October 1, 2017 - World Communion Sunday

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:

Bread of the World – David Cherwein

Written by Reginald Heber, "Bread of the World" was first published posthumously in his Hymns written and adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year (1827); it was subtitled "Before the Sacrament."  Heber indicated it was to be sung as part of the service of confession and forgiveness or during the communion liturgy as a substitute for the traditional singing of the Agnus Dei. The text is a prayer asking Christ to look on us with mercy and to feed us with his grace. Though written in two stanzas, it is one continuous thought. A devotional text with strong poetic images–"bread of the world" and "wine of the soul"–this hymn invites confession of sin and the acceptance of divine grace.

Reginald Heber (1783-1826) was a bright youth, translating a Latin classic into English verse by the time he was seven, entering Oxford at 17, and winning two awards for his poetry during his time there. After his graduation he became rector of his father's church in where he remained for 16 years. He was appointed Bishop of Calcutta in 1823.  Most of his 57 hymns, which include "Holy, Holy, Holy," are still in use today.

John Sebastian Bach Hodges (1830-1915) composed EUCHARISTIC HYMN for Heber's text in 1868, while he was rector at Grace Episcopal Church, Newark, New Jersey. He first published the tune in his Book of Common Praise (1869) and named it after the sacramental service for which Heber wrote the text. The son of Edward Hodges, John came to the United States at the age of fifteen. Educated at Columbia University, New York City, and General Theological Seminary, New York City, he was ordained in 1855. After having served Episcopal churches in Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Newark, he devoted the remainder of his career to St. Paul Church in Baltimore (1870-1906). There Hodges replaced the mixed choir with a choir of men and boys. He composed over a hundred hymns and anthems and compiled The Book of Common Praise (1869) and the revised edition of Hymn Tunes(1903). He was also active on the committees that produced the Episcopal Hymnal (1874) and Hymnal(1892).

Bread of the world in mercy broken, Wine of the soul in mercy shed,
by whom the words of life were spoken, and in whose death our sins are dead:

Look on the heart by sorrow broken; look on the tears by sinners shed;
so may your feast become the token that by your grace our souls are fed.

Dr. David Cherwien (b. 1957) is currently serving as Director of Music at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, MN, and in 2002 was appointed Music Director for the National Lutheran Choir, also based in the Twin Cities. He has also held full time parish music positions in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, Chicago, Seattle, and Berlin.  He completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance, and the Master of Arts degree in Theory and Composition, both from the University of Minnesota. His undergraduate work was in organ performance and music education at Augsburg College, Minneapolis, where he was honored as distinguished alumni in the fall of 2000.

O Day of Peace – Charles Callahan

Carl Pickens Daw Jr. (b. 1944) was born in Louisville, Ky. He holds a doctoral degree in English from the University of Virginia and the masters of divinity degree from the University of the South. He has been the executive director of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada since 1996. An Episcopal priest, Dr. Daw has served congregations in Virginia, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Daw began writing hymns as a consultant member of the Text committee for The Hymnal 1982, the current hymnal of the Episcopal Church. Since that time, he has been recognized as one of the leading hymn writers in North America, with texts in most denominational and ecumenical hymnals published on this continent.

Episcopal hymnologist Raymond Glover provides the background for the composition of this hymn: “[It] was created in response to two special requests received by the Standing Commission of Church Music during its preparation of The Hymnal 1982 . . . the General Convention’s Joint Commission on Peace . . . and an appeal from many sources, request[ing] the inclusion of [Charles Hubert Hasting Parry’s] tune “Jerusalem”. . . . To satisfy both of these appeals, the Commission called on [Dr. Daw], a Consultant to the Text Committee . . . to compose a text on the theme of peace that could be sung to the popular Parry tune.”

Dr. Daw was influenced in his composition by the book Turning to Christ by Urban T. Holmes III, one of his seminary professors. Daw’s] attention was drawn to Isaiah 11:6-8, and the heart of the hymn [focused on] the peaceable kingdom, paradise regained. The second stanza was drawn from this prophetic passage of Scripture. Daw describes his thinking about the hymn: “This hymn deals with two aspects of peace: pax, an understanding of peace based on the cessation of conflict, and shalom, the condition of living abundantly in harmony and mutual goodwill. . . . Although this hymn affirms that peace is always God’s gift, it also recognizes the importance of human responsibility in preparing an environment in which peace can flourish.”

The tune JERUSALEM plays prominently in the interpretation and success of this text. For British singers, this tune has a long history having been paired with a William Blake poem on social justice, the first line of which was drawn form the author’s Preface to his book Milton.

Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918), music scholar and professor of composition and music history at the Royal College of Music, wrote a setting for Blake’s text that became so popular that the hymn became an unofficial British national anthem.  Dr. Daw succeeds admirably in composing a text with a majesty that matches Parry’s music. The most important words of each stanza—“grace” in stanza one and “peace” in stanza two—coincide powerfully with the apex of the melody. In doing so, he provides English-speaking Christians worldwide with perhaps the finest hymn on peace in the closing decades of the 20th century.

            O day of peace that dimly shines through all our hopes and prayers and dreams,

            Guide us to justice, truth, and love, delivered from our selfish schemes.

            May swords of hate fall from our hands, our hearts from envy find release,

            Till by God’s grace our warring world shall see Christ’s promised reign of peace.

           

Then shall the wolf dwell with the lamb, nor shall the fierce devour the small;

            As beasts and cattle graze, a little child shall lead them all.

            Then enemies shall learn to love, all creatures find their true accord;

            The hope of peace shall be fulfilled, for all the earth shall know the Lord.

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.

Song 1 – Healey Willan

William H. Turton (1856-1938), a Lieut. in the Royal Engineers, published A Few Hymns written by A Layman between the Festivals of All Saints, 1880 and 1881. This contains 12 hymns. The Second Series, "written between the Festivals of All Saints, 1881 and 1882," also contains 12 hymns, and the Third Series, 1882-1883, another 12.  “O Thou who at Thy Eucharist didst pray. For Unity. " was used at St. Mary Magdalene's, Munster Square, N. W., on the Anniversary Service of the English Church Union, June 22,1881. It was sung after the “Agnus Dei” at the choral celebration. In the 1889 Supplemental Hymns to Hymns Ancient & Modern it reads "Thou, Who at Thy first Eucharist didst pray."

O thou, who at thy Eucharist didst pray

that all thy church might be forever one,
grant us at every Eucharist to say

with longing heart and soul, 'Thy will be done':
O may we all one bread, one body be,

 through this blest sacrament of unity.

For all thy church, O Lord, we intercede;

make thou our sad divisions soon to cease;
draw us the nearer each to each, we plead,

by drawing all to thee, O Prince of Peace:
thus may we all one bread, one body be,

through this blest sacrament of unity.

We pray thee too for wanderers from thy fold;

O bring them back, good Shepherd of the sheep,
back to the faith which saints believed of old,
back to the church which still that faith doth keep:
soon may we all one bread, one body be,
through this blest sacrament of unity.

So, Lord, at length when sacraments shall cease,
may we be one with all thy church above,
one with thy saints in one unbroken peace,
one with thy saints in one unbounded love:
more blessèd still, in peace and love to be
one with the Trinity in Unity.

Healey Willan (1880-1968) was an Canadian organist and composer.  He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for band, orchestra, organ, and piano, but is best known for his religious music.  Willan was born in England, and he began musical training at age eight, with studies at St. Saviour's Choir School in Eastbourne.  He earned, by examination in organ playing, harmony, counterpoint, history and orchestration, the Royal College of Organists' Associateship in 1897 and Fellowship in 1899. The Anglo-Catholic Tractarian movement led to an Anglican revival of plainsong, and in 1910, Willan joined the London Gregorian Association (which strove to preserve and revive "plain-chant").  

In 1913, Willan emigrated to Canada.  In 1921, he become Precentor of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene (Toronto), where he remained until his death.  St. Mary Magdalene, under Willan, became a North American mecca for choral and Anglican church musicians.  In 1920, the Toronto Conservatory (now the Royal Conservatory of Music) appointed Willan Head of its Theory Department.  In 1934, he founded the Tudor Singers, which he conducted until it disbanded in 1939.  From 1937 to 1950, Willan was University of Toronto Professor of Music and Organist. When the Order of Canada was established in 1967, it named Willan a Companion. In Britain, it was customary for the Archbishop of Canterbury to occasionally grant very distinguished English cathedral musicians the Lambeth Doctorate, Mus. D Cantaur; in 1956, Willan, "the Dean of Canadian composers", became the first non-English church musician to be so honoured.  People who remember Willan from his time at St Mary Magdalene's like to moderate his somewhat dourly pious public image by quoting him: "English by birth; Canadian by adoption; Irish by extraction; Scotch by absorption."

About the Choral Music:

One World, One Communion – Pepper Choplin

Pepper Choplin is a full-time composer, conductor and humorist. He has gained a reputation as one of the most creative writers in church music today. With a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, he went on to earn a Master of Music degree in composition from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  With a diverse musical background, Choplin incorporates varied styles such as folk, Gospel, classical, and jazz. His published work includes over 280 anthems for church and school choir with 19 church cantatas and a book of piano arrangements. In 2013, he made his Carnegie Hall debut in a joint concert with Joseph Martin.  Since then, he has twice premiered his cantatas at Lincoln Center with 200 voices and orchestra.  He also visits many schools, churches and conferences to conduct and to entertain. Beyond his choral music, Choplin has produced two humorous CDs and an inspirational recording. Currently, he attends Greystone Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he served as music minister for twenty-two years. 

Imbued with a unique global flavor, “One World, One Communion” celebrates the unity of sharing the act of breaking bread with all believers worldwide proclaiming, "there is room for everyone."

            One world, one communion, one faith in Christ, the Son.

            One world, one communion, and there is room for everyone.

           

            Wherever people gather to share the bread and cup,

            Though we are many, we are one in love.

            So much we have in common, though we are miles apart,

            Through the Holy Spirit, we ae one in heart.

            Wherever bread is broken and where the cup is poured,

            Brothers and sisters, we are one in the Lord.

            Though many things divide us, with great diversity,

            Through the power of love we will find unity.

                There is room for all who come.

About the Hymns:

Come to the Table of Grace

"Come to the Table of Grace" has turned out to be one of the most popular new songs in Worship & Song.   Dr. Barbara Hamm has a B.A., an M.A., and a Ph.D. in English. She teaches English at the college level and brings her love and attention to language to her craft as a hymn writer. She values clarity and precision, simplicity as well as elegance, and -- above all -- a text that expresses solid, sound theology. "Come to the Table of Grace" exhibits another of her goals in song writing: what she calls her "fierce desire for justice." This is not just a Communion Table, and the sacrament is not just an empty liturgical practice. This is God's Table. It is not yours, mine, ours, or our church's. It is God's Table, and God welcomes all to the feast and celebration. We are not to be gatekeepers. And this extends to the entire church, which is a place where all people are to be accepted and welcomed, rich and poor, male and female, old and young, black and white and red and yellow, gay and straight, military and civilian, Republican and Democrat, liberal and conservative – all are to be welcomed.

A lifelong musician, Hamm has played for church worship services since the sixth grade, and she has a minor in sacred music. For the past fourteen years, she has served as Minister of Music at Community Congregational Church (United Church of Christ) in Benicia, California. For seventeen years before that position, she was Director of Music at First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, in Antioch, California. She has frequently been called on to lead music and worship for national and regional gatherings of the UCC and Disciples of Christ.  Hamm has sought to hone her musical skills through study with well-known composer, hymn writer, pianist and United Methodist Pastor Dan Damon. Damon encouraged her to "go beyond my usual classically-trained style into more jazz and pop idioms. I have tried to do this, but with firm commitment to sound, solid theological content of the text."

The simplicity and directness of these words are quickly understood and appreciated as they are sung. It is here at the sacramental table where, in meeting and communing with Christ and with others, we find and experience those holy and human qualities – grace, peace, love, joy. At the same time, these become words of invitation, confession, proclamation, and commitment.  This is not slow, penitential, expressive mood music for Holy Communion. This is joyous music for a festive celebration.

One Bread, One Body

John Foley, S.J., (b. 1939) is an American Jesuit priest who is a composer of Catholic liturgical music and a professor of liturgy. Among his better-known compositions are One Bread, One Body (1978), Earthen Vessels (1975), Come to the Water (1978), The Cry of the Poor (1978), For You Are My God (1970), and the album As a River of Light (1989).  Much of Foley's early work on liturgical music was as a member of a group called the St. Louis Jesuits, composed of fellow Jesuit seminarians, with whom he released several albums. Other members of the St. Louis Jesuits were Dan Schutte, Bob Dufford, Roc O'Connor, and Tim Manion. He has also released several solo collections of liturgical music. Foley went on to earn a doctorate in liturgical theology from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.  In 1993 he returned to Saint Louis University where he founded the Stroble Center for Liturgy, of which he has served as director since its founding.

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.”  The first verse is readily identifiable as a paraphrase of Galatians 3:28, which reads, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In the second verse, we have more Scriptural paraphrase.  This time, the text is clearly taken from 1 Corinthians 12:4-5, which reads, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.  And there are varieties of ministries, but the same Lord.”  You don’t have to be a preacher to serve.  You don’t have to be a song leader to serve.  Even if your work is visiting the sick or cleaning the church building, you are no less important a part of the body of Christ than its most visible members.  Ultimately, every kind of service gets back to serving Jesus. The third verse echoes various Biblical texts (Matthew 13:3-9 and John 12:23-26 among them).  As Christ assembles us into one body, so too He plants us, causes us to grow, and gathers us in.