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:
Bicentennial - Ron Schmoltze
(c.2004, Augsburg Fortress)
This hymn unites the work of composer, Robert Kreutz, and hymn text writer, Omer Westendorf. It was among 200 texts submitted for possible use at the 41st International Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia in 1976. "You Satisfy the Hungry Heart" was selected as the official hymn of that gathering. First embraced by Roman Catholics, this hymn has since become well-known and a favorite in many denominations. Following the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the role of congregational song became much more prominent in Roman Catholic worship. The ecumenical worshipping community has been the beneficiary of some music composed for Catholic worship since that time, especially music for Communion. We would not have some of our favorite Communion hymns in The United Methodist Hymnal and The Faith We Sing without the contribution of post-Vatican II Catholic composers. “One bread, one body” (UMH No. 620) and “Take our bread” (UMH No. 640) are just a two of these.
Omer Westendorf (1916-1997) was one of the leading post-Vatican II composers and his hymn, “Gift of finest wheat,” is one of the best-known Communion hymns to come from the decades immediately following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. This hymn unites the work of composer, Robert Kreutz, and hymn text writer, Omer Westendorf. It was among 200 texts submitted for possible use at the 41st International Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia in 1976. "You Satisfy the Hungry Heart" was selected as the official hymn of that gathering. The hymn was first published in We Celebrate with Song (1979).
Beginning at age 20, Westendorf received his master of music degree at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and for most of his professional musical career served as organist and choirmaster at St. Bonaventure Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Under his direction, the Bonaventure Choir sang concerts and recorded sacred music for several decades. One of his greatest achievements was the founding of the World Library of Sacred Music in 1950 and World Library Publications in 1957. These organizations have been primary distributors of music for the Mass in the U.S. and beyond. Westendorf was also known for his lectures and seminars on sacred music, consultations on liturgical music, and as a hymn writer. UM Hymnal editor Carlton Young notes that Westendorf’s “People’s Mass Book, 1964, 1966, 1970, 1976, was the first vernacular hymn and service book to implement the Catholic liturgies decreed by Vatican Council II. He wrote Music Lessons for the Man in the Pew to teach the art of sight reading choral music.”
One of the prominent features of Catholic hymns from this era is a memorable and singable refrain. For example, think of how easily congregations learn the refrain by Catholic musician Daniel Schutte, “Here I Am, Lord.” “You satisfy the hungry heart” has an equally memorable refrain, though more reflective. The refrain evokes the agrarian image of “finest wheat,” the source of bread, a primary staple that sustains life. The hymn writer first addresses Christ directly in the second person, implying an intimate relationship, and offers a petition to Christ to “give to us... the bread of life to eat.”
The hymn is replete with biblical references. The refrain echoes John 6:25-37, a passage where Christ develops the imagery of bread and says, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger.” Stanza one focuses on the metaphor of Christ as shepherd drawn from several passages, but especially from John 10. Stanza three is almost a direct quotation of I Corinthians 10:16-17: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ. The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” The final stanza sites the selfless and self-giving gift of Christ reminding us of Philippians 2:5-11, a creedal hymn of the early church.
You satisfy the hungry heart with gift of finest wheat.
Come give to us, O saving Lord, the bread of life to eat.
As when the shepherd calls his sheep, they know and heed his voice;
so when you call your family, Lord, we follow and rejoice.
With joyful lips we sing to you our praise and gratitude
that you should count us worthy, Lord, to share this heavenly food.
Is not the cup we bless and share the blood of Christ outpoured?
Do not one cup, one loaf, declare our oneness in the Lord?
The mystery of your presence, Lord, no mortal tongue can tell:
whom all the world cannot contain comes in our hearts to dwell.
You give yourself to us, O Lord; then selfless let us be,
to serve each other in your name in truth and charity.
Ronald L. Schmoltze (1937-2018) was an Air Force Veteran of the Korean Conflict. He received his Bachelor of Music Degree from Oberlin College and choir and musical theater in middle schools and high schools. in the Passaic NJ area. He was music director/organist at St. Coleman Church in Pompano Beach, FL, and Our Lady of Angles Catholic Church in Burlingame, CA. He was a member of the American Guild of Organist and has had two published volumes of Organ Preludes.
Brethren, We Have Met to Worship - Don Hustad
(c.1971, Hope Publishing Co.)
The author of this hymn has not been positively identified. It has been traditionally attributed to George Atkins, but no further information has been found about him or the text. The five stanzas of this text first appeared in print in 1825. The fourth stanza (“Is there here a trembling jailer”) is often omitted. The final two lines of each stanza are based on these lines: “pray, and holy manna will be showered all around,” which may be a reference to the story of God providing manna to feed the Israelites in the wilderness. The opening stanza of this call to worship calls on Christians to pray for the Holy Spirit's presence as the service begins, while the final stanza calls for believers to live in the love of God in anticipation of the full redemption of creation when Christ returns.
In many of yesterday’s churches, certain leaders would gather while the pastor was preaching to pray for power and clarity in his words, and for responsive listeners and souls changed for eternity. Even a spiritually mature preacher can accomplish nothing of lasting worth without empowerment of the Holy Spirit: “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost” (1 Thessalonians 1:5). As God’s Word is preached in purity and with spiritual power, we can expect His blessings. The hymn writer used manna, the miraculous provision of food for the Israelites in the wilderness, to symbolize God’s answer to the church’s prayers.
Brethren, we have met to worship
And adore the Lord our God;
Will you pray with all your power,
While we try to preach the Word?
All is vain unless the Spirit
Of the Holy One comes down;
Brethren, pray, and holy manna
Will be showered all around.
Let us love our God supremely,
Let us love each other, too;
Let us love and pray for sinners,
Till our God makes all things new.
Then He'll call us home to heaven,
At His table we'll sit down;
Christ will gird Himself, and serve us
With sweet manna all around.
Don Hustad (1918-2013) was one of the giants of Christian music of the 20th century. Hustad had a distinguished ministry and a life-long profession as a recording artist, composer, arranger, teacher, conductor, hymnal editor, and author. He began work as staff musician of Chicago's WMBI in the early 1940s, worked with soloist George Beverly Shea on a weekly broadcast called "Club Time," and served for some 20 years as organist for a popular radio broadcast "Songs in the Night." He taught at Olivet Nazarene College in Kankakee, Illinois from 1946 to 1950, at which time Hustad was appointed director of the Sacred Music Department at Moody Bible Institute—a position he held until 1961. During his 11-year tenure at Moody he developed the Moody Chorale into a superior choral ensemble that achieved fame nationally and internationally. In 1961 he became Crusade organist for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and directed the Crusader Men Choir in the "Hour of Decision" broadcasts. His publications include over 100 articles and five books. Throughout his career, Hustad devoted considerable energy to music arranging and hymnal editing, serving as editorial consultant and musical advisor to Hope Publishing Company. Among his editorial contributions are fourteen hymnals and songbooks, as well as dozens of collections. In 1989, Hustad was awarded Fellow of the Hymn Society for his outstanding contribution to American hymnody. In 2008, he was honored by the American Choral Director's Association Southern Division Conference for his contributions to church music. He earned diplomas as an Associate of the American Guild of Organists (AAGO) and a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO), London, UK.
About the Piano Music:
Improvisation Based on Ubi Caritas - Paul French
(c.2000, World Library Publications)
“Ubi caritas” is a hymn of the Western Church, long used as one of the antiphons for the washing of feet on Maundy Thursday. The Gregorian melody was composed sometime between the fourth and tenth centuries, though some scholars believe the text dates from early Christian gatherings before the formalization of the Mass. It is usually sung at the Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and on Holy Thursday evening at the Mass of the Lord's Supper. Richard Proulx wrote the translation “Where True Love and Charity are Found” in 1975.
Where true love and charity are found, God is always there.
Since the love of Christ has brought us all together,
Let us rejoice and be glad, now and always.
Let everyone love the Lord God, the living God
And with sincere hearts, let us love each other now.
Therefore, when we gather as one in Christ Jesus,
Let our love enfold each race, creed, every person.
Let envy, division, and strife cease among us.
May Christ our Lord dwell among us in every heart.
Bring us with your saints to behold your great beauty,
There to see you, Christ our Lord, throned in great glory.
There to posess heaven’s peace and joy, your truth and love,
For endless ages of ages, world without end.
Composer/conductor Paul French is the Music Director at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Chicago and has worked in parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago for over three decades. In addition, since 2005 he has been the Music Director of the William Ferris Chorale, a professional 24-voice choral ensemble dedicated to the choral music of the 20th and 2st centuries. He studied composition, conducting, chant, and organ at St. John's University, Northwestern University, the Pontificio Istituto di Musica Sacra in Rome, and privately with William Ferris. A composer of more than 200 instrumental and choral works, he is also the Director of Choral Recordings for World Library Publications, for whom he is also the editor of a series of choral works for children's choirs, under the distinguished banner of the American Federation Pueri Cantores.
About the Choral Music:
Let Us Break Bread Together - John Ness Beck
(c.1972, Hope Publishing)
Some of the stanzas of this African American spiritual may date back to the eighteenth century. Other stanzas have been added by oral tradition. A look through modern hymnals will reveal an array of variations on the text. The most notable alteration in the Psalter Hymnal is the phrase "to the Lord of life" in place of the original "to the rising sun," in which "rising sun" was a metaphor referring to the Son rising. The song's use at communion services probably dates from after the American Civil War. Miles Mark Fisher notes in Negro Slave Songs in the United States (1953): [Originally the hymn] relates hardly at all to holy communion, which does not necessarily require early morning administration or a devotee who faces east. It was a signal song of Virginia slaves during the eighteenth century who used it and similar ones to convene their secret meetings.
The text describes participation in the Lord's Supper as a humble act in which we not only eat the bread and drink the wine, but also praise our God "on our knees." The refrain ends with a prayer for mercy, an African-American Kyrie that reminds us of the tax collector's prayer in Luke 18:13.
Let us break bread together on our knees, let us break bread together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.
Let us drink wine together on our knees, let us drink wine together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.
Let us praise God together on our knees, let us praise God together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.
O Lord, have mercy on me.
John Ness Beck (1930-1987) graduated from Ohio State with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees with a major in English. After working for a year in Student Union activities at the State College of Washington, he spent two years in the U.S. Army. During this time, he became increasingly involved in arranging for various musical groups. After his discharge from military service, he returned to Ohio State and completed Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts degrees in music with composition as his major. Beck was a faculty member of Ohio State University School of Music for seven years, teaching harmony and theory. He left the university to become owner and manager of The University Music House, a retail sheet music store in Columbus. In this capacity, he was able to observe the business side of the music industry, gaining insight into the complexities of music publishing and merchandising. As his compositions found their way into print and popularity, he joined forces in 1972 with John Tatgenhorst in the creation of Beckenhorst Press. His reputation as a composer and his experience as a choral director soon led to an increasing demand for appearances as guest conductor and lecturer at various musical clinics and festivals throughout the country.
Come My Way, My Truth, My Life
Not all texts in hymnals began as poetry for congregational singing. Such is the case of the mystical verse by the famous Welsh poet George Herbert (1593-1633). In his nearly 40 years of life, Herbert accomplished much. He held positions at Cambridge University and in Parliament, and later in life became a Anglican priest and one of the leading metaphysical poets of his time.
Herbert was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, with the intent of becoming a priest. But King James I, who shepherded the King James translation of the Bible, was interested in his scholarly skills. So Herbert was called to service in the court until the king died in 1625, followed soon by the death of Herbert’s patrons. Herbert then returned to his earlier calling in the church, serving for six years in two parishes. At the time, the Church of England employed many psalm singers. John Donne, Herbert and others contributed to a culture of devotional poetry that later inspired great 18th-century hymn writers like Isaac Watts (1674-1748) and Charles Wesley (1707-1788), whose hymnody eventually broke the stranglehold of singing only metrical psalms in worship.
Herbert’s most enduring work was The Temple (1633). The Temple was popular for a time, then ignored until John Wesley made use of its poems in various collections, including the 1737 Charleston Collection [the first hymnal published in the American colonies], where he altered their meters and subdued their humor. This text comes from a section of The Temple entitled “The Call,” a work published the year after Herbert’s death from tuberculosis. He wrote poetry while serving as a parish priest, partly to supplement his own funds and to help to rebuild the church he was serving at Bremerton, a rural parish about 75 miles southwest of London. John Wesley included this poem in his Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739).
Herbert’s text expands John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” by incorporating additional metaphors: Light, Feast and Strength, and Joy, Love and Heart. The three-fold structure of the first verse is repeated in the other two; there is a trinity in each verse, and three verses, making a trinity of trinities.
Famous British composer and hymn tune writer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) set several of Herbert’s poems in a song cycle entitled Five Mystical Songs (1911). Vaughan Williams’ tune and harmonization were adapted by E. Harold Geer for congregational singing in Hymnal for Colleges and Schools (1956). Singing 17th-century metaphysical poetry demands much from the 21st-century singer. However, each time one returns to Herbert’s poetry and Vaughan Williams’ majestic tune, something new is revealed.
Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life: such a way as gives us breath;
such a truth as ends all strife; such a life as killeth death.
Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength: such a light as shows a feast;
such a feast as mends in length; such a strength as makes a guest.
Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart: such a joy as none can move:
such a love as none can part; such a heart as joys in love.
About the Hymns:
One Bread, One Body
(c.1989, John Foley & North American Liturgy Resources)
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.
One bread, one body, one Lord of all
One cup of blessing which we bless
And we, though many, throughout the Earth
We are one body in this one Lord
Gentile or Jew, Servant or free, Woman or man No more
Many the gifts, many the works, One in the Lord Of all
You Satisfy the Hungry Heart
(c.1977 Archdiocese of Philadelphia)
This hymn unites the work of composer, Robert Kreutz, and hymn text writer, Omer Westendorf. It was among 200 texts submitted for possible use at the 41st International Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia in 1976. "You Satisfy the Hungry Heart" was selected as the official hymn of that gathering. First embraced by Roman Catholics, this hymn has since become well-known and a favorite in many denominations. Following the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the role of congregational song became much more prominent in Roman Catholic worship. The ecumenical worshipping community has been the beneficiary of some music composed for Catholic worship since that time, especially music for Communion. We would not have some of our favorite Communion hymns in The United Methodist Hymnal and The Faith We Sing without the contribution of post-Vatican II Catholic composers. “One bread, one body” (UMH No. 620) and “Take our bread” (UMH No. 640) are just a two of these.
Omer Westendorf (1916-1997) was one of the leading post-Vatican II composers and his hymn, “Gift of finest wheat,” is one of the best-known Communion hymns to come from the decades immediately following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. This hymn unites the work of composer, Robert Kreutz, and hymn text writer, Omer Westendorf. It was among 200 texts submitted for possible use at the 41st International Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia in 1976. "You Satisfy the Hungry Heart" was selected as the official hymn of that gathering. The hymn was first published in We Celebrate with Song (1979).
Beginning at age 20, Westendorf received his master of music degree at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and for most of his professional musical career served as organist and choirmaster at St. Bonaventure Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Under his direction, the Bonaventure Choir sang concerts and recorded sacred music for several decades. One of his greatest achievements was the founding of the World Library of Sacred Music in 1950 and World Library Publications in 1957. These organizations have been primary distributors of music for the Mass in the U.S. and beyond. Westendorf was also known for his lectures and seminars on sacred music, consultations on liturgical music, and as a hymn writer. UM Hymnal editor Carlton Young notes that Westendorf’s “People’s Mass Book, 1964, 1966, 1970, 1976, was the first vernacular hymn and service book to implement the Catholic liturgies decreed by Vatican Council II. He wrote Music Lessons for the Man in the Pew to teach the art of sight reading choral music.”
One of the prominent features of Catholic hymns from this era is a memorable and singable refrain. For example, think of how easily congregations learn the refrain by Catholic musician Daniel Schutte, “Here I Am, Lord.” “You satisfy the hungry heart” has an equally memorable refrain, though more reflective. The refrain evokes the agrarian image of “finest wheat,” the source of bread, a primary staple that sustains life. The hymn writer first addresses Christ directly in the second person, implying an intimate relationship, and offers a petition to Christ to “give to us... the bread of life to eat.”
The hymn is replete with biblical references. The refrain echoes John 6:25-37, a passage where Christ develops the imagery of bread and says, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger.” Stanza one focuses on the metaphor of Christ as shepherd drawn from several passages, but especially from John 10. Stanza three is almost a direct quotation of I Corinthians 10:16-17: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ. The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” The final stanza sites the selfless and self-giving gift of Christ reminding us of Philippians 2:5-11, a creedal hymn of the early church.
You satisfy the hungry heart with gift of finest wheat.
Come give to us, O saving Lord, the bread of life to eat.
As when the shepherd calls his sheep, they know and heed his voice;
so when you call your family, Lord, we follow and rejoice.
With joyful lips we sing to you our praise and gratitude
that you should count us worthy, Lord, to share this heavenly food.
Is not the cup we bless and share the blood of Christ outpoured?
Do not one cup, one loaf, declare our oneness in the Lord?
The mystery of your presence, Lord, no mortal tongue can tell:
whom all the world cannot contain comes in our hearts to dwell.
You give yourself to us, O Lord; then selfless let us be,
to serve each other in your name in truth and charity.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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