July 23, 2017

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; 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:

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing – Michael Burkhardt

“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” was written by the 18th century pastor and hymnist Robert Robinson. Robert Robinson (1735-1790) was eight years old at the time of his father's death. He was a very bright, headstrong boy who became increasingly more difficult for his mother to handle. When Robert turned 14, she sent him to London for an apprenticeship with a barber. Robert proceeded to get into even more trouble, taking on a life of drinking and gambling. 

At 17, Robert and some of his drinking buddies decided to attend an evangelistic meeting, with a plan to make fun of the proceedings. When George Whitfield began to preach, Robert felt as if the sermon was just for him. He did not respond to the altar call that night, but the words of the evangelist would haunt him for the next three years.  On Dec. 10, 1755, at age 20, Robert finally yielded his life to Christ, and very soon thereafter answered a call to the ministry. Three years later, as he was preparing to preach a sermon at the Calvinist Methodist Chapel in Norfolk, England, Robert wrote “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” to complement his sermon. The music for the hymn was composed by Asahel Nettleton in 1813.

The lyrics, which dwell on the theme of divine grace, are based on 1 Samuel 7:12, in which the prophet Samuel raises a stone as a monument, saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us". The English transliteration of the name Samuel gives to the stone is Ebenezer, meaning Stone of Help. The unusual word "Ebenezer" commonly appears in hymnal presentations of the lyrics.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy, never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it Mount of Thy redeeming love

Here I raise my Ebenezer Hither by Thy help I've come

And I hope, by Thy good pleasure Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger Wandering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger Interposed His precious blood

Oh, that day when freed from sinning I shall see Thy lovely face
Clothed then in blood washed linen How I'll sing Thy wondrous grace
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry Take my ransomed soul away
Send Thine angels now to carry Me to realms of endless day

Oh, to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be
Let thy goodness like a fetter Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it Seal it for Thy courts above

Michael Burkhardt, born 1957, is internationally known for his innovative and inspiring hymn festivals and for his creative work with children. He is in frequent demand as a choral clinician, organ recitalist, and hymn festival leader.  He is currently Director of Worship and the Arts at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Livonia, Michigan; Artistic Director for hearts, hands, and voices Fine Arts and Worship Program; and Artistic Director of the Detroit Handbell Ensemble. From 2001–2007 he served on the faculty of Carthage College (ELCA) in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as Director of Choral Activities, College Organist, and Artist in Residence. Prior to his appointment at Carthage, he was a Faculty Associate in organ at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.

Dr. Burkhardt has performed and led seminars at both national and regional events for the American Guild of Organists, the Hymn Society, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts, and the American Choral Directors Association. Since 2003, he made six performance teaching tours to South Korea and Singapore. In addition, he is composer of two settings of the Eucharistic liturgy, A New Song and Missa St. Andrew, as well as numerous organ improvisations, choral octavos, and handbell compositions.

Rigaudon – Robert Lau

The rigaudon (also spelled rigadon, rigadoon) is a French baroque dance with a lively duple metre. The music is similar to that of a bourrée, but the rigaudon is rhythmically simpler with regular phrases (eight measure phrases are most common). It originated as a sprightly 17th-century French folk dance for couples. 

Robert C. Lau (b. 1943) holds degrees in music from Lebanon Valley College, the Eastman School of Music and Catholic University of America. Currently an adjunct member of the School of Humanities of Penn State Harrisburg, Dr. Lau was formerly a member of the faculty of Lebanon Valley College, chairing the Department of Music from 1978-89. An active composer, Lau has over 150 choral and organ works published by the leading music publishing companies of the United States. In addition to his work at Mount Calvary, he frequently adjudicates and conducts choral and orchestral festivals and workshops. Lau holds professional affiliations with the American Guild of Organists, the American Choral Directors Association and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and teaches in the Leadership Program for Musicians jointly sponsored by the national Episcopal and Lutheran churches. 

About the Choral Music:

Many Gifts, One Spirit  - Allen Pote

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working but in all of them, and in everyone, it is the same God at work.”  I Corinthians 12:4–6

The lyrics of Allen Pote’s beautiful song simultaneously describe the diversity and the unity of the church. While we walk on different paths, with different programs and services, there are many intersections as we all work to reach and uplift those most in need.

Allen Pote (b. 1945) was born in Halstead, Kansas, and educated at Texas Christian University, where his diploma was in Church Music. A Fulbright Scholar, he studied in Brussels, Belgium, and took advanced work at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. For twenty-two years he served as a full-time Director of Music in churches in Texas and Florida. He is currently a full-time composer living in Pensacola, Florida, where, with his wife Susan, he is co-director of the Pensacola Children's Choir, an organization of over 200 singers which has achieved national recognition.

Many gifts, one spirit, many songs, one voice
Many reasons, one promise, many questions, one choice.
O, God, we pray for unity, give guidance from above.
In our differences unite us in the circle of your love.
O, God, remind us we are not alone.
Though we move on different pathways, we are walking to your throne.

Help us learn to love each other, show us ways to understand.
We are members of one family, growing strong by joining hands.
Take our many ways of working, blend the colors of each soul into the beauty of a rainbow.

            Give us life, Lord, make us whole.

About the Hymns:

Together We Serve

In July of 2016, The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada bestowed its highest honor on the Rev. Daniel Charles Damon by naming him a Fellow. Dan has served as the pastor at First United Methodist Church of Point Richmond in Richmond, California, since 1995. Originally from Rapid City, South Dakota, Dan earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree at Greenville College, a Free Methodist institution in Greenville, Illinois, and he later earned a Master of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion, Berkley, California. Dan serves as the Associate Editor of Hymnody for Hope Publishing Company, and sometimes you might catch him playing jazz in the San Francisco Bay area or teaching courses at the Center for the Arts, Religion, and Education in Berkley.  As an internationally published author of hymn tunes and texts, Dan has combined his unique gifts as both poet and composer on over 50 published hymns. Furthermore, he has translations in Vietnamese, Portuguese, Japanese, and Shona, and in 2007 he worked with Patrick Matsikenyiri to edit Njalo, A Collection of 16 Hymns in the African Tradition. 

“Together We Serve” was commissioned for the 1997 centennial celebration of First Presbyterian Church in San Anselmo, California. Carl Daw notes that there is no mention of an actual church building in this hymn, for the church “is not the building but the people.” Daw further notes that many of the ideas in this hymn will seem familiar because “they have been true of congregations from the very earliest of days, as Ephesians 4:11-16 shows. They are both a celebration and a reminder of what the church is called to be.”  Dan describes this as his most “churchy” hymn and mentions that it has become his most popular.

This Little Light of Mine

"This Little Light of Mine" is a gospel children's song written by composer and teacher Harry Dixon Loes (1895–1965) circa 1920. Loes, who studied at the Moody Bible Institute and the American Conservatory of Music, was a musical composer, and teacher, who wrote, and co-wrote, several other gospel songs. The song has since entered the folk tradition, first being collected by John Lomax in 1939. Often thought of as a Negro spiritual, it does not, however, appear in any collection of jubilee or plantation songs from the nineteenth century:

The song may take its theme from Matthew 5:16, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your fine works and give glory to your Father who is in the heaven."; Luke 11:33, "No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light."; and Matthew 5:14–15, where Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house."