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:
Adoro te devote - Everett Titcomb
(c.1943, B. F. Wood Music Co.)
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest, who was an immensely influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known within the scholastic tradition as the Doctor Angelicus, the Doctor Communis, and the Doctor Universalis. The name Aquinas identifies his ancestral origins in the county of Aquino in present-day Lazio, Italy. Among other things, he was a prominent proponent of natural theology and the father of a school of thought (encompassing both theology and philosophy) known as Thomism. He argued that God is the source of both the light of natural reason and the light of faith. He has been described as the most influential thinker of the medieval period and the greatest of the medieval philosopher-theologians. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy is derived from his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, and political theory.
Unlike many currents in the Catholic Church of the time, Thomas embraced several ideas put forward by Aristotle—whom he called "the Philosopher"—and attempted to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity. His best-known works are the Disputed Questions on Truth (1256–1259), the Summa contra Gentiles (1259–1265), and the unfinished but massively influential Summa Theologica, or Summa Theologiae (1265–1274). His commentaries on Scripture and on Aristotle also form an important part of his body of work. Furthermore, Thomas is distinguished for his eucharistic hymns, which form a part of the church's liturgy. The Catholic Church honors Thomas Aquinas as a saint and regards him as the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood, and indeed the highest expression of both natural reason and speculative theology. In modern times, under papal directives, the study of his works was long used as a core of the required program of study for those seeking ordination as priests or deacons, as well as for those in religious formation and for other students of the sacred disciplines (philosophy, Catholic theology, church history, liturgy, and canon law). Pope Benedict XV declared: "This (Dominican) Order ... acquired new luster when the Church declared the teaching of Thomas to be her own and that Doctor, honored with the special praises of the Pontiffs, the master and patron of Catholic schools.”
Adoro te devote is one of five beautiful hymns St. Thomas Aquinas composed in honor of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament at Pope Urban IV's (1261-1264) request when the Pope first established the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264. The hymn is found in the Roman Missal as a prayer of thanksgiving after Mass.
Everett Titcomb (1884-1968) served as organist/choir director at St. John the Evangelist in Boston for over 50 years. In that capacity, he wrote many choral works and a few organ pieces. Much of his output is based on Gregorian chant themes. Titcomb's compositions and writings are the products of a life lived in New England, mainly in Amesbury and Boston. Because the innovations that came about from the Oxford movement reached that part of this country first, Titcomb was one of the first church musicians to become involved with its innovations.
The paraphrase of the Latin text found in our hymnal is:
Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face;
Here would I touch and handle things unseen,
Here grasp with firmer hand eternal grace,
And all my weariness upon thee lean.
Here would I feed upon the bread of God,
here drink with Thee the royal wine of heav'n;
here would we lay aside each earthly load,
here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiv'n.
This is the hour of banquet and of song;
this is the heav'nly table spread for me;
here let me feast, and feasting, still prolong
the brief, bright hour of fellowship with Thee.
Too soon we rise, the symbols disappear;
the feast, though not the love, is past and done;
gone are the bread and wine, but Thou art here,
nearer than ever, still my Shield and Sun.
Feast after feast thus comes, and passes by;
yet passing, points to the glad feast above;
giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy,
the Lamb's great bridal feast of bliss and love.
Psalm 149 (All Saints' Day) - Emma Lou Diemer
(c.1999, Sacred Music Press)
Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927) has written many works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, keyboard, voice, chorus (women's, men's), and electronic media. Diemer is a keyboard performer and over the years has given concerts of her own organ works at Washington National Cathedral, The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, Grace Cathedral and St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco, and others. Diemer's compositional style over the years has varied from tonal to atonal, from traditional to experimental. She has written works for non-professional and professional performers, originally under the "Gebrauchsmusik" philosophy, but has produced many works, particularly for keyboard, that are difficult and challenging. She was professor of theory and composition at the University of Maryland 1965-70, and joined the faculty of the University of California (UCSB) in 1971. She is professor emeritus, 1991–present. While at UCSB, Diemer helped to establish the computer/electronic music program.
Diemer’s inspiration for this piece is Psalm 149, a text for All Saints’.
Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;
To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints.
Praise ye the Lord.
About the Piano Music:
Remembrance (Prayer of Remembering) - Heather Sorenson
(c.2016, Hal Leonard Corp.)
Heather Sorenson entered the church music industry in her twenties, and her name quickly became a welcomed fixture in the publishing world. Diversity is the characteristic that makes Heather somewhat of an anomaly in the industry: she easily maneuvers both the traditional and contemporary genres of Christian music, often combining the two for a unique blend that has become her artistic fingerprint. Initially recognized for her skill as a pianist, Heather is now known for her compositions in choral anthems, solo piano collections, and orchestrations. She taught all elementary levels of music at Grace Academy of Dallas for 4 years, served as an adjunct music professor at Baylor University, and has served on many master class panels in piano and songwriting. Heather regularly is a guest speaker and conductor at churches across America and leads scores of sessions each year at various worship conferences, schools, and universities. Heather makes her home in the Dallas, TX area with her beloved (and very vocal) beagle, Lucy.
God of compassion,
when I feel helpless in my grief,
hold me to your heart.
God of gentleness,
in those moments when life is dark,
keep me close to you.
God of comfort,
when I am overcome with sadness,
shelter me under your wings.
Ever-faithful God,
help me to find reassurance
in these words of hope to all your people -
"Because you are precious to me,
because I love you,
there is no need to be afraid,
for I am with you." (Isaiah 43)
Amen.
— Margaret Lillis
About the Choral Music:
We Are the Church - Lee Dengler
(c.2013 Alfred Music)
Lee Dengler received a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from West Chester University School of Music in West Chester, PA. He studied choral composition and arranging with Alice Parker at Westminster Choir College as well as in her home in New England where he participated in the Melodious Accord Fellowship program. Lee and his wife, Susan, live in Goshen, Indiana where they are Ministers of Music and Arts at College Mennonite Church. He directs the Goshen Community Chorale. Composing has always been a passion for Lee, beginning very early in life. Lee grew up in a Mennonite church in eastern Pennsylvania where four-part a cappella congregational hymn singing was the norm. This planted in him a deep love for singing. This love continues to be an influence in his writing today. Lee composes a wide range of choral, vocal and piano works and has over 220 works.
The text is by Joseph D. Rojahn (1928-2017). Rojahn received a BA in Social Studies and Spanish from Lebanon Valley College, and in 1956, a Master’s Degree from Penn State University. He began his teaching career in Wintertown School District before moving to Loganville-Springfield Elementary School in Dallastown after receiving elementary certification in 1954 from Millersville State College. Joseph served as curriculum coordinator and director of federal program for Dallastown Area School District from 1959 to 1985, after which he was a member of adjunct faculty at York College of Pennsylvania until 2006. Rojahn was Children’s Director at Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Dallastown for 25 years, and also served as music coordinator and sang in the choir since he was 16 years old. A proud member of the American Society of Composers and Publishers, he also worked as a lyricist for several publishing companies, and had 91 choral works published. A devoted patriot, Joe served his country in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was also a life member of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, National Education Association, the Red Lion Masonic Lodge and the Dallastown Golden Age Chorus.
We are the church, a fellowship divine.
In one accord, we share the bread and wine!
We are the church, ordained by God above;
saved by His grace united by His love!
We are the church.
We are the church of Christ the crucified.
We bear good news, for all the world He died!
we are the church, with purpose sure and true,
to service the Lord in all we way and do!
We are the church. We are the church.
We are the church, we labor not alone.
He stands with us, our Christ the cornerstone.
We are the church, we strive to do God’s will.
Through joy or strife, He’s ever with us,
He’s ever with us still.
We are the church, inspired by saints of old.
They gave their all to see Christ’s church unfold.
Through sacrifice they labored not in vain,
bearing His cross, their loss was turned to gain.
We are the church, whatever may befall.
His cross leads on, a beacon to us all!
We are the church, by faith we live and love,
until we reach His glorious church above,
His church above! We are the church, the church!
About the Hymns:
For All the Saints
“For All the Saints” is the quintessential hymn for All Saints’ Day, with its uplifting text and triumphant music. It was written as a processional hymn by the Anglican Bishop of Wakefield, William Walsham How (1823-1879). How was educated at Shrewsbury School and Wadham College, Oxford (B.A. 1845). Taking Holy Orders in 1846, he became successively Curate of St. George's, Kidderminster, 1846; and of Holy Cross, Shrewsbury, 1848. In 1851, he moved to the Rectory of Whittington, Diocese of St. Asaph, becoming Rural Dean in 1853, and Hon. Canon of the Cathedral in 1860. In 1879. he was appointed Rector of St. Andrew's Undershaft, London, and was consecrated Suffragan Bishop for East London, under the title of the Bishop of Bedford, and in 1888 Bishop of Wakefield. In 1854, he published Psalms and Hymns, Compiled by the Rev. Thomas Baker Morrell, M.A., . . . and the Rev. William Walsham How, M.A. This was republished in an enlarged form in 1864, and to it was added a Supplement in 1867. To this collection Bishop How contributed several hymns, and also to the S. P. C. K. Church Hymns , of which he was joint editor, in 1871. Nearly 60 of Bishop How’s hymns are still in common use, the most popular of which are "For all the Saints who from their labors rest" and "We give Thee but Thine own".
Originally in eleven stanzas, “For All the Saints” was published in Earl Nelson's Hymns for Saints' Days (1864) with the heading, "Saints' Day Hymn. A Cloud of Witnesses. Heb. 12:1." The hymn was sung to the melody Sarum, by the Victorian composer Joseph Barnby, until the publication of the English Hymnal in 1906. This hymnal used a new setting by Ralph Vaughan Williams which he called Sine Nomine (literally, "without name") in reference to its use on the Feast of All Saints, 1 November (or the first Sunday in November, All Saints Sunday). It has been described as "one of the finest hymn tunes of [the 20th] century."
For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed. Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light. Alleluia, Alleluia!
For the Apostles’ glorious company,
Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,
Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee: Alleluia, Alleluia!
O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold. Alleluia, Alleluia!
For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,
Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,
Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored. Alleluia, Alleluia!
For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,
Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,
And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify. Alleluia, Alleluia!
O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine. Alleluia, Alleluia!
And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong. Alleluia, Alleluia!
The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed. Alleluia, Alleluia!
But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way. Alleluia, Alleluia!
From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost: Alleluia, Alleluia!
Rejoice in God’s Saints
Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000) gave us a fresh hymn for All Saints’ Day. Rather than elevating saints to a realm beyond the earthly, Pratt Green, in the words of Carlton Young, “describes the importance of saints and how they interact with the world.” In contrast to the “great cloud of witnesses” in Hebrews 12:2 that hover above us, Pratt Green brings these saints to our level: “A world without saints forgets how to praise.” Saints model for us the “habit of prayer” and a “depth of adoring” that we should “share.” The last half of the second stanza—“Some carry the gospel through fire and through flood / our world is their parish; their purpose is God”—is reminiscent of John Wesley’s famous declaration, “I look upon all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.”
It was written for the six-hundredth anniversary celebration of [Julian of Norwich’s] Revelations of Divine Love (1373), commissioned by the Dean of Norwich Cathedral. British hymnal editor and composer John Wilson advised Pratt Green to explore the lives and influence of the saints beyond the cloistered life, showing how saints relate to common life.
An Englishman educated at Didsbury College in Manchester, Pratt Green was ordained in the Methodist ministry in 1928, serving circuits throughout the country between 1927 and 1969. During his ministry he wrote plays and hymns and published three collections of his poems. But it was not until his retirement that Pratt Green’s hymn writing blossomed, creating over 300 hymns. Generally considered to be the leader of the “hymnic explosion” that began in the 1960s, Pratt Green’s hymns appear more often than any other 20th-century hymn writer in English language hymnals published in North America.
Green’s approach to saints is in contrast to William Walsham How’s famous hymn, “For All the Saints”, written more than 100 years earlier. How, echoing the conquests and colonization of the 19th century, drew heavily upon militaristic images of “faithful soldiers,” “victor’s crown,” “fierce strife” and “long warfare.” Images of “triumph,” “brave hearts” and “strong arms” in How’s text are replaced here with calls to prayer, patience and self-giving. Pratt Green offers an alternative to classical views of the saints that speaks to all of our experience.
Rejoice in God’s saints, today and all days;
A world without saints forgets how to praise.
Their faith in acquiring the habit of prayer,
Their depth of adoring, Lord, help us to share.
Some march with events to turn them God’s way;
Some need to withdraw, the better to pray,
Some carry the gospel through fire and through flood;
Our world is their parish; their purpose is God.
Rejoice in those saints, unpraised and unknown,
Who bear someone’s cross or shoulder their own.
They shame our complaining, our comforts, our cares;
What patience in caring, what courage, is theirs!
Rejoice in God’s saints, today and all days;
A world without saints forgets how to praise.
In loving, in living, they prove it is true:
The way of self-giving, Lord, leads us to you.
The Spirit Sends Us Forth to Serve
(c.1993, Delores Dufner, adm. OCP Pub)
“Let us bring to life and liturgy the gifts that differ . . . for the building up of our sisters and brothers into the one Body of Christ,” proclaims Delores Dufner in her introduction to her hymn collection, Sing a New Church. She actively motivates us in this collection to “Sing a new church into being, one in faith and love and praise.” Sister Dufner (b. 1939), a member of St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, Minn., has published over 155 hymns in her lifetime, much to the acclaim of Alan Hommerding who named her the foremost female Roman Catholic hymn text writer in the United States in the October 2000 issue of the journal, The Hymn.
Sr. Dufner holds master’s degrees in liturgical music and liturgical studies and is a very active member of her monastery as well as the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minn. She has received several awards throughout her lifetime for her contributions to liturgy and music following Vatican II (1962-1965), from institutions such as St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., and the University of Notre Dame. Her work has taken her to various conventions, hymn festivals and meetings throughout the United States and the world. Music consultant work has even taken her on a 15-month journey to the Diocese of Ballarat, Victoria in Australia. Several of her texts have appeared in anthems, cantatas and even an opera/oratorio by prolific contemporary composers. One of her most famous texts is “Sing a New Church,” commissioned for the 1991 convention of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians.
Her hymnody is derived from her experiences of the Roman Catholic Church during Vatican II along with her involvement with liturgy and music. Sr. Dufner writes texts that function within Catholic liturgy, as well as texts which speak centrally from the Word of God. It was her realization that the Catholic Church was in need of English texts after the Vatican II reforms which challenged her to follow in the ways of Martin Luther. She began her hymn writing by creating texts for specific public domain tunes, free of copyright restrictions.
Her texts challenge congregations to keep the church progressing into the future and have earned her a respected presence in hymnals of several denominations throughout the world. Sr. Dufner is also known for her award-winning hymn texts centered on the Virgin Mary and her passion to speak out about women’s rights and injustices.
“The Spirit Sends Us Forth to Serve,” based on Isaiah 61:1-4 and Luke 4:16-22, highlights our Christian mission here on Earth by challenging readers to live out the gospel. Sr. Dufner’s modern English writing style is simple and dynamic, calling the assembly into vibrant prayer and action. This hymn flourishes with action verbs: bring, comfort, help, serve. Sr. Dufner cleverly reiterates the first stanza through the last stanza, as she sends the congregation forth in Jesus’ name through the working of the Holy Spirit. Her texts are often paired with familiar hymn tunes, for practical purposes and to remind us as citizens of the world of our rich ecumenical heritage shared between all. We sing tunes from the past to connect us with our past, and by pairing a fresh text with a durable and loved tune, we bridge the gaps between the past and present and become active witnesses to our evolving faith and church.
LAND OF REST is an American folk tune with ballad roots from Northern England and Scotland. It is traced back to The Christian’s Harp, published in 1832, and has associations with the Appalachians as a shape note tune. Previously assigned the title NEW PROSPECT in the 1844 edition of The Sacred Harp, it was named LAND OF REST for its pairing with the hymn, “O Land of Rest! For Thee I Sigh.” Annabel Morris Buchanan is responsible for the common harmonization of this tune, as she published it in her 1938 Folk Hymns of America.
The spirit sends us forth to serve; we go in Jesus' name
to bring glad tidings to the poor, God's favor to proclaim.
We go to comfort those who mourn and set the burdened free:
where hope is dim, to share a dream and help the blind to see.
We go to be the hands of Christ, to scatter joy like seed
and all our days, to cherish life, to do the loving deed.
Then let us go to serve in peace, the Gospel to proclaim.
God's Spirit has empowered us; we go in Jesus' name.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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