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:
Adagio - Roger Nyquist
(c.1965, H. W. Gray)
Dr. Roger Nyquist (1933-2020), concert organist and composer, ws an internationally known organ virtuoso and recording artist who concertized throughout the U.S. and Europe. Born in Rockford, IL, he earned his BM Degree, cum laude, from Augustana College, his MM Degree from Syracuse University, and his DMA Degree from Indiana University. He served on the faculty of Southwestern College (Winfield, KS) and the University of California, Santa Barbara, and was Professor of Music and University Organist at Santa Clara University.
Among numerous honors, he is listed in International Who’s Who in Music, Outstanding Educators of America, and American Keyboard Artists and received the “Outstanding Achievement Award” from the Alumni Association of Augustana College for his career as concert organist and teacher. He is the composer of the frequently performed Adagio, for organ, and Alleluia, an anthem for mixed choir. In addition to his active concert career, he recorded extensively with 33 albums featuring over 220 compositions.
The following quote from Dr. Nyquist’s writings exemplifies his philosophy regarding the ability to communicate through music making: “It is the spirit of the music that remains with the listener long after the sound has subsided. The spirit of the composer co-mingles with the performer’s spirit to produce one blended spirit. When this act occurs, one hears the very essence of the music.”
Postlude on Thornbury - Charles Callahan
(c.2012, Birnamwood Publications, div. of Morningstar)
Written by English scholar and minister Edward H Plumptre (1821-91), this hymn is set to the tune ‘Thornbury’ by organist and composer Basil Harwood (1859-1949). The tune is named after the town of the same name in Gloucestershire where Harwood would often visit while out walking. Edward Plumptre first created the lyrics to the hymn as a text called "Church Defense" and published it in his Lazarus and Other Poems in the second edition in 1865. The text affirms God's faithful hand of guidance and blessing on the church, a church that has continually proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom, and that, by God's power, will ultimately be victorious in its mission. Each stanza leads directly into the powerful refrain line taken from Ephesians 4:4-5: “There is one body [the church of Christ] . . . one Lord, one faith. . . .”
Edward H. Plumptre (1821-1891) was an eminent classical and biblical scholar who gained prominence in both church and university. Educated at King's College, London, and University College, Oxford, he was ordained in the Church of England in 1846. Plumptre served as a preacher at Oxford and a professor of pastoral theology at King's College, and held a number of other prestigious positions. His writings include A Life of Bishop Ken (1888), translations from Greek and Latin classics, and poetry and hymns. Plumptre was also a member of the committee that produced the Revised Version of the Bible.
Thy hand, O God, has guided Thy flock from age to age;
The wondrous tale is written, Full clear, on every page;
Our fathers owned Thy goodness, And we their deeds record;
And both of this bear witness, “One Church, one Faith, one Lord.”
Thy heralds brought glad tidings, To greatest, as to least;
They bade men rise, and hasten To share the great King’s feast;
And this was all their teaching, In every deed and word,
To all alike proclaiming, “One Church, one Faith, one Lord.”
Through many a day of darkness, Through many a scene of strife,
The faithful few fought bravely, To guard the nation’s life,
Their Gospel of redemption, Sin pardoned, man restored,
Was all in this enfolded, “One Church, one Faith, one Lord.”
And we, shall we be faithless? Shall hearts fail, hands hang down?
Shall we evade the conflict, And cast away our crown?
Not so: in God’s deep counsels Some better thing is stored:
We will maintain, unflinching, “One Church, one Faith, one Lord.”
Thy mercy will not fail us, Nor leave Thy work undone;
With Thy right hand to help us, The victory shall be won;
And then, by men and angels, Thy Name shall be adored,
And this shall be their anthem, “One Church, one Faith, one Lord.”
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 awarded 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.
About the Vocal Solo Music:
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing - Mark Hayes
(c.2000, Alfred Publishing)
“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” was written by the 18th century pastor and hymnist Robert Robinson. Robert Robinson (1735-1790) was eight years old at the time of his father's death. He was a very bright, headstrong boy who became increasingly more difficult for his mother to handle. When Robert turned 14, she sent him to London for an apprenticeship with a barber. Robert proceeded to get into even more trouble, taking on a life of drinking and gambling.
At 17, Robert and some of his drinking buddies decided to attend an evangelistic meeting, with a plan to make fun of the proceedings. When George Whitfield began to preach, Robert felt as if the sermon was just for him. He did not respond to the altar call that night, but the words of the evangelist would haunt him for the next three years. On Dec. 10, 1755, at age 20, Robert finally yielded his life to Christ, and very soon thereafter answered a call to the ministry. Three years later, as he was preparing to preach a sermon at the Calvinist Methodist Chapel in Norfolk, England, Robert wrote “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” to complement his sermon. The music for the hymn was composed by Asahel Nettleton in 1813.
The lyrics, which dwell on the theme of divine grace, are based on 1 Samuel 7:12, in which the prophet Samuel raises a stone as a monument, saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us". The English transliteration of the name Samuel gives to the stone is Ebenezer, meaning Stone of Help. The unusual word "Ebenezer" commonly appears in hymnal presentations of the lyrics.
The tune NETTLETON first appeared as a two-part tune in John Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second(1813), where it was named HALLELUJAH. In the Index it is identified as a new tune, and no composer's name is given. The tune has been attributed by some to Asahel Nettleton (1783-1844), a well-known evangelist of the early nineteenth century, who compiled Village Hymns (1825). However, this compilation contained no music, and there is no evidence that Nettleton wrote any tunes during his life. It is not known where the tune name first appeared or who was responsible for it.
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise His name, I'm fixed upon it, name of God’s redeeming love.
Hitherto Thy love hast blest me; Thou hast brought me to this place;
And I know Thy hand will bring me safely home by Thy good grace.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, bought me with His precious blood.
Oh, to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be.
Let thy goodness like a fetter Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.
Seal it for Thy courts above.
Mark Hayes is an award-winning concert pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. His personal catalog, totaling over 1,000 published works, includes work for solo voice, solo piano, multiple pianos, orchestra, jazz combo, small instrumental ensembles, and choruses of all kinds. Mark received a Bachelor of Music degree summa cum laude in Piano Performance from Baylor University in 1975. He has conducted the SWACDA and MCDA Community and Church Honor Choir, and served as guest conductor at Carnegie Hall, featuring his Te Deum and Magnificat. In 2010, Baylor University Center for Christian Music Studies awarded Mark the Award for Exemplary Leadership in Christian Music. Mark arranged and orchestrated the music for Civil War Voices, which won six awards including "Best Musical" in the 2010 Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York. He conducted the world premiere of his work for chorus, orchestra and narrator, The American Spirit, at Lincoln Center in May 2011 and the world premiere of his Requiem in Lincoln Center in May 2013. Whether concertizing on the other side of the globe or composing at his home in Kansas City, Missouri, Mark is blessed to live out his mission "to create beautiful music for the world”.
About the Hymns:
Come and Find the Quiet Center
(c.1992, Hope Publishing)
Shirley Erena Murray (b. 1931) is a hymn text writer, born in Invercargill, New Zealand in 1931. Her texts have appeared in more than 100 collections worldwide and have been translated into several languages. She has been an editor with the New Zealand Hymnbook Trust and received international acclaim for her writing, including being made a Fellow of the Royal School of Church Music (2006) and becoming a Member of the NZ Order of Merit (2001) for services to the community through hymn writing. She is the first citizen to be so honored. Most recently, she has been honored by the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada at its July 2009 annual conference by being named a Fellow of the Society in recognition of her contributions as a hymn writer to the international community of congregational song. Her hymns and carols address a wide spectrum of themes ranging from the seasons of the Church year to human rights, care of creation, women's concerns and above all, peace. Methodist by upbringing, and ecumenical by persuasion, she has spent most of her life as a Presbyterian.
Since it was first published in 1992 and after its inclusion in The Faith We Sing (FWS) in 2000, Murray’s popular “Come and Find the Quiet Center” has become a touchstone of peace and spiritual calm for many faith communities. The text of the hymn has found its way into informational pamphlets about labyrinth walks and prayer gardens, chapel dedications, personal devotional materials, and many worship services. We are not called to live in isolation with our peace and calm but to share the fullness of life’s experiences with others on the journey. By sharing in the pain, joy and fear of life, there is a “place for deepest dreaming” and, with the Spirit, “there is always room to share.” Murray speaks of the gift of peace within the chaos but then asks us to draw strength from that peace, that connection with the Spirit, to face the challenges and triumphs of the Christian journey.
Benjamin F. White (1800-1879), was coeditor of The Sacred Harp (1844). He came from a family of fourteen children and was largely self-taught. Eventually White became a popular singing-school teacher and editor of the weekly Harris County newspaper. BEACH SPRING was first published in the 1844 edition. Paired there with a text beginning "Come, ye sinners, poor and needy," it has served as accompaniment for various other hymn texts since. Although attributed to White, the pentatonic tune is likely of folk origin.
Come and find the quiet center in the crowded life we lead,
find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:
clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see
all the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.
Silence is a friend who claims us, cools the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us, knows our being, touches base,
making space within our thinking, lifting shades to show the sun,
raising courage when we’re shrinking, finding scope for faith begun.
In the Spirit let us travel, open to each other’s pain,
let our loves and fears unravel, celebrate the space we gain:
there’s a place for deepest dreaming, there’s a time for heart to care,
in the Spirit’s lively scheming there is always room to spare!
I Have Decided to Follow Jesus
"I Have Decided to Follow Jesus" is a Christian hymn originating from India. The lyrics are based on the last words of a man in Assam, north-east India, who along with his family was converted to Christianity in the middle of the 19th century through the efforts of a Welsh missionary. The story, as related by Dr. P.P. Job, an Indian preacher, in His book “Why God Why” is as follows:
At the time, north-east India was not divided into many states as it is today. The region was known as Assam and comprised hundreds of tribes. The tribal communities were quite primitive and aggressive by nature. The tribals were also called head-hunters because of a social custom which required the male members of the community to collect as many heads as possible. A man’s strength and ability to protect his wife was assessed by the number of heads he had collected. Into this hostile and aggressive community, came a group of Welsh missionaries spreading the message of love, peace and hope of Jesus Christ. Naturally, they were not welcomed. One Welsh missionary succeeded in converting a man, his wife, and two children. This man’s faith proved contagious and many villagers began to accept Christianity. Angry, the village chief summoned all the villagers. He then called the family who had first converted to renounce their faith in public or face execution. Moved by the Holy Spirit, the man instantly composed a song which became famous down the years. He sang: "I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back."
Enraged at the refusal of the man, the chief ordered his archers to arrow down the two children. As both boys lay twitching on the floor, the chief asked, “Will you deny your faith? You have lost both your children. You will lose your wife too.” But the man sang these words in reply: "Though no one joins me, still I will follow. No turning back, no turning back."
The chief was beside himself with fury and ordered his wife to be arrowed down. In a moment she joined her two children in death. Now he asked for the last time, “I will give you one more opportunity to deny your faith and live.” In the face of death the man sang the final memorable lines: "The cross before me, the world behind me. No turning back, no turning back."
He was shot dead like the rest of his family. But with their deaths, a miracle took place. The chief who had ordered the killings was moved by the faith of the man. He wondered, “Why should this man, his wife and two children die for a Man who lived in a far-away land on another continent some 2,000 years ago? There must be some supernatural power behind the family, and I too want that supernatural power.” In a spontaneous confession of faith, he declared, “I too belong to Jesus Christ!” When the crowd heard this from the mouth of their chief, the whole village accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior.
The formation of these words into a hymn is attributed to the Indian missionary Sadhu Sundar Singh. The melody is also Indian, and entitled "Assam" after the region where the text originated. An American hymn editor, William Jensen Reynolds, composed an arrangement which was included in the 1959 Assembly Songbook. His version became a regular feature of Billy Graham's evangelistic meetings in America and elsewhere, spreading its popularity.
I have decided to follow Jesus; I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus; No turning back, no turning back.
Tho' none go with me, I still will follow, Tho' none go with me I still will follow,
Tho' none go with me, I still will follow; No turning back, no turning back.
My cross I'll carry, till I see Jesus; My cross I'll carry till I see Jesus,
My cross I'll carry till I see Jesus; No turning back, No turning back.
The world behind me, the cross before me, The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me; No turning back, no turning back.
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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