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:
Built on the Rock - Gordon Young
(c.1980, Hope Publishing)
Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783-1872) the son of a pastor, was born at Udby, in Seeland. He studied in the University of Copenhagen. H is mind was too active and his imagination too versatile to bear the restraint of the academic course. After leaving the university he devoted his attention to poetry, literature, and Northern antiquities. In 1810 he became assistant to his father in a parish in Jutland. The sermon he preached at his ordination, on the subject "Why has the Lord's word disappeared from His house," attracted much attention, which is rarely the case with "probationers'" sermons. He became chaplain of St. Saviour's church in Christianshavn. From the time of his ordination, he had been deeply impressed with Evangelical church sentiments, in opposition to the fashionable Rationalism and Erastianism of the day; and adhered to the anti-rationalist teaching of Hauge, whose death at this time (1824) seemed to be a call to Grundtvig to lift up his voice. An opportunity soon presented itself; Professor Clausen brought out a book entitled Katholicismens og Protestantismens Forfatning, Ldre, og Ritus ("The condition, teaching, and ritual of Catholicism and Protestantism"). This book was replete with the Erastian Rationalism which was so especially distasteful to Grundtvig, who forthwith, in his Kirkens Gjenmsele ("The Church's Reply," 1825), strongly opposed its teaching, and laid down truer principles of Christian belief, and sounder views of the nature of the Church. This caused a sensation: Grandtvig (who had not spared his opponent) was fined 100 rixdollars, and the songs and hymns which he had written for the coming celebration of the tenth centenary of Northern Christianity were forbidden to be used. He resigned his post at St. Saviour's, or rather was forced to quit by a sentence of suspension which was pronounced in 1826, and under which he was kept for 13 years. After this time, he was allowed to hold an afternoon service in the German church at Christianshavn. He preached there for eight years, and compiled and wrote his hymn-book, Sang-Vdrk til den Danske Kirkce ("Song-work for the Danish Church").
The tune KIRKEN DEN ER ET was composed for this text by Norwegian Ludwig M. Lindeman (1812-1887). It was published in Wilhelm A. Wexel's Christelige Psalmer (1840). KIRKEN (also called LINDEMAN) was the first hymn tune Lindeman wrote. Born into a family of musicians, Lindeman received his early organ training from his father, for whom he became a substitute organist at the age of twelve. Although he studied theology in Oslo (then called Christiana), after 1839 he turned to a career in music. He was the organist of the Church of the Savior in Oslo (1839-1887) and became a virtuoso performer. Lindeman published hymn collections and organ works as well as the influential Koralbog (1877), which contained tunes (restored to rhythmic shape) for Landstad's hymnal of 1869. He was also an excellent teacher and founded an organ school (later the Oslo Conservatory) with his son in 1883. A scholarly collector of Norwegian folk music, Lindeman traveled the country collecting folk songs, which he published in a series of volumes (1853-1867) and which influenced the works of composer Edvard Grieg.
Built on the Rock, the church shall stand even when steeples are falling;
Christ builds His church in ev'ry land; bells still are chiming and calling,
calling the young and old to rest, calling the souls of those distressed,
longing for life everlasting.
Not in a temple made with hands God the Almighty is dwelling;
high in the heav'ns His temple stands, all earthly temples excelling.
Yet He who dwells in heaven above chooses to live with us in love,
making our body His temple.
We are God's house of living stones, built for His own habitation;
He fills our hearts, His humble thrones, granting us life and salvation.
Yet to the place, an earthly frame, we come with thanks to praise His name;
God grants His people true blessing.
Thro' all the passing years, O Lord, grant that, when church bells are ringing,
many may come to hear God's Word where He the promise is bringing:
"I know My own, My own know Me, you, not the world, My face shall see;
My peace I leave with you. Amen.”
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.
Hope - Chris de Silva
(c.2018, GIA Publications)
"Be Thou My Vision" (Old Irish: Rop tú mo baile or Rob tú mo bhoile) is a traditional hymn from Ireland. The most well known English version, with some minor variations, was translated by Eleanor Hull and published in 1912. In 1919, the lyrics were set to the tune of the Irish folk tune "Slane", to which the song is sung to this day, both in English and Irish. The song dates from at least the eighth century, though the text dates to the sixth-century.
The original Old Irish text, "Rop tú mo Baile" is often attributed to Saint Dallán Forgaill in the 6th century. Eochaid Mac Colla (c. 530 – 598), better known as Saint Dallan or Dallán Forgaill (Old Irish: Dallán Forchella; Latin: Dallanus Forcellius), was an early Christian Irish poet whose writings include the "Amra Choluim Chille" ("Elegy of Saint Columba") and "Rop Tú Mo Baile" ("Be Thou My Vision"). Saint Dallan was Chief Ollam of Ireland (similar to poet laureate), as well as a scholar of Latin scriptural learning. He helped to reform the Bardic Order at the Convention of Drumceat. He reputedly wrote Amra Choluim Chille, which he completed shortly after the death of Saint Columba in 597, because Columba had successfully saved poets from expulsion from Ireland at the assembly of Druim Cett in 575. The “Amra Choluim Chille,” is the earliest Irish poem that can be dated.
"Rop tú mo Baile" had been a part of Irish monastic tradition for centuries before its setting to music. The Irish text was translated into literal prose by Irish scholar Mary Elizabeth Byrne (1880-1931), a Dublin native, and then published in Eriú, the journal of the School of Irish Learning, in 1905. Byrne was also known for her academic publications, including Old and Mid-Irish Dictionary, Dictionary of the Irish Language, and a treatise, England in the Age of Chaucer.
It is at this point that Eleanor Hull (1860-1935) enters the story. Born in Manchester, England, she was the founder of the Irish Text Society and president of the Irish Literary Society of London. Hull versified the text and it was published in her Poem Book of the Gael (1912).
Following the original publication in Ireland, the hymn was included in a number of British hymnals. After World War II, the hymn came to the attention of hymnal editors in the U.S. and it has become a standard hymn in most hymnals today.
Irish liturgy and ritual scholar Helen Phelan, a lecturer at the University of Limerick, points out how the language of this hymn is drawn from traditional Irish culture: "One of the essential characteristics of the text is the use of 'heroic' imagery to describe God. This was very typical of medieval Irish poetry, which cast God as the 'chieftain' or 'High King' (Ard Ri) who provided protection to his people or clan. The lorica is one of the most popular forms of this kind of protection prayer and is very prevalent in texts of this period." The original chieftain language of the "High King of heaven" has given way to the more inclusive "Great God" in the UM Hymnal.
When Hull's versification was paired with the lovely traditional Irish tune SLANE in The Irish Church Hymnal in 1919, its popularity was sealed. The folk melody was taken from a non-liturgical source, Patrick Weston Joyce's Old Irish Folk Music and Songs: A Collection of 842 Airs and Songs hitherto unpublished (1909). "Most 'traditional' Irish religious songs are non-liturgical," says Dr. Phelan. "There is a longstanding practice of 'editorial weddings' in Irish liturgical music, where traditional tunes were wedded to more liturgically appropriate texts. This is a very good example of this practice.” The tune name SLANE is drawn from deep in Irish history. It was on Slane Hill in County Meath around 433 CE that St. Patrick lit candles on Easter Eve, defying a decree by High King Logaire of Tara that no one could light a fire before the king signaled the beginning of the pagan spring festival by lighting a fire on Tara Hill. King Logaire was so impressed by Patrick's devotion that, despite his defiance, he was permitted to continue his work as Ireland's first Christian missionary.
SLANE is an old Irish folk tune associated with the ballad "With My Love on the Road" in Patrick W. Joyce's Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909). It became a hymn tune when it was arranged by David Evans and set to the Irish hymn "Be Thou My Vision" published in the Church Hymnary (1927). SLANE is named for a hill in County Meath, Ireland, where St. Patrick's lighting of an Easter fire–an act of defiance against the pagan king Loegaire (fifth century)–led to his unlimited freedom to preach the gospel in Ireland.
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tow’r:
Raise Thou me heav’nward, O Pow’r of my pow’r.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heav’n’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
Chris de Silva is a composer, arranger and recording artist with GIA Publications, Inc. He is is originally from Singapore and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Chris shares his love for music ministry at national conferences, diocesan and parish retreats around the US, Canada, Europe and Asia. De Silva has ministered as Director of Liturgy and Music at several faith communities in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and currently serves on the campus ministry team at Loyola Marymount University as Associate Director of Music. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music where he studied Music Composition and Film Scoring. He also holds an M.A. in Pastoral Theology from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry Degree at Candler School of Theology, Emory University.
About the Hymns:
O Spirit of the Living God
Henry Hallam Tweedy (1868-1953) hailed from the northeast, born in Binghamton, N.Y. He was granted degrees from Phillips Andover Academy, Yale University, Union Theological Seminary and the University of Berlin. A Congregational pastor, he served churches in New York and Connecticut, and later taught practical theology from 1909-1937 at Yale Divinity School. He co-authored several books, including Training the Devotional Life (1919) and Religious Training in School and Home (1917). His most important contribution, however, was as editor of the hymnal Christian Worship and Praise (1939). In addition to editing a hymnal, Tweedy published a practical volume, The Minister and His Hymnal, and won several hymn contests sponsored by the Homiletic Review and the Hymn Society of America.
Tweedy said he composed “O Spirit of the Living God” because “some of the old Pentecostal hymns were to me unsatisfactory, and I was eager to interpret the symbolism of the story in Acts in a way that modern men could understand and sincerely mean.” The text is an exposition of Acts 2, a passage focused on Pentecost. The hymn was first published in the Methodist Hymnal (1935).
FOREST GREEN is an English folk tune associated with the ballad "The Ploughboy's Dream." Ralph Vaughan Williams turned FOREST GREEN into a hymn tune for The English Hymnal (1906), using it as a setting for "O Little Town of Bethlehem.”
O Spirit of the living God, thou light and fire divine,
descend upon thy church once more, and make it truly thine.
Fill it with love and joy and power, with righteousness and peace;
till Christ shall dwell in human hearts, and sin and sorrow cease.
Blow, wind of God! With wisdom blow until our minds are free
from mists of error, clouds of doubt, which blind our eyes to thee.
Burn, winged fire! Inspire our lips with flaming love and zeal,
to preach to all thy great good news, God's glorious commonweal.
Teach us to utter living words of truth which all may hear,
the language all may understand when love speaks loud and clear;
till every age and race and clime shall blend their creeds in one,
and earth shall form one family by whom thy will is done.
So shall we know the power of Christ who came this world to save;
so shall we rise with him to life which soars beyond the grave;
and earth shall win true holiness, which makes thy children whole;
till, perfected by thee, we reach creation's glorious goal!
I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord
“I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord” (1801) is perhaps the earliest hymn still currently used that was composed by a citizen of the United States. The author, Timothy Dwight (1752-1817), was one of the outstanding leaders of his time. Dwight was the grandson of the Calvinist preacher Jonathan Edwards. He demonstrated a precocious spirit at a young age, reading the Bible at age 4, learning Latin during grammar school and entering Yale College at age 13. Graduating from Yale at 17, he taught grammar school in New Haven and then became a tutor at Yale. Dwight obtained a preacher’s license and served as a chaplain during the Revolutionary War with George Washington. Hymnologist Albert Bailey notes Dwight’s sermons and songs were an inspiration for the soldiers he served.
After the war, Dwight became a Congregational minister in Fairfield, Conn. Dwight supplemented his insufficient pastoral salary by opening a private academy. The success of this academy led to his election in 1795 as president of Yale College. Dwight left a legacy of improved scholastic standards at Yale College, serving not only as the school’s president, but also as professor of literature, oratory and theology, and college chaplain. He is credited with fostering a revival among the students through his sermons in the college chapel, a revival that spread to other New England colleges.
Dwight’s literary accomplishments were many. He may be best known today for his 1797 revision of Isaac Watts’ 1719 Psalms of David, to which he added 33 of his own texts. “I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord,” published in the 1801 revision of Watts’ Psalms of David, is the only remaining text from Dwight’s Watts, prepared at the request of the General Association (Congregational) of Connecticut, that has survived. The original eight stanzas have been reduced to four or five in most hymnals. This paraphrase of a portion of Psalm 137 appeared originally under the title, “Love to the Church.”
I love thy kingdom, Lord, the house of thine abode,
the church our blest Redeemer saved with his own precious blood.
I love thy church, O God! Her walls before thee stand
dear as the apple of thine eye, and graven on thy hand.
For her my tears shall fall, for her my prayers ascend,
to her my cares and toils be given, till toils and cares shall end.
Beyond my highest joy I prize her heavenly ways;
her sweet communion, solemn vows, her hymns of love and praise.
Sure as thy truth shall last, to Zion shall be given
the brightest glories earth can yield, and brighter bliss of heaven.
About the Modern Band Music:
Abide - Aaron Keyes, Aaron Williams, and Jake Fauber
(c2024, Aaronwilliamsmusic, Integrity Worship Music, and WellWithYouMusic)
Aaron Williams is a Franklin, Tennessee-based artist, songwriter, and founder of The Way of Worship, an organization helping train and mentor worship leaders from all over the United States. One of his outstanding songs is “Abide,” a worship anthem that has been resonating with many church communities, bringing it to chart at #58 in CCLI in late 2024.
Williams is passionate about helping people discover and develop an abiding relationship with Jesus. With his organization, The Way of Worship, whether it is through thoughtful songwriting, intentional investment in others, or heartfelt worship leading, his aim is the same: to creatively lead people to know and love Jesus with heart, soul, mind, and strength.
For.my.waking.breath,.for.my.daily.bread I.depend.on.You,.I.depend.on.You
For.the.sun.to.rise,.for.my.sleep.at.night I.depend.on.You,.I.depend.on.You
You’re.the.way.the.truth.and.the.life You’re.the.well.that.never.runs.dry
I’m.the.branch.and.You.are.the.vine Draw.me.close.and.teach.me.to.abide
Where.the.Spirit.leads,.as.I’m.following I.depend.on.You,.I.depend.on.You
For.the.victories,.still.in.front.of.me I.depend.on.You,.I.depend.on.You
You’re.the.way.the.truth.and.the.life You’re.the.well.that.never.runs.dry
I’m.the.branch.and.You.are.the.vine Draw.me.close.and.teach.me.to.abide
Be.my.strength,.my.song.in.the.night Be.my.all,.my.treasure,.my.prize
I.am.Yours,.for.-.ever.You’re.mine Draw.me.close.and.teach.me.to.abide
When.I.pass.through.death,.as.I.enter.rest I.depend.on.You,.I.depend.on.You
For.eternal.life,.to.be.raised.with.Christ I.depend.on.You,.I.depend.on.You.
Would.You.teach.me,.would.You.teach.me.to.abide
I.depend.on.You,.I.depend.on.You.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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