, Join to Sing

Christian Henry Bateman (1813-1899) was ordained into the Church of England after being a Congregational minister.  His miisterial studies were under the auspices of the Moravian Church, where he served for a time before changing to the Congregational Church at age 30. Following his ministry at Richmond Place Congregational Church in Edinburgh, Scotland, and successive Congregational parishes in Hopton, Yorkshire, and Reading, Berkshire, he took Holy Orders in the Anglican Church at age 56 and served as a curate and vicar in several Anglican parishes.

“Come, Children, Join to Sing” first appeared in a collection published in Edinburgh, Sacred Melodies for Children (1843), along with a number of other hymns for children by Bateman. The original “Hallelujah, Amen!” was changed by the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., in their 1933 hymnal, to “Alleluia! Amen!”  It has remained that way ever since.  The original incipit (opening line of the hymn) was “Come, children, join to sing.” Though changed in the Presbyterian hymnal to include all age groups, Bateman’s text contains direct, uncomplicated language suited for children. Since very few of the words have more than two syllables and “Alleluia! Amen!” is interjected three times in each stanza, the hymn is easy for children to learn and sing.

Spirit of the Living God

This is one of the most long-lasting and widely used choruses in Christian worship. Every aspect of the song embodies a simple sincerity.  The melody encompasses only five notes, and three of the four lines repeat the same nine words. Yet for many, the straightforward petitions of this song draw the singer into an attitude of prayer.

During January and February of 1926, the George T. Stephans Evangelistic Party conducted a citywide revival in the tabernacle in Orlando, Fla.  Daniel Iverson, a Presbyterian minister from Lumberton, N.C., spent several days in Orlando visiting with the Stephans team. The day he arrived, he was greatly impressed by a message on the Holy Spirit given by Dr. Barron, a physician from Columbia, S.C.  Later that day Iverson went to the First Presbyterian Church in Orlando, sat down at the piano, and wrote this song.  Miss Birdie Loes, the pianist for the Stephans team, wrote it out on manuscript paper.  E. Powell Lee, the team song leader, was immediately impressed and taught it to the people that evening in the tabernacle, and used it throughout the campaign.

While the inspiration for the hymn is not known for certain, it is likely that Iverson knew a hymn by Adelaide Pollard (1862-1934), “Have Thine Own Way, Lord,” based on Jeremiah 18:6: “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel” (KJV).  The first stanza of Pollard’s hymn uses similar language (“Mold me and make me”). The final stanza also contains a petition to the Spirit (“Fill with thy Spirit”).  Pollard’s hymn was written about 25 years before Iverson’s 1926 composition.

The authorship of “Spirit of the Living God” was lost for a time because the song could so easily be taught without music or even printed words. It first appeared in Revival Songs (1929) in a slightly revised version.  Southern Baptist gospel song composer B.B. McKinney made slight alterations and published it again in his Songs of Victory (1937).   E. Powell Lee, the song leader for the Stephans evangelistic team, brought Iverson’s name to light and his name was restored to the song in later printings of the Baptist Hymnal in the 1960s.

Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service

Albert F. Bayly (1901-1984) was ed­u­cat­ed at Lon­don Un­i­ver­si­ty and Mans­field Coll­ege, Ox­ford.  Be­gin­ning in the late 1920’s, he served at four Cong­re­ga­tion­al church­es in North­um­ber­land, Lan­ca­shire and East York­shire; in 1962, he be­came pas­tor in Thax­ted, Es­sex.  Af­ter re­tir­ing in 1971, he moved to Spring­field, Chelms­ford, and was ac­tive in the local Unit­ed Re­formed Church.  He wrote sev­er­al pa­geants on mis­sion themes, and li­bret­tos for can­ta­tas by W. L. Lloyd Web­ber (father of Andrew). 

Bayly wrote this text in response to a Hymn Society of America search for new hymns on social welfare. It was chosen as the theme hymn for the Second National Conference on the Churches and Social Welfare held in Cleveland, Ohio, October 23-27, 1961. The Hymn Society published the text in Seven New Social Welfare Hymns (1961).