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