September 27, 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 Piano Music:

They’ll Know We Are Christians - Stan Pethel

Peter Scholtes (1938–2009) wrote the hymn "They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love" while he was a parish priest at St. Brendan's on the South Side of Chicago in the 1960s. At the time, he was leading a youth choir out of the church basement and was looking for an appropriate song for a series of ecumenical, interracial events. When he couldn't find such a song, he wrote the now-famous hymn in a single day. It is inspired by John 13:35. It was released on an LP of the same name featuring the congregation of Scholtes' church singing this hymn and others.  His experiences at St. Brendan's, and in the Chicago Civil Rights movement, influenced him for the rest of his life.

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.
and we pray that all unity may one day be restored.

We will walk with each other, will walk hand in hand,
And together we'll spread the news, that God is in our land

We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we'll save each man's dignity, and guard each man's pride.

All praise to the Father, from whom all things come,
And all praise to Christ Jesus, His only Son
And all praise to the Spirit, that makes us one.

And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

Dr. Stan Pethel is Chair of the Fine Arts at Berry College near Rome, Georgia. He has been on the music faculty there since 1973. In addition to his duties as Chair of Fine Arts at Berry College Dr. Pethel teaches music theory, composition and arranging, world music, and low brass lessons. He is a widely published composer and arranger with over 1000 works in publication with 26 different publishers. His writing includes works for choir, piano, organ/piano duet, symphonic band, jazz ensemble, orchestra, handbells, solo instrument and piano, and various chamber music ensembles. He is a regular recipient of the ASCAP Standard Award.

Lord, I Know I’ve Been Changed - Larry Shackley

The Spiritual was a creation of plantation life, born as a desperate cry for freedom and of laments on the loss of family, culture, history, and home. The texts, finding inspiration from the Bible, contained double and triple layers of meaning, speaking of trial and triumph, suffering and salvation. A brave and ingenious oral tradition, clues and instructions for escape are interwoven with encouragement to hold on to hope for a better future. This music comes from a righteous people who looked within and carried the light of God as they worked to overcome sin and slavery. 

Major themes include escape, daily work life, reaching heaven, and missing loved ones, often told through biblical references. In Hebrew scriptures, a symbol of freedom and overcoming adversity, so too the Negro slaves looked to gain vindication from their foes and escape from hardship.

One theme was field work and serving, we hear of the tribulations of slave labor and the struggle to escape, be it literally or spiritually, by ship, train, or a chariot of angels. For many, that relief and healing came in the form of prayer, echoed through the melodies and harmonies of songs that proclaim there is nothing to fear so long as you cast away your sins, have faith, and follow the word of God and your good brothers and sisters. These ancestors of America built the country with their hands, and, seeing beyond their weariness and strife, hoped to inhabit that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Yet another theme is the bittersweet reminder of our mortality, an inevitable truth; but for many, the real truth is that with the passing from this life comes the beginning of a greater journey of life. This music sings of that joy and sorrow and spreads the message of hope and continued effort to follow in God’s footsteps toward the ultimate freedom.

Lord, I know I been changed. Angels in heaven done signed my name

If you don’t believe that I have been redeemed, 

The angels in heaven done signed my name.

Just follow me down to that ol’ Jordan stream.

The angels in heaven done signed my name.

I’m singin’ Lord, I know I been changed. Angels in heaven done signed my name.

I went to the river and the water was cold.

The angels in heaven done signed my name.

It chilled my body but not my soul.

The angels in heaven done signed my name.

Lord, O Lord, I know I been changed.  The angels in heaven done signed my name.

Larry Shackley (b. 1956) is a full-time composer and editor from Columbia, SC. He studied composition at the Eastman School of Music and his Master in Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in composition from the University of South Carolina. From 1995-2007, he taught and directed the music program at Columbia International University in Columbia, SC. Prior to that, he worked for several years at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, creating original music and producing radio programs for the Moody Broadcasting Network. He has been active in church music since his teens, and served as staff keyboardist for ten years at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL. Currently, Shackley is on the staff of Gateway Baptist Church in Irmo, SC. He has produced over twenty books of keyboard arrangements and more than one hundred choral anthems. He has won ASCAP standard panel awards every year since 1998, and has received commissions from churches, schools, and community choirs across America.

About the Vocal Solo Music:

He - Jack Richards

     Paul Burnett, solo

"He" is a song about God, written in 1954. The song made the popular music charts the following year.  The music was written by Jack Richards, with lyrics by Richard Mullan.  The first recording to be released was by Al Hibbler, whose version reached No. 4 on Billboard's chart of Best Sellers in Stores, No. 7 on Billboard's Top 100, No. 7 on Billboard's chart of Most Played by Jockeys, and No. 8 on Billboard's chart of Most Played in Juke Boxes.  The Righteous Brothers released a version of the song in 1966, which spent eight weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 18.  I remember it best being sung by George Beverly Shea at the Billy Graham Crusades.

He can turn the tides And calm the angry sea.

He alone decides Who writes a symphony.

He lights ev'ry star That makes our darkness bright.

He keeps watch all through Each long and lonely night.

He still finds the time To hear a child's first prayer.

Saint or sinner call And always find Him there. 

Though it makes him sad To see the way we live,

He'll always say, "I forgive." 

He can grant a wish Or make a dream come true.

He can paint the clouds And turn the gray to blue.

He alone knows where To find the rainbow's end.

He alone can see What lies beyond the bend.

He can touch a tree And turn the leaves to gold.

He knows every lie That you and I have told.

Though it makes him sad To see the way we live,

He'll always say, "I forgive." 

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.

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).

The tune “Beach Spring” is attributed to Benjamin Franklin White, who with the help of Elisha J. King, published The Sacred Harp (Philadelphia, 1844), where it was sung with the text of “Come, ye sinners, poor and wretched.” Named after the Beech Spring Baptist Church in Harris County, Georgia, the church was given its name because of its close proximity to two beech trees at a spring.  Although the original spelling of the name should be “Beech,” White’s misspelling “Beach,” has stuck with the hymn throughout the ages. White was mostly a self-taught singing school teacher from South Carolina. Eventually he moved to Hamilton in Harris County, Georgia, where he worked at many different vocations, including a stint in the Georgia Militia. Eventually White married Thurza Golightly, and together the two had 14 children (the same number of children that White’s parents had).  At some point along the timeline of Benjamin Franklin White’s history, a rumor was started that he worked closely with William Walker (who was his brother-in-law) to publish Southern Harmonies, but this rumor was probably not true.  The two books were wildly popular in the south, but both contained the same southern white spirituals which were popular in the more rural areas. In the 20^th century, the tunes from The Sacred Harp, and Southern Harmonies entered into more denominational hymnals and inspired many different composers to arrange the melodies in various ways. The Sacred Harp is one of the most used books in the four-shape notation, and has gone through numerous editions that have been published throughout the years, and even to the present days.  

First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas

A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus