February 2, 2020

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:

Holy Ground - Tim Doran

Geron Davis (b. 1964) is a musician best known as a composer. He was first signed by Meadowgreen Music and best known for penning the song "Holy Ground". Davis married partner Becky Davis and, with his sister Alyson and her husband, they formed Kindred Souls. 

When Davis was 19, he  was helping to prepare the new building that his church congregation, pastored by his father, would soon call home.  They had just completed a brand new sanctuary in the little town of Savannah, Tennessee.  About six weeks before moving  into the new place, Davis’ father  started saying: 'Son, I wish you'd write us a new song for the first Sunday service.'" Davis, who had been writing songs since his earliest teen years, replied that he would do it. After a couple of weeks, Davis's father asked, "Son, you got that song?" He replied, "No, Dad, but I'll do it." A similar exchange followed weeks later.  On the Saturday before the new building's dedication, church members worked all day, preparing for the opening service. At midnight, after the other laborers had left, Davis' father turned to him once again and asked: "Son, did you get us a special song for the first service?" Davis answered: "No, sir. But I'm fixin' to."  Once his father had left, Davis finally sat down at the church's shiny, new grand piano and thought to himself, "What do we want to say when we come into this place for the first time?" The answer came without hesitation.  "Literally, as fast as I could write the words down," Davis says, "they were there. Within about 10 or 15 minutes, I had the entire song finished: 'As I walked through the door, I sensed his presence/And I knew this was a place where love abounds/For this is a temple, Jehovah God abides here/We are standing in his presence, on holy ground.'"

As I walked through the door, I sensed His presence,
And I knew this was a place where love abounds
For this is the temple. Jehovah God abides here.
We are standing in His presence on holy ground.

In His presence there is joy beyond all measure,
And at His feet peace of mind can still be found,
And if you have a need, I know He has the answer.
Reach out and claim it, for we are standing on holy ground.

We are standing on holy ground, And I know there are angels all around
Let us praise Jesus now. We are standing in His presence on holy ground.

Tim Doran, an accomplished arranger, composer, and studio musician, lives in the Los Angeles area. He is the organist at LaHabra Hills Presbyterian Church, as well as an accompanist for several local high school and college choirs.

Go Down, Moses - Walter Simon

"Go Down Moses" is an American Negro spiritual. It describes events in theOld Testament of the Bible, specifically Exodus 8:1: "And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me", in which God commands Moses to demand the release of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt.

This African American spiritual dates from before the Civil War. It was published in the Jubilee Songs(1872), made popular by the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in their concert tours. Often known by its refrain line, "Go down, Moses," the spiritual was also published in J. B. T. Marsh's The Story of the Jubilee Singers with their Songs (1876). "When Israel Was in Egypt's Land" originally had twenty-four stanzas of which modern hymnals usually include four.  Commenting on the spiritual’s message, John Lovell, Jr., writes:

"Go Down, Moses" does not employ the undercurrent symbolism of "Steal Away to Jesus" and other such poems. Only a very obtuse listener can miss its point. It says flatly that Moses freed these Egyptian slaves boldly and justly because slavery is wrong. It clearly projects the principles of this experience to all the world: wherever men are held in bondage, they must and shall be freed. The "Let my people go!" refrain is thunderous. It does not argue economic, sociological, historical, and racial points. . . . It wastes no words and moves relentlessly toward its goal of filling every listener with a pervasive contempt for oppression and a resounding enthusiasm for freedom.”

A stanza omitted from modern hymnals makes his point:

We need not always weep and moan.  Let my people go!
And wear these slavery chains forlorn.  Let my people go!

Sarah Bradford's authorized biography of Harriet Tubman, Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman (1869), quotes Tubman as saying she used "Go Down Moses" as one of two code songs fugitive slaves used to communicate when fleeing Maryland.

When Israel was in Egypt's land, Let my people go,
oppressed so hard they could not stand, Let my people go. 

The Lord told Moses what to do, Let my people go,
to lead the Hebrew children through, Let my people go.

As Israel stood by the waterside, Let my people go,
at God's command it did divide, Let my people go. 

When they had reached the other shore, Let my people go,
they let the song of triumph soar, Let my people go. 

Lord, help us all from bondage flee, Let my people go,
and let us all in Christ be free, Let my people go. 

Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt's land,
tell old Pharaoh: Let my people go. 

Walter Simon (1884-1958). American Composer, pianist, and organist. He was educated at the Pittsburgh College of Music and the New England Conservatory. He spent a year as pianist with exhibitor Lyman Howe’s traveling film theater. Leaving Pittsburgh for New York, in 1911 he self-published the Progress Course of Music, drawing on his experience playing for moving pictures and vaudeville. When he began supplying “Special Music,” original incidental music cued to a specific film for the Kalem Company in 1911, he became one of the first silent film composers in America. Around this time he was accompanying films on pipe organ in a Bronx theater.  He also composed ragtime music, including “Sponge: Two Step” and “I Don’t Want You No Mo”.    

About the Piano Music:

On Jordan’s Stormy Banks - Lari Goss

Samuel Stennett (1727-1795), an English Baptist, came from a long line of ministers. He was the son of a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor.  In the 18th century, university education was not easily available to nonconformist families—those who refused to swear allegiance to the Church of England.  Stennett did study at the academy at Miles End with distinction, however.  In spite of his nonconformist religious stance, Stennett was a personal friend to the reigning monarch, King George III.  Stennett was honored in 1763 with a doctor of divinity degree from King’s College, Aberdeen, for his accomplishments.  He served as an assistant to his father in his congregation in 1747 and assumed the position of pastor upon his father’s death in 1758. 

John Rippon, an English Baptist pastor, published in 1787 an influential collection, A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors. Thirty-eight of Stennett’s hymns appeared in this popular collection. Among those was a hymn under the heading of “Heaven Anticipated” with the title of “The Promised Land” in eight four-line stanzas.  The hymn as it appeared in America looked and sounded much different. William Walker’s The Southern Harmony (1835) was the first to include “The Promised Land.” This was one of the most popular of the 19th-century, oblong-tune books with shaped notes.  The tune PROMISED LAND was paired with the text. The Southern Harmony attributes the tune to “Miss M. Durham” but we know nothing else about the composer. The tune has many of the characteristics the traditional folk melodies of the time.  Originally written in a minor mode, Rigdon M. McIntosh, a Southern musician, altered the tune to the major mode, and as was customary among American evangelicals in the 19th century added a refrain beginning with “I am bound for the promised land.” This version was published in 1895 in H. R. Christie’s Gospel Light and has become the standard version for many hymnals since that time.

From the start, the four stanzas focus on heaven. The singer stands on the banks of the Jordan River looking across to the “fair and happy land” of Canaan—a metaphoric mixture of images from the books of Exodus and Revelation. Our true “possessions” lie in Canaan (Heaven) and not on the earthly side of Jordan.  metaphors of the vision, vigor, enthusiasm, and optimism of frontier life moving on to the promised land of Kentucky or Missouri.”

The hymn has appeared in each American Methodist hymnal since Francis Asbury included it in his Supplement to the Pocket Hymn Book (1808).

On Jordan's stormy banks I stand, and cast a wishful eye
to Canaan's fair and happy land where my possessions lie.

I'm bound for the promised land, I'm bound for the promised land.
Oh, who will come and go with me? I'm bound for the promised land.

There gen'rous fruits that never fail, on trees immortal grow.
There rocks and hills and brooks and vales with milk and honey flow.

All o'er those wide-extended plains shines one eternal day;
there God the Son forever reigns and scatters night away.

No chilling wind nor pois'nous breath can reach that healthful shore;
sickness and sorrow pain and death are felt and feared no more.

When shall I reach that happy place and be forever blest?
When shall I see my Father's face and in his bosom rest?

Lari Goss is best known within the Christian music industry in the areas of music production, orchestral arranging and keyboard artistry. Whether arranging for ten or 100 pieces, his music is consistently noted by the dimension of unparalleled quality, undergirding power and heartwarming richness it lends alongside the other musical components of a project. When music to stir the heart and emotions of the listener is the requirement, Lari is widely recognized as the arranger of choice.  In addition to being one of gospel music's most respected producers and arrangers, Lari also is an accomplished artist in his own right. He has recorded several successful piano/keyboard albums and has written scores of songs, including the widely performed and recorded "Cornerstone". His keyboard style is distinctive and unique and his "Goss Sound" is legendary in the recording industry.

Besides his musical vocation, Lari also uses his industry networking for philanthropic purposes hosting the Lari Goss Invitational, a charity golf tournament that in previous years has benefited the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home.

The notoriety he has received from his keyboard artistry as well as his producer/arranger credentials have developed into an ever-increasing demand across the United States for Lari's involvement as a speaker/teacher at various music symposiums and seminars. He is an Artist-in-Residence at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, where he teaches graduate level courses one day a week in Orchestration and Recording Studio Accompanying. 

About the Choral Music:

The Storm is Passing Over – Barbara Baker

Charles Albert Tindley (1851-1933) was born in Berlin, Maryland; son of a slave father and a free mother. In his Book of Sermons (1932), he speaks of being “hired out” as a young boy, “wherever father could place me.” He married Daisy Henry when he was seventeen. Together they had eight children, some of whom would later assist him with the publication of his hymns.  Tindley was largely self-taught throughout his lifetime. He learned to read mostly on his own. In 1875, he took correspondence courses toward becoming a Methodist minister. He did this while working as a sexton (building caretaker) for the East Bainbridge Street Church. Beginning in 1885, he was appointed by the local bishop to serve two or three-year terms at a series of churches, until coming full circle to become pastor at East Bainbridge in 1902. Under his leadership, the church grew rapidly. They relocated in 1904 to the East Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church, then again in 1924 to the new Tindley Temple, where the membership roll blossomed to about ten thousand.  Tindley was known for being a captivating preacher, and for also taking an active role in the betterment of the people in his community. His songs were an outgrowth of his preaching ministry, often introduced during his sermons. Tindley was able to draw people of multiple races to his church ministry; likewise, his songs have been adopted and proliferated by white and black churches alike.  The songs of Charles Tindley were published cumulatively in two editions of Soul Echoes (1905, 1909) and six editions of New Songs of Paradise (1916-1941). 

"The storm is passing over" was originally published as a hymn in Charles Tindley's Soul Echoes (1905). It did not gain significant popularity until it was adapted as a gospel choir arrangement by Donald Vails, as recorded on his album Yesterday, Today, and Forever (1985). This arrangement has largely superceded Tindley's original hymn in terms of usage and performance.

Dr. Barbara Baker is an active teacher, arranger, and clinician with a nationally recognized reputation.  She currently directs choral ensembles at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, as well as the Gospel Choir at the Colesville United Methodist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland. She is the recipient of the Maryland Award for Excellence.

Have courage my soul and let us journey on though the night is dark,

And I am far from home.  Thanks be to God, the morning light appears.

The storm is passing over.  Hallelu.

About the Hymns:

Standing on the Promises

R. Kelso Carter became an ordained Methodist minister (1887) at the age of 38. A year earlier, he was a professor at the Pennsylvania Military Academy, where he wrote the hymn, "Standing On the Promises," after reading Apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians I: 20:  "For all the promise of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us."  I was published in Songs of Perfect Love, one of two hymns compiled by Carter.  The drum-beating, military march style of the music reflects the influence of the military academy life that surrounded Carter when it was written.  Carter was active in the Methodist Camp-Meeting movement, and “Standing on the Promises” was widely used in evangelistic crusades well into the 20^th  century and is still found in many hymnals.  It is a reminder of the Christian’s daily dependence on the promises of God.

O God, Our Help in Ages Past

“Our God, Our Help in Ages Past” is a hymn by Isaac Watts which paraphrases Psalm 90. It originally consisted of nine stanzas. In present usage, however, the hymn is usually limited to stanzas one, two, three, five, seven and nine. In 1738, John Wesley in his hymnal, Psalms and Hymns, changed the first line of the text from "Our God" to "O God." Both Watts' wording and Wesley's rewording remain in current use.  The hymn was originally part of The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, published by Watts in 1719. In this book he paraphrased in Christian verse the entire psalter with the exception of twelve Psalms which he felt were unsuited for Christian usage.

The hymn tune ST. ANNE to which the text is most often sung was composed by William Croft in 1708 whilst he was the organist of the church of St Anne, Soho.  It first appeared anonymously in the Supplement to the New Version of the Psalms, 6th edition in 1708. It was originally intended to be used with a version of Psalm 62. It was not until sometime later when set to Watts' text that the tune gained recognition.

First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas

A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus

#joychurch   #lovelikeJesus  #vision