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; most of it is copied from other websites 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:
Beside Still Waters - Regina Pozzi
(c.2019, Lorenz Publishing)
Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was the son of a schoolmaster and was born in Southampton. He is said to have shown remarkable precocity in childhood, beginning the study of Latin, in his fourth year, and writing respectable verses at the age of seven. At the age of sixteen, he went to London to study in the Academy of the Rev. Thomas Rowe, an Independent minister. In 1698, he became assistant minister of the Independent Church, Berry St., London. In 1702, he became pastor. The number of Watts' publications is very large. His collected works, first published in 1720, embrace sermons, treatises, poems and hymns. His "Horae Lyricae" was published in December, 1705. His "Hymns" appeared in July, 1707. The first hymn he composed for religious worship, "Behold the glories of the Lamb," was written at the age of twenty. Some of his hymns were written to be sung after his sermons, giving expression to the meaning of the text upon which he had preached. Montgomery calls Watts "the greatest name among hymn-writers," and the honor can hardly be disputed. His published hymns number more than eight hundred. There is a monument to his memory in the South Choir of Westminster Abbey. The inscription reads, "Happy will be that reader whose mind is disposed, by his verses or his prose, to imitate him in all but his non-conformity, to copy his benevolence to men, and his reverence to God."
Psalm 23 has inspired numerous paraphrases and hymn texts, including this text by Isaac Watts. Watts included it in his large 1719 collection of psalm paraphrases, The Psalms of David Imitated. Psalm 23 remains the most well-loved and often recited psalm, and Isaac Watts' powerful paraphrase, coupled with the peaceful yet strong American folk tune, make this hymn a moving rendition of that psalm. Watts’ interpretation of the last line of psalm, “and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever,” gives a new understanding to the original psalm: “No more a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home.” Watts gives us a concrete image of dwelling – a child, knowing he or she is safe and secure, and in a place of love and comfort – to help us understand what it is we hope for. The same peace we find in the pasture and by the stream, we find in the house of the LORD, to which our Shepherd is leading us day by day.
Watts’ text is set to the plaintive, pentatonic folk tune RESIGNATION. The anonymous tune was first printed in Freeman Lewis’ The Beauties of Harmony, 5th ed. (1828), where it was called HOPEWELL, set to “Come, humble sinner in whose breast” by Edmund Jones (1722–1765). This tune was renamed RESIGNATION in Joseph Funk’s Genuine Church Music (1832). It was first paired with Watts’ text in J.W. Steffy’s The Valley Harmonist (Winchester VA: Robinson & Hollis, 1836). This text-tune pairing was more widely disseminated via the Revised Edition of William Walker’s Southern Harmony (Philadelphia: E.W. Miller, 1854). As with the 1828 printing, Walker used shape notes, the four-shape system originally espoused by William Little and William Smith in their Easy Instructor (1801).
My Shepherd, you supply my need, most holy is your name;
in pastures fresh you make me feed, beside the living stream.
You bring my wand'ring spirit back. when I forsake your ways;
you lead me, for your mercy's sake, in paths of truth and grace.
When through the shades of death I walk, your presence is my stay;
one word of your supporting breath drives all my fears away.
Your hand in sight of all my foes, does still my table spread;
my cup with Blessings overflows, your oil anoints my head.
Your sure provisions gracious God attend me all my days;
oh, may your house be my abode, and all my work be praise.
Here would I find a settled rest, while others go and come;
no more a stranger, nor a guest, but like a child at home.
Regina Pozzi is currently director of music ministries at First Christian Church. In this capacity, she organizes six community concerts each year for which she recruits local musicians. She also holds the position of adjunct professor for piano and applied keyboard harmony at Salem College. Regina received a master of music in organ performance degree as well as the performer’s artist certificate from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and a bachelor of music in organ performance degree from Salem College. Simultaneous studies in piano with Barbara Lister-Sink culminated in the Certification of Injury Preventive Keyboard Technique.
Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven - Robert Hobby
(c.1991, Concorda Publishing House)
The psalms are a source of inspiration for hymn writers. Psalm 103 is the basis of "Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven" by Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847). Born in Scotland and educated at Enniskillen and Trinity College in Dublin, Lyte's most significant appointment was as Anglican curate at Lower Brixham, Devonshire, England, where he served for 24 years. Lyte was known as a man frail in body but strong in faith and spirit. Suffering from chronic asthma and tuberculosis, he retired from his parish in September 1847. Seeking a better climate in Italy, he died that November in Nice, France, on his way to Rome. Lyte's poetry earned him several honors. His collections include Tales on the Lord's Prayer in Verse (1826), Poems, Chiefly Religious (1833, 1845), and The Spirit of the Psalms (1834). His most famous hymn was "Abide with me, fast falls the eventide", which represents the heart of the Romantic style. This hymn was published as one of 280 free psalm paraphrases in The Spirit of the Psalms. One of three paraphrases of Psalm 103, Lyte took a very free approach to his interpretation.
An Anglican minister, he drew upon Miles Coverdale's translation as found in the Book of Common Prayer rather than the Authorized King James Version. Instead of beginning with "Bless the Lord, O my soul," this translation opens with: "Praise the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me praise his holy Name. Praise the Lord, O my soul: and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thy sin: and healeth all thine infirmities; Who saveth thy life from destruction: and crowneth thee with mercy and loving-kindness." One can see these theological ideas in the opening stanza of Lyte's hymn, but in a free poetic form. When the hymn appeared in the influential collection Hymns Ancient and Modern, the editors substituted "Alleluia! Alleluia!" for "Praise him! Praise him!", a change that not only improved the ease of singing, but elevated the exaltation.
A missing stanza four corresponds very closely with verses 15-17:
Frail as summer's flower we perish: Blows the wind and it is gone.
But, while mortals rise and perish, God endures unchanging on.
Praise him! Praise him! Praise the high eternal One!
Besides a sense of jubilation, this hymn emphasizes God's providence. The poet consistently emphasizes the reliability of God.
John Goss (1800-1880) composed LAUDA ANIMA (Latin for the opening words of Psalm 103) for this text in 1868. Along with his original harmonizations, intended to interpret the different stanzas, the tune was also included in the appendix to Robert Brown¬ Borthwick's Supplemental Hymn and Tune Book (1869). LAUDA ANIMA is one of the finest tunes that arose out of the Victorian era. A reviewer in The Musical Times, June 1869, said, "It is at once the most beautiful and dignified hymn tune which has lately come under our notice."
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven; to his feet your tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, evermore his praises sing.
Alleluia, alleluia! Praise the everlasting King!
Praise him for his grace and favor to his people in distress.
Praise him, still the same as ever, slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Alleluia, alleluia! Glorious in his faithfulness!
Fatherlike he tends and spares us; well our feeble frame he knows.
In his hand he gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia, alleluia! Widely yet his mercy flows!
Angels, help us to adore him; you behold him face to face.
Sun and moon, bow down before him, dwellers all in time and space.
Alleluia, alleluia! Praise with us the God of grace!
Robert A. Hobby (b. 1962) currently serves as Director of Music for Trinity English Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his responsibilities include playing for many of the worship services, overseeing the graded choral program, and managing the concerts the church offers. Numerous activities during his tenure include Trinity Church establishing a choral series with seventeen composers commissioned thus far, hosting a regional convention of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, producing four recordings, and expanding the opportunities for music ministry.
About the Vocal Solo Music:
For Those Tears I Died - Marsha Stevens
(c.1969, Bud John Songs, admin by EMI CMG Publishing)
Marsha Stevens-Pino (b. 1952) is a singer, musician, songwriter and recording artist of Christian songs. Shortly after professing Christianity at sixteen years of age, Stevens-Pino wrote "For Those Tears I Died (Come to the Water)", a song that was to become widely known and sung in Charismatic Christian churches and youth-groups across the United States. Utilizing her songwriting and singing talents with sister Wendy Carter and friends Peter Jacobs and Russ Stevens, the Contemporary Christian Music group known as "Children of the Day" was formed. An entry in the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music states: “If Larry Norman is to be called the father of Christian Rock, then Marsha Stevens certainly deserves to be known as the mother of contemporary Christian music ... She was the leader of what is considered to be the world's first contemporary Christian music group, Children of the Day, and she has continued as a solo artist to produce albums of worship-oriented and edifying adult contemporary pop. As such, she remains the progenitor of what, by 2002, would become the single most popular genre in the contemporary Christian music market.”
The album "Come to the Water" was recorded with money borrowed from Calvary Chapel, whose minister Chuck Smith supported Stevens-Pino's career. However, her memoir accounts that he enforced female subordination, including appointing a male bandmate as leader of the band. Stevens-Pino married Russ Stevens in the 1970s and they were together for seven years before divorcing. The judge gave Russ Stevens half the royalties of all her songs, as well as custody of their children.
When she came out as a lesbian after her divorce from Stevens, she faced much vitriol from the conservative Christian community. Smith's mentoring ended and he suggested that she hadn't "married the right man.” She continues to receive hate mail including copies of “For Those Tears I Died” torn out of hymnals and songbooks. She married Cindy Stevens-Pino in August 2003, and they run a music ministry training school for LGBT+ Christians at King of Peace MCC in St. Petersburg FL. They currently lead BALM Ministries and attend Pass-a-Grille Community Church.
You said You'd come and share all my sorrows,
You said You'd be there for all my tomorrows;
I came so close to sending You away,
But just like You promised You came there to stay;
I just had to pray!
Your goodness so great I can't understand,
And, dear Lord, I know that all this was planned;
I know You're here now, and always will be,
Your love loosed my chains and in You I'm free;
But Jesus, why me?
Jesus, I give You my heart and my soul,
I know that without God I'd never be whole;
Savior, You opened all the right doors,
And I thank You and praise You from earth's humble shores;
Take me, I'm Yours.
"Come to the water, stand by My side,
I know you are thirsty, you won't be denied;
I felt ev'ry teardrop when in darkness you cried,
And I strove to remind you that for those tears I died."
About the Hymns:
Just as I am
At the age of 32, Charlotte Elliott (1789-1871) suffered a serious illness that left her a semi-invalid for the rest of her life. Within a year, she went through a spiritual crisis and confessed to the Swiss evangelist Henri A. Cesar Malan that she did not know how to come to Christ. He answered, "Come to him just as you are." Thinking back on that experience twelve years later, in 1834, she wrote “Just as I Am" as a statement of her faith. Hymn writing provided a way for Elliot to cope with her pain and depression – she wrote approximately 150 hymns, which were published in her Invalid's Hymn Book (several editions, 1834-1854), Hymns for a Week (1839), and Thoughts in Verse on Sacred Subjects (1869). Many of her hymns reflect her chronic pain and illness but also reveal that faith gave her perseverance and hope.
“Just as I Am" was first published in the 1836 edition of Invalid's Hymn Book with the subheading "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). She added a seventh stanza that same year, when the hymn was also published in her Hours of Sorrow Cheered and Comforted (1836). Widely translated, this hymn has brought consolation to millions.
Sixty years later, in 1931, a 31-year-old man riding in the sidecar of his brother's motorcycle in England finally came to the end of his internal struggle against whether Christ was indeed the Son of God. He finally knew in his soul that indeed Jesus was just who He said He was! He realized that God calls us to Him "just as we are". When C.S. Lewis stepped out of the sidecar, he was a new man, saved by grace!
Ninety-nine years after Charlotte Elliott penned her words, and 3 years after Lewis’ conversion, the 16-year-old son of a dairy farmer listened intently as he heard the message of salvation preached at a revival service in Charlotte, NC. When the song, “Just As I Am,” was sung at the end, young Billy Graham went forward to accept Christ.
Twenty years later, Billy Graham had become a successful evangelist and was invited to speak at Cambridge University in England. His nervousness over the event nearly led him to cancel it. But he was introduced to a kind man named C.S. Lewis who encouraged him to disregard the critics who had spoken out against him, and to continue with the revival. Rev. Graham went on to speak to an overflow crowd of 2,000 each night of the revival, and when he returned to England in 1989, he addressed a crowd of 80,000 at England’s Wimbley Stadium! As always, he closed the event with the same song that brought him to Christ, “Just As I Am.”
Just as I am, without one plea,
but that thy blood was shed for me,
and that thou bidd'st me come to thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not
to rid my soul of one dark blot,
to thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, though tossed about
with many a conflict, many a doubt,
fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind;
Yes, all I need, in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, thou wilt receive,
wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
because thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thy love unknown
broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
My Hope is Built
Edward Mote (1797-1874) falls into the rare category of hymn writers who grew up without religious training and whose parents were pub owners. He was apprenticed at a young age by his parents to a cabinetmaker, but found faith when he heard the preaching of John Hyatt at the Tottenham Court Road Chapel in London at age 15. Living in Southwark near London, he established a successful cabinet-making enterprise and became a Baptist minister in 1852, at 55 years of age. He ministered for 21 years at Strict Baptist Church in Horsham, Sussex.
Singing hymns was of great interest to him. The master cabinetmaker became a prolific hymn writer, composing more than 100 hymns. The hymn "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less" was published anonymously in several hymn collections before first being attributed to Edward Mote in a collection of approximately 100 of his hymns published in 1837 under the title Hymns of Praise, A New Selection of Gospel Hymns, Combining All the Excellencies of our Spiritual Poets, with Many Originals. Hymnologists note that this is the first time the now common term “gospel hymn” appears. Mote's original title was "The Immutable Basis for a Sinner's Hope" in this collection. The refrain of "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less" refers to the Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Builders and builds around the metaphor of Christ as a rock with a firm basis (1 Corinthians 10:4).
The Sunday school hymn writer William B. Bradbury composed SOLID ROCK in 1863 for Edward Mote's "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less." The tune name derives from that song's refrain: "On Christ, the solid rock, I stand. . . .” Bradbury published SOLID ROCK in his 1864 children's collection The Golden Censor.
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
In ev’ry rough and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the vale.
When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay.
Not earth, nor hell, my soul can move; I rest upon unchanging love.
I trust his righteous character, his counsel, promise, and his pow’r.
When he shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in him be found,
dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
No comments:
Post a Comment