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:
Chorale Prelude on Schmucke dich - Charles Callahan
(c.2008, Birnamwood Publications, div of Morningstar)
"Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele" ("Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness", literally: Adorn yourself, O dear soul) is a Lutheran hymn in German, with lyrics by Johann Franck and a melody by Johann Crüger from 1649. It is a song for Lutheran Communion, and first appeared in 1649 in Crüger's hymnal Geistliche Kirchen-Melodien, later also in the 1653 edition of his Praxis pietatis melica. The hymn was often set to music to be played or sung under communion. A translation by Catherine Winkworth, "Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness" of 1858, appears in 100 hymnals. The hymn is a song for Abendmahl, the Lutheran Communion. The hymn lyrics were written in nine stanzas by Johann Franck, who was not a minister but a politician and mayor, between 1646 and 1653. Franck compared the unity between Jesus and a Christian receiving communion to the closeness of bridegroom and bride. With a melody by Johann Crüger from 1649, the song appeared first in Crüger's hymnal Geistliche Kirchen-Melodien (Sacred church melodies) of 1649, and was included, now in nine stanzas in his Praxis pietatis melica in the 1653 edition.
Soul, adorn yourself with gladness, leave the gloomy haunts of sadness;
come into the daylight's splendour, there with joy thy praises render
unto him whose grace unbounded hath this wondrous banquet founded:
high o'er all the heavens he reigneth, yet to dwell with thee he deigneth.
Hasten as a bride to meet Him, And with loving rev'rence greet Him.
for with words of life immortal He is knocking at your portal.
Open wide the gates before Him, Saying, as you there adore Him:
Grant, Lord, that I now receive You, That I nevermore will leave You.
He who craves a precious treasure Neither cost nor pain will measure;
But the priceless gifts of heaven God to us has freely given.
Though the wealth of earth were proffered, None could buy the gifts here offered:
Christ's true body, for you riven, And His blood, for you once given.
Now I sink before thee lowly, filled with joy most deep and holy,
as with trembling awe and wonder on thy mighty works I ponder:
how, by mystery surrounded, depth no mortal ever sounded,
none may dare to pierce unbidden secrets that with thee are hidden.
Sun, who all my life dost brighten, light, who dost my soul enlighten,
joy, the sweetest heart e'er knoweth, fount, whence all my being floweth,
at thy feet I cry, my Maker, let me be a fit partaker
of this blessed food from heaven, for our good, thy glory, given.
Jesus, Bread of Life, I pray thee, let me gladly here obey thee;
never to my hurt invited, be thy love with love requited:
from this banquet let me measure, Lord, how vast and deep its treasure;
through the gifts thou here dost give me, as thy guest in heaven receive me.
Jesus, sun of life, my splendor, Jesus, friend of friends, most tender,
Jesus, joy of my desiring, Fount of life, my soul inspiring:
At Your feet I cry, my maker, Let me be a fit partaker
Of this blessèd food from heaven, For our good, Your glory, given.
Lord, by love and mercy driven, You once left Your throne in heaven
On the cross for me to languish And to die in bitter anguish.
To forego all joy and gladness And to shed Your blood in sadness.
By this blood redeemed and living, Lord, I praise You with thanksgiving.
Charles Callahan (b. 1951) is one of America’s leading organist-composers. A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, he is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Catholic University of America. In recognition of his service to the church and his commissioned compositions for Papal visits to the U.S., he was awared the Papal Honor of Knighthood in the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 1999. In addition to compositions and performances, Charles Callahan is a noted educator and author whose two books on American organ-building have become standard reference works.
Plein Jeu a la Couperin - Gordon Young
(c.1963, Harold Flammer, Inc.)
The French organ school formed in the first half of the 17th century. It progressed from the strict polyphonic music of Jean Titelouze (c. 1563–1633) to a unique, richly ornamented style with its own characteristic forms that made full use of the French classical organ. Instrumental in establishing this style were Louis Couperin (c. 1626–1661), who experimented with structure, registration and melodic lines, expanding the traditional polyphonic forms, and Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers (1632–1714), who established the distinct forms and styles of what was to become the French organ tradition.
Many pieces in this tradition use the desired registration (combination of stops/sounds used) as a title. One of these is the Plein jeu, which is combination of the organ's principals and flutes, with the mixtures also included - basically a full organ sound. Young has written this piece as a Plein Jeu in the style of Louis Couperin.
Gordon Young (1919-1998) was born in McPherson, Kansas, and during his lifetime was recognized as one of this country's great church organists. He was a prolific and talented composer for both organ and choir, with nearly 1000 published works. During the course of his career, he was a radio organist in Tulsa, a music critic and columnist for daily newspapers in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, and choirmaster in churches in Philadelphia and Kansas City. Mr. Young taught organ in conjunction with Wayne State University and for 15 years was organist and choir director at the First Presbyterian Church in Detroit.
About the Handbell Music:
Hymn Medley for Handbells:
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee; How Great Thou Art; Amazing Grace
Ron Anderson
"The Hymn of Joy" (often called "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" after the first line) is a poem written by Henry van Dyke in 1907 with the intention of musically setting it to the famous "Ode to Joy" melody of the final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's final symphony, Symphony No. 9. Van Dyke wrote this poem in 1907 while staying at the home of Williams College president Harry Augustus Garfield. He was serving as a guest preacher at Williams at the time. He told his host that the local Berkshire Mountains had been his inspiration. The lyrics were first published in 1911 in Van Dyke's Book of Poems.
Van Dyke wrote of this hymn: “These verses are simple expressions of common Christian feelings and desires in this present time—hymns of today that may be sung together by people who know the thought of the age, and are not afraid that any truth of science will destroy religion, or any revolution on earth overthrow the kingdom of heaven. Therefore this is a hymn of trust and joy and hope.” This hymn is generally considered by hymnologists to be one of the most joyous expressions of hymn lyrics in the English language.
Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) chaired the committee that wrote the first Presbyterian printed liturgy, The Book of Common Worship of 1906. In 1908–09 Dr. van Dyke was an American lecturer at the University of Paris. By appointment of President Wilson, a friend and former classmate of van Dyke, he became Minister to the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1913. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and received many other honors. Among his popular writings are the two Christmas stories, The Other Wise Man (1896) and The First Christmas Tree (1897). Various religious themes of his work are also expressed in his poetry, hymns and the essays collected in Little Rivers (1895) and Fisherman’s Luck (1899).
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee, Op’ning to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, Fill us with the light of day!
All Thy works with joy surround Thee, Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, Center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain Call us to rejoice in Thee.
Thou art giving and forgiving, Ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living, Ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, All who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, Lift us to the joy divine.
Mortals, join the happy chorus, Which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, Brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, Victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward In the triumph song of life.
"How Great Thou Art" is a based on a Swedish poem written by Carl Gustav Boberg (1859–1940) in Sweden in 1885. “O Store Gud” (O Great God) is a paraphrase of Psalm 8 and has nine verses. It was sung in the underground church in Sweden in the late 1800s when the Baptists and Mission Friends were persecuted. Boberg himself gave the following information about his inspiration for this hymn:
It was that time of year when everything seemed to be in its richest colouring;; the birds were singing in trees and everywhere. It was very warm; a thunderstorm appeared on the horizon and soon thunder and lightning. We had to hurry to shelter. But the storm was soon over and the clear sky appeared. When I came home I opened my window toward the sea. There evidently had been a funeral and the bells were playing the tune of “When eternity’s clock calling my saved soul to its Sabbath rest”. That evening, I wrote the song, “O Store Gud”.
Boberg first published "O Store Gud" in the “Mönsterås Tidningen” (Mönsterås News) on 13 March 1886.The poem became matched to an old Swedish folk tune and sung in public for the first known occasion in a church in the Swedish province of Värmland in 1888. It was soon published in additional hymn collections and was translated into German and Russian.
British Methodist missionary Stuart Wesley Keene Hine (1899-1989) heard the Russian translation of the German version of the song while on an evangelistic mission to the Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine, near the Polish border, in 1931. Upon hearing it, Hine was inspired to create his English paraphrase known as “How Great Thou Art". According to Michael Ireland, "Hine and his wife, Edith, learned the Russian translation, and started using it in their evangelistic services. Hine also started re-writing some of the verses --- and writing new verses (all in Russian) --- as events inspired him." Hine finalized his English translation in 1949.
When the Billy Graham team went to London in 1954 for the Harringay Crusade, they were given a pamphlet containing Hine's work. They worked closely with Hine to prepare the song for use in their campaigns. They sang it in the 1955 Toronto campaign, but it didn't really catch on until they took it to the Madison Square Garden in 1957. According to Cliff Barrows (Dr. Graham's longtime associate), they sang it one hundred times during that campaign because the people wouldn't let them stop.
George Beverly Shea's recording of the beloved hymn ranks number 204 on the top recordings of the 20th century according to the Recording Industry Association of America. It was voted the United Kingdom's favourite hymn by BBC's Songs of Praise.[2] "How Great Thou Art" was ranked second (after "Amazing Grace") on a list of the favorite hymns of all time in a survey by Today's Christian magazine in 2001.
Evangelist Billy Graham indicated: “The reason I like 'How Great Thou Art' is because it glorifies God. It turns Christian’s eyes toward God, rather than upon themselves. I use it as often as possible because it is such a God-honoring song.”
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze,
And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die - I scarce can take it in.
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And there proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
"Amazing Grace" was written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton (1725–1807). With the message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of sins committed and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God, "Amazing Grace" is one of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world.
Newton wrote the words from personal experience. He grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his life's path was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by his recalcitrant insubordination. He was drafted into the Royal Navy, and after leaving the service became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm battered his vessel so severely that he called out to God for mercy, a moment that marked his spiritual conversion. However, he continued his slave trading career until 1754 or 1755, when he ended his seafaring altogether and began studying Christian theology.
Ordained in the Church of England in 1764, Newton became curate of Olney, Buckinghamshire, where he began to write hymns with poet William Cowper. "Amazing Grace" was written to illustrate a sermon on New Year's Day of 1773. It was first printed in 1779 in Newton and Cowper's Olney Hymns, but settled into relative obscurity in England. In the United States however, "Amazing Grace" was used extensively during the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century. It has been associated with more than 20 melodies, but in 1835 it was joined to a tune named "New Britain" to which it is most frequently sung today.
The melody sung to John Newton’s 1779 hymn “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound” is, without a doubt, America’s best-loved hymn tune. Unlike Lowell Mason’s “Nearer, my God, to thee,” the “Amazing grace” tune is of unknown origin. It first appeared in print in 1829 without any composer attribution, and there were thought to be no earlier surviving instances of the tune. However, an 1828 manuscript by Lucius Chapin (1760-1842), who was famous in his day as a hymn tune writer, raises the possibility that Lucius was its composer.
Lucius and his brother Amzi (1768-1835) were among the first and most influential composers to harmonize American folk hymns, using principles they had absorbed from New England and English church music, and perhaps from the oral tradition as well. They also composed hymns in a similar style. The brothers came from a large, musical Massachusetts family. Their mother was an exceptional singer, though she did not read music, and two of their brothers also became singing masters. Lucius and Amzi moved south and west as young men and taught singing schools throughout their lives. In 1828, Lucius was living in central Kentucky and Amzi in western Pennsylvania. The 1828 manuscript was mentioned in passing in James Scholten’s 1972 dissertation on Lucius and Amzi Chapin. On July 25, 1828, Lusius’ son Cephas died from typhus in Oxford, Ohio en route home to visit his parents. There are three tender expressions of paternal love and grief on the back of Cephas’ last letter penned there by Lucius, the tunes AMAZING GRACE and BRAINARD and a brief poem.
The familiar melody had a number of titles in its early publications: ST. MARY’S, GALLAHER, HARMONY GROVE (Shenandoah Harmony), NEW BRITAIN (Sacred Harp), and more. The one title it did not have was AMAZING GRACE, though that title was used for at least two other melodies. The tune wasn’t paired with Newton’s text until 1835. The great nineteenth-century scholar W.E. Chute (1832-1900) attributed the melody to the Chapins.
It is possible that NEW BRITAIN was added to the manuscript after 1828, or copied from a source that does not survive. However, the version here doesn’t exactly match any tune found, either published or in manuscript, in Nikos Pappas’ exhaustive index of over 60,000 early American hymn tunes (1700-1870). It is closest to the tune ST. MARY’S found in Shaw and Spilman’s Columbian Harmony (1829) [4]. Like Lucius, Shaw and Spilman lived in central Kentucky.
Even if Lucius were the first to notate the tune, the concept of “authorship” in this repertoire is difficult. Composers felt free to write arrangements of popular sacred or secular melodies in oral tradition and publish them, either as unattributed tunes or with their own names attached. They also made their own versions of tunes in books or manuscripts, appropriated and rearranged European classical music, and composed music from scratch in a folk idiom.
If Lucius didn’t compose NEW BRITAIN, then who did? The basic structure of the tune is ancient. NEW BRITAIN is a folk hymn—a sacred melody that existed, in some form, in oral tradition prior to being notated. It belongs to a recognized “tune family,” or group of tunes, sacred or secular, that share enough structure and melodic phrases that they seem to be descended from a common root. Other related tunes include Amzi Chapin’s TWENTY-FOURTH (written in the 1790s) and, more distantly, the African-American spiritual “Swing low, sweet chariot” (published in 1873, but definitely older). The folk hymn CONSOLATION (attributed to the Chapins when first published in 1812) has the same contour, but is in the minor mode. However, just because a tune is a folk hymn doesn’t mean that there wasn’t an originator for a particular variant of the tune family. There were at least ten slightly different versions of NEW BRITAIN written down from 1828 to 1840 in Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Three of these were from central Kentucky. This argues for oral transmission, but the fact that each version differs from the others only in the amount of ornamentation notated suggests that one person, perhaps an itinerant preacher or singing master, was the “vector” that spread the tune through this area in the late 1820s to 1830s.
Another interesting story, though tangential, is the Chapin family’s connection to the antislavery movement. If you’ve read the story of John Newton (the author of the words to “Amazing Grace”), you know that he was the captain of a slave ship who later rejected his past and advocated against slavery. The Chapin family lived in central Kentucky and some of their neighbors owned slaves, though there weren’t large plantations in the area. However, the diary of Cephas’ sister Harriet survives, and she was profoundly antislavery, though as a woman she didn’t have power to make decisions about her household. She thanks God that her father is “an Emancipator.” I don’t know if that means that he had slaves and set them free or if he didn’t believe in slavery and never owned slaves. Harriet considered it her duty to educate the two young African-Americans who worked for the family, an act that would have been illegal in many states. Harriet died in 1827, just a year before Cephas.
In general, the early revivals in Kentucky were far more democratic than were churches later in the 19th century. Both white women and African-Americans—even slaves—were called on to testify and even preach, and everyone participated in group singing, which was one of the hallmarks of these revivals. So the fact that this particular tune, whoever wrote it, is often associated with black spirituals and related to “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” is not surprising, as it was first popular in a mixed environment.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind but now I see.
Shout, shout for glory, Shout, shout aloud for glory;
Brother, sister, mourner, All shout glory hallelujah.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!
Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come:
'tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me, his word my hope secures;
he will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail, and mortal life shall cease:
I shall possess, within the veil, a life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine;
but God, who called me here below, will be forever mine.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we’d first begun.
About the Vocal Solo Music:
Come Share the Lord - Roland Tabell
(c.1988, Fred Bock Music Company)
Some hymns seem to flow immediately from the author’s pen, while others require months of gestation. The latter is the case with “Come, Share the Lord,” by Bryan Jeffery Leech (b. 1931), who wrote both text and music.
The composer is a native of Buckhurst Hill, Essex, England, who moved to the United States in 1955. His communion hymn, “Come, Share the Lord,” has become not only his most frequently used hymn, but also a favorite hymn during the Lord’s Supper, especially among evangelical congregations.
Mr. Leech provides us with a background on his struggle to compose the text of this hymn: “In the autumn of 1982, I made an inner resolve to write a communion anthem and promptly forgot about it. During Christmas with my family in England, I invented a melody at the piano, but my mind was barren of any lyric ideas. One hot summer day, while visiting a musician friend in Simi Valley, Calif., I played the setting and asked him to react to it. After repeating it, he thought a moment and then said, ‘It’s obvious: Holy Communion.’ I went home and within an hour the words were complete. In the anthem arrangement by Roland Tabell it has become my most popular song to date.”
In reflecting on the text, the author’s theology of communion unfolds. Sharing the Lord’s Supper is a response to the “burning in our hearts” for the love of Christ who “makes us one.” We find that this is an open table where “No one is a stranger” and “everyone belongs.” Furthermore, this is a table where we “find... forgiveness” and “we in turn forgive all wrongs.” The author places this celebration in the context of the post-Resurrection appearances of Christ with his followers. The second stanza begins with a reflection on passages like Luke 24:13-27 (the appearance of Christ on the road to Emmaus) and the multiple post-Resurrection appearances in John 20 and 21: “He joins us here, he breaks the bread/ the Lord who pours the cup is risen from the dead.”
Bryan Jeffrey Leech received his education at The London Bible College in England, and at Barrington College in Massachusetts and North Park Seminary in Chicago. He was ordained in 1959 in the Evangelical Covenant denomination, and has served pastorates in Massachusetts, New Jersey and California. Mr. Leech is pastor emeritus at First Covenant Church in Oakland, Calif. He has composed over 500 songs, hymns, anthems and cantatas.
He was co-editor for the evangelical collection, Hymns for the Family of God, and author of the book, Lift My Spirits Lord: Prayers of a Struggling Christian. He is also the creator of the lyrics, books and musical scores for several biblically based musical plays, and has written two books for children.
Roland Tabell (1934-2016) graduated from Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College. After serving two years in the Army, he completed a master of music degree and did doctoral studies in church and choral music at the University of Southern California. Tabell served as minister of music and worship at Pasadena Covenant Church for 38 years until his retirement in 1999. He also served on the Covenant’s Commission on Church Music and Worship, helping produce the silver songbook, The Song Goes On, and on the Hymnal Commission, which produced The Covenant Hymnal: A Worshipbook in 1996.
He is credited with arranging 17 of the selections in the hymnal, including “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” “How Can I Keep from Singing?” and “Come, Share the Lord.” Roland published more than 30 choral arrangements and compositions, many created with Bryan Jeffery Leech. Together they also produced two musical dramas, “A Tale of Two Brothers” (the Prodigal Son story) and “Resurrection,” which was recorded with singers from Pasadena Covenant Church along with members of the London Symphony Orchestra. Roland’s musical gifts were eclectic. Throughout his ministry, he was committed to inclusivity and creativity. He could move easily between Vivaldi and Hillsong, hymns and contemporary choruses, always choosing the richest texts and enhancing them with his arrangements.
We gather here in Jesus' name,
His love is burning in our hearts like living flame.
For through His loving Son the Father makes us one.
Come take the bread, come drink the wine, Come share the Lord.
We'll gather soon where angels sing,
We'll see the glory of our Lord and coming King.
Now we anticipate the feast for which we wait.
Come take the bread, come drink the wine, Come share the Lord.
For He will feed us with His presence here,
This bread and wine will do us good.
Our deepest hungers He will satisfy,
For He is life and peace and rest and drink and food.
He joins us here, He breaks the bread.
The Lord who pours the cup is risen from the dead.
The One we love the most is now our gracious host.
Come take the bread, come drink the wine. Come share the Lord.
No one is a stranger here, Ev'ryone belongs.
Finding our forgiveness here, We in turn forgive all wrongs.
We are now the family Of which the Lord is head.
Though unseen He meets us here In the breaking of the bread.
We gather here in Jesus' name,
His love is burning in our hearts like living flame.
For through His loving Son the Father makes us one.
Come take the bread, come drink the wine, Come share the Lord.
Come take the bread, come drink the wine, Come share the Lord.
About the Hymns:
O Blessed Spring
(words: c.1993, Susan Palo Cherwien, admin Augsburg; music: c.1972, Hope Publishing)
The images of “O Blessed Spring” draw the singer into the seasons of life with warmth and beauty. Many hymns have a theological treatise to prove. Each stanza advances information like a legal case that culminates in a closing argument in the final stanza. By contrast, each stanza of “O Blessed Spring” unfolds like a bud into a blossom. The singer comes to the final stanza, not with the triumph of a well-made theological argument, but with a sense of wonder that comes from glimpsing sacred mystery.
The concept of the Tree of Life is pervasive around the world. The writer carefully distinguishes between the mythology associated with the Tree of Life theme throughout the ages and the Christian understanding of Christ the Vine and source of life from which we grow. Many religious traditions as ancient as pre-Islamic Persia, ancient Egypt, ancient Armenia, and Assyria include symbols of the Tree of Life. Buddhism has the tradition of the Bodhi tree under which the Buddha sat when he attained Enlightenment.
Within the Christian tradition, one must distinguish between the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in Genesis 2-3 where the fall of humanity took place, and the Tree of Life, a symbol of Christ himself. More recently, Pope Benedict XVI has said, “The Cross is the true tree of life.”
A baptismal image was the source for “O Blessed Spring.” Susan Palo Cherwien (b. 1953) describes her inspiration: “Above the baptismal font in Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Minneapolis hangs a striking bronze sculpture by the late Paul Granlund, a sculpture which embodies the image of John 15:5 ‘I am the vine; you are the branches.’ Granlund cast a tree with four branches depicting the four ages of human life, with Christ as the central trunk. This bronze provided the structure for the text ‘O Blessed Spring,’ the words of which are woven around a central Christ image.”
In stanza two of the hymn, Mrs. Cherwien equates the “summer heat” with “youthful years” and “uncertain faith, rebellious tears.” During the season of autumn (stanza three), the limbs of the tree are ripe with “heavy harvest.” This season offers “beauty, wisdom, love.” Stanza four explores the season of winter where “We breathe our last, return to dust.” Yet, “in Christ, our souls take wing”; thus the lifecycle is complete in the “promise of spring.” The final stanza introduces a baptismal, sacramental tone, the original inspiration of the hymn, in “this blest mystery” as “Word and water thus revive And join us to your Tree of Life”.
Mrs. Cherwien is a freelance writer and musician. She received her bachelor’s degree in church music and voice from Wittenberg University, her Abschlussprüfung (final examination) in voice from the Hochschule der Künste Berlin, and a Master of Liberal Studies from Mundelein College, where she focused on spirituality, ritual, and the arts.
Susan Palo Cherwien has written numerous hymn texts that appear in increasing frequency since 2000 in denominational hymnals in the United States and Canada. Her hymn texts are available from Augsburg Fortress in two collections, O Blessed Spring: Hymn Texts of Susan Palo Cherwien (1997) and Come, Beloved of the Maker (2010), as well as a compilation of vocal solos, To God Will I Sing: Vocal Solos for the Church Year (2001). She has other books of worship meditations and home devotions and articles on worship and music published in several journals. Recent publications include Crossings: Meditations for Worship (2003) and From Glory into Glory: Reflections for Worship (2009).
The melody is an adaptation of the beautiful folk melody "O Waly, Waly" by Hal Hopson. The original tune was collected by American folksong specialist Cecil Sharp and published in his Folk Songs from Somerset (1906).
O blessed spring, where Word and sign Embrace us into Christ the Vine:
Here Christ enjoins each one to be A branch of this life-giving Tree.
Through summer heat of youthful years, Uncertain faith, rebellious tears,
Sustained by Christ’s infusing rain, The boughs will shout for joy again.
When autumn cools and youth is cold, When limbs their heavy harvest hold,
Then through us, warm, the Christ will move With gifts of beauty, wisdom, love.
As winter comes, as winters must, We breathe our last, return to dust;
Still held in Christ, our souls take wing And trust the promise of the spring.
Christ, holy Vine, Christ, living Tree, Be praised for this blest mystery:
That Word and water thus revive And join us to your Tree of Life.
The Lily of the Valley
"The Lily of the Valley" ("I've Found a Friend in Jesus") was written by William Charles Fry (1837–1882) in London for the Salvation Army. Fry and his family were members of the Salvation Army organization founded by William Booth which was then in crisis. It is recorded that Fry did not like the abuse he saw hurled at the Salvation Army when they established their ministry in 1878 in Salisbury, where the Fry family lived. Mr. Fry, who was a bricklayer, and his three sons offered to serve as bodyguards for the Salvation Army workers. The next day the four men arrived with their “weapons". These weapons consisted of two cornets, a trombone and a small tuba. In between fighting off the troublemakers, the Fry men played, and their music attracted a crowd for the Salvation Army preachers. This was the first Salvation Army brass band with Mr. Fry as the leader of the band as inscribed on his grave stone.
Fry took the term "Lily of the Valley" from the book of Song of Solomon 2:1: “I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley”. He used this verse of Scripture to represent the message of the preacher William Booth to the people during the protests of 1881 describing a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus. Those words were first published in the December 29, 1881, edition of the Salvation Army national magazine, the War Cry. Charles Fry died the year after publishing the hymn in Park Hall, Polmont, Scotland. American evangelist Ira D. Sankey adapted Fry's words to the music of "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" composed in 1871 by Will Hays for a secular minstrel show and gave it the hymn tune SALVATIONIST.
I have found a friend in Jesus, He's everything to me
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul
The lily of the valley and in Him alone I see
All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole
In sorrow He's my comfort, in trouble He's my stay
He tells me every care on Him to roll
He's the lily of the valley, He's the bright and morning star
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul
He all my grief has taken and all my sorrows borne
In temptation, He's my strong and mighty tower
I have all for Him forsaken and all my idols torn
From my heart and now I know He'll keep me by His power
Though all the world forsake me and old Satan he tempts me sore
Through Jesus I shall safely reach that goal
He's the lily of the valley, He's the bright and morning star
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul
He will never never leave me nor yet forsake me here
While I live by faith and do His blessed will
It's a wall of fire about me, but I've nothing now to fear
With His manna He my hungry soul is gonna fill
Then I'll go sweeping up to Glory to see His blessed face
Where rivers of delight shall ever roll
He's the lily of the valley, He's the bright and morning star
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul
God Be with You till We Meet Again
“God Be With You Till We Meet Again”, which was written by Jeremiah Eames Rankin’s (1828-1904), was composed so his church choir could have something to sing when they parted each week. Rankin, a congregational minister and later the president of Howard University (Washington D.C.), was a prolific hymn writer and preacher. Rankin was the minister for the First Congregational Church in Washington, D.C. and said this about the hymn, “Written…as a Christian goodbye, it was called forth by no person or occasion, but was deliberately composed as a Christian hymn on basis of the etymology of “goodbye,” which is “God be with you.” He got the idea for the first stanza of the song when he saw the dictionary definition of “good-bye” was short for “God be with you.” While Rankin was responsible for writing the lyrics, William Tomer, who was the music director at Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, composed the music.
The hymn became the official closing song for the Christian Endeavor Convention. Dr. Rankin said: “It has had no sweeter recognition than that given it by its adoption by the Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor. Long, long, may they sing it!”
During the war, many postcards were printed with hymn lyrics to help soldiers in battle feel at ease. One such postcard was a colorful picture of soldiers going to battle with the following verse: “God be with you till we meet again; keep love’s banner floating o’er you, smite death’s threatening wave before you; God be with you till we meet again.”
The original hymn had eight verses and first appeared in the collection Gospel Bells (1880), Rankin’s (1828-1904) text is often amended to include a refrain, mimicking the style and content of other hymns used to close camp meetings, revivals, or sung on the occasion of the departure of a church leader to a new assignment. This practice of singing a goodbye may also be linked to the history of shaped-note singing schools concluding with a goodbye or farewell song.
God be with you till we meet again; By His counsels guide, uphold you,
With His sheep securely fold you; God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again; Neath His wings protecting hide you;
Daily manna still provide you; God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again; With the oil of joy anoint you;
Sacred ministries appoint you; God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again; When life’s perils thick confound you;
Put His arms unfailing round you; God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again; Of His promises remind you;
For life’s upper garner bind you; God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again; Sicknesses and sorrows taking,
Never leaving or forsaking; God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again; Keep love’s banner floating o’er you,
Strike death’s threatening wave before you; God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again; Ended when for you earth’s story,
Israel’s chariot sweep to glory; God be with you till we meet again.
Till we meet, till we meet, Till we meet at Jesus’ feet;
Till we meet, till we meet, God be with you till we meet again.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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