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:
Komm Heiliger Geist, Herr Gott - David Johnson
(c.1976, Schmitt Publications)
For centuries, "Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott" ("Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord") has been the prominent hymn (Hauptlied) for Pentecost in German-speaking Lutheranism. The hymn inspired composers from the Renaissance to contemporary to write chorale preludes and vocal compositions. The first stanza is a translation of the Latin antiphon for Pentecost "Veni Sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium" (Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful) from the 11th century.
Martin Luther added two more stanzas, keeping not only the meter and the tune, but also the structure, with acclamations at the beginning of lines 1 and 5, and the final Halleluja. In his stanzas, the group of "deiner Gläubigen" (your believers) is speaking directly, stating "wir" and "uns" ("we" and "us"). Luther alludes to several of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to Isaiah 11:2: wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord. He also drew on Galatians 4:6 ("because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts"), Matthew 23:8-10 ("for one is your Master"), and Romans 8:26 ("the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities"). In the second stanza, Luther uses the attributes "heiliges Licht, edler Hort" (holy light, precious refuge) and words the request "protect us from strange doctrines / so that we may never look for any teacher / except Jesus in true belief". In the last stanza, the Spirit's "ardent love" and "sweet consolation" are named, asking for help "always to remain joyful and comforted / in your service" and "so that we may bravely struggle / through life and death to reach you!"
The hymn appeared first in 1524 in Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn (de), (booklet of spiritual song), collected by Johann Walter. The same year it appeared also in Eyn Enchiridion in Erfurt, titled "Der gesank Veni sancte spiritus". It has been translated, for example by Catherine Winkworth as Come, Holy Spirit, God and Lord! in 1855, and has appeared in hymnals of various denominations.
Come, Holy Spirit, Lord God, fill with the goodness of your grace
The heart, spirit and mind of your believers,
Kindle in them your ardent love!
O Lord, through the spendour of your light you have gathered in faith
People from all the tonuges of the world; so that in your praise Lord,
May there be sung Halleluja! Halleluja!
You holy light, precious refuge, let the word of life enlighten us
And teach us to know God truly, to call him father from our heart!
O Lord, protect us from strange doctrines so that we may never look for any teacher
Except Jesus in true belief and may trust him wholeheartedly! Halleluja! Halleluja!
You sacred warmth, sweet consolation, now help us always to remain joyful and
And comforted in your service; do not let sorrow drive us away!
O Lord, through your power make us ready and strengthen the feebleness of our flesh
So that we may bravely struggle through life and death to reach you! Halleluja! Halleluja!
David N. Johnson (1922-1987) was an American organist, composer, educator, choral clinician, and lecturer. He studied organ and composition at Curtis Institute of Music. Between 1942 and 1946 he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps/Air Corps in India, Burma, and China, receiving a Meritorious Service Award and campaign ribbons. He continued his music studies at Trinity University (Texas) and Syracuse University. He also held the associate certificate from the American Guild of Organists (AAGO). He was college organist and music department chair at St Olaf College, Minnesota. In 1967, he succeeded Arthur Poister as professor of music and university organist at Syracuse University. Johnson published well over three hundred compositions, most of them for church use, and was author of an Instruction Book for Beginning Organists (1964) and an Organ Teacher's Guide (1971).
About the Piano Music:
Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us - Larry Shackley
(c.2019, Lorenz Publishing)
The text of "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us" first appeared in Hymns for the Young, 1830, which was edited by Dorothy Ann Thrupp (1779-1847). Although no author's name appears with the text, it is thought that Thrupp wrote it, since she often published hymns anonymously, under the pseudonym "Iota," or simply using her initials “DAT”.
The tune BRADBURY was written by William Bradbury expressly for this text and appeared in his Sunday School collection, Oriola, 1859. Bradbury was a protege of the great music educator, Lowell Mason. Bradbury sang in Mason's Bowdoin Street Church choir and Boston Academy of Music as a youth, and later started similar church and school music programs in New York where he served as organist at First Baptist Church. Beyond his work as an educator and church musician, Bradbury studied composition in Europe, founded the Bradbury Piano Company with his brother, and edited a number of music books. Bradbury is probably most famous for writing the music to "Jesus Loves Me."
Savior, like a shepherd lead us, Much we need Thy tender care;
In Thy pleasant pastures feed us, For our use Thy folds prepare:
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Thou hast bought us, Thine we are;
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Thou hast bought us, Thine we are.
We are Thine, do Thou befriend us, Be the guardian of our way;
Keep Thy flock, from sin defend us, Seek us when we go astray:
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Hear, O hear us when we pray;
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Hear, O hear us when we pray.
Thou hast promised to receive us, Poor and sinful though we be;
Thou hast mercy to relieve us, Grace to cleanse, and pow'r to free:
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Early let us turn to Thee;
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Early let us turn to Thee.
Early let us seek Thy favor, Early let us do Thy will;
Blessed Lord and only Savior, With Thy love our bosoms fill:
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Thou hast loved us, love us still;
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus, Thou hast loved us, love us still.
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:
Child of God - Mark A. Miller
(c.2014, Choristers Guild)
Mark Miller believes that everyone is a Child of God and that music is instrumental in healing the world. He also adheres to Cornel West’s belief that “Justice is what love looks like in public.”
Since 2006 he has been a Lecturer in Sacred Music at Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music and Divinity School. Mark is Professor of Church Music, Director of Chapel, and Composer In Residence at Drew University in Madison NJ, and is the Minister of Music of Christ Church (UCC & Am Baptist) in Summit, New Jersey. Mark believes that music, social justice, and the beloved community are inextricably tied.
His hymns and anthems are sung by communities of faith throughout the world. His songbook Roll Down Justice! Sacred Songs & Social Justice, was published in 2014 by Choristers Guild. His album, “Imagine the People of God”, is available on itunes. In 2017 he was appointed to serve on the Hymnal Revision Committee of the United Methodist Church. Miller spends a portion of the year traveling the country, often with his band S2C (Subject to Change), leading worship and workshops, preaching and presenting concerts focused on creating community and advocating for social justice. Overseas he has led choirs and performed in Sweden, South Africa, Austria, Russia, and the Baltic states.
Miller is a graduate of Julliard (M.Mus. in Organ Performance) and Yale University (B.A. Music) and was Assistant Organist and Music Associate at The Riverside Church from 1999-2001 and Director of Contemporary Worship at Marble Collegiate Church from 2002-2007, both in the city of New York.
About this song he says: These lyrics are a reflection of my reading of Romans 8:38-39: “What can separate us from God’s love?” Paul makes the supreme list final, culminating in: “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers nor things present, nor things to come…will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” We may try to create groups of people that are “in” and groups that are “out,” groups that don’t measure up to our standard. We humans are good at deciding who’s included, who is worthy of our particular badge of membership. But no matter what people say, no matter what the world says, no matter what the Church says, “you are a child of God!”
No matter what people say, say or think about me,
I am a child, I am a child of God.
No matter what people say, say or think about you,
you are a child, you are a child of God.
No matter what the world says, says or thinks about me,
I am a child, I am a child of God.
No matter what the church says, decisions, pronouncements on you,
you are a child, your are a child of God.
And there is no thing, or no one who can separate, they can’t separate you
from the truth that you’re someone, you are family,
you are meant to be, a child, a child of God!
You are a child, a child of God!
About the Hymns:
We Come Today to Celebrate
(c.2013, Stephanie Jenner)
This is a new, unpublished hymn which is sung to the familiar tune that we use with Amazing Grace. Stephanie Jenner is the superintendent Methodist minister in the Bridport and Dorchester Circuit in the Methodist Church of Britain. She wrote this text for use at the Greenbelt Festival in 2013. The overall theme for the festival (40 years old in 2013) was 'Life Begins'. Stephanie writes:
"Many of the people who come to Greenbelt are people who find themselves on the margins of their churches and communities, not just LGBT folk, those with disabilities, those of other races and ethnicities, and others who feel they just don’t fit in. To make the service as inclusive as possible we used gluten and dairy free bread and grape juice and chose hymns and readings to reflect the theme, but I couldn’t find one that had words that celebrated the coming together of all sorts of people as well as celebrating God. I put pen to paper and came up with this hymn, which we sang to the tune of 'Amazing Grace’."
We come today to celebrate the life that Jesus gives,
and welcome in God’s loving grace that in the Spirit lives.
The Spirit sanctifies our lives and helps our darkest days;
we hold each other close to You with voices joined in praise.
We celebrate diversity, as well as common ground,
and will continue so to do while love and peace are found.
For Christ does not discriminate, but welcomes one and all;
so we will seek to do the same, responding to God’s call.
Come Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire
Charles Wesley’s “Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire” which first appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1740. Charles Wesley (1707-1788) was the author of some 6,000 hymns, a good number of which continue to be widely sung. He and his brother were part of a renewal movement within the Church of England which ultimately issued in the Methodist Church. Wesley’s hymns are characterised by the density of their reference to Scripture and by their effective use of poetic language and, particularly in this case, metaphor.
In his paper titled Charles Wesley’s Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, professor Jason Vickers argues that where modern Wesleyans often invoke grace, Charles Wesley would have as easily invoked the Holy Spirit. Wesley invokes the Holy Spirit as the divine personal agent who brings persons to faith initially, who empowers persons to love God and neighbor, and who indwells persons, enabling them to become “partakers of the divine nature.” When we approach the Holy Word of God, we ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us through the ancient text. The same Spirit that inspired what was written also inspires what we read, making the text living and active for us today. Charles’ hymn invokes the imagery of the Holy Spirit hovering over the waters of creation. This reminds us that God is up to a new creation in us here and now, and that we are being renewed by the presence of this creative Spirit. The Spirit imparts grace upon grace to grow ever more deeply in holiness in this life. We are constantly a new creation as we rest our souls under the wings of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals to us increasing depths of God’s love for all, the richness of the work on the cross forever renewed in our hearts.
WINCHESTER OLD is a famous common-meter psalm tune, presumably arranged by George Kirbye (1560-1634) from a melody in Christopher Tye's Acts of the Apostles and published in T. Este's The Whole Book of Psalmes (1592) set to Psalm 84. Kirbye was responsible for most of the harmonizations in that psalter. A musician at the estate of Sir Robert Jermyn near Bury St. Edmunds, Kirbye apparently also served as church warden of the local St. Mary's Church and composed several volumes of madrigals that were very popular in his time. WINCHESTER OLD has been associated with Nahum Tate's Christmas text “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night” ever since it was published in Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861). The tune title refers to Winchester, an ancient town in Hampshire, England.
Come Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire, let us thine influence prove;
source of the old prophetic fire, fountain of life and love.
Come, Holy Ghost, for, moved by thee, thy prophets wrote and spoke:
unlock the truth, thyself the key, unseal the sacred book.
Expand thy wings, celestial Dove, brood o'er our nature's night;
on our disordered spirits move, and let there now be light.
God, through the Spirit, we shall know, if thou within us shine;
and sound, with all thy saints below, the depths of love divine.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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