Trinity UMC, July 19, 2026

 Each week, you may find information here about the music in the worship services at Trinity United Methodist Church in Duncanville, 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.   

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.

You Have Searched Me, Lord, And Known Me - Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

(c.2014, Carolyn Winfrey Gillette)

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette has been a pastor in rural, small town, suburban, and city churches; she has also served as a hospice chaplain, a hospital chaplain, and a school bus aide helping children with special needs.  Carolyn is a gifted hymn writer who has written over 550 hymns. These hymns have been sung by congregations throughout the United States and around the world — from the Washington National Cathedral to St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland to St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa to small town churches and small household congregations; they have also been sung at national church and international ecumenical meetings.

Carolyn is a graduate of Lebanon Valley College and Princeton Theological Seminary.  Carolyn sees her hymn writing as a partnership and is very grateful for prayers for her hymn writing, suggestions for hymns, gifts for hymn use and commissions, and invitations to speak at conferences, workshops, and church gatherings (in person and online). She hopes her hymns nurture people in their discipleship and support churches in their worship and service in the world. Sing to the Lord a new song!

“You have searched me, Lord, and known me” is based on Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18.  It uses the hymn tune NETTLETON.  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.

You have searched me, Lord, and known me! All my life is in your care.
When I lie awake in evening, You are always with me there.
When I rise to greet the morning In an attitude of praise,
What I learn from you is humbling: You already know my ways.

Lord, you know the song I'm singing and my words before I pray.
You're behind me and before me As I travel through each day.
You once knit me all together; You created me by grace.
In your eyes, you see and love me As you treasure all my days.

Lord, I try to learn your wisdom, But I cannot understand.
Yet your love is all around me; I am part of all you've planned.
Let me sing your praise each morning, Let me serve you all day through,
And in evening, make me peaceful, Knowing this: I'm loved by you!

Gloria Patri

Many congregations may take these words, sung weekly, for granted. Like many parts of liturgy, their roots extend to the deepest levels of our praise and prayer. 

The text of the Gloria Patri falls into the broader category of doxology – in the Greek doxologia or “words of glory.” Doxology finds its roots in the Hebrew liturgy and the psalms as the kaddish. The kaddish is a doxology recited after the verses of a song. Its recitation signals the conclusion of one of the sections of the liturgy and has many different forms and purposes. In the Jewish context, a doxology blesses the One God and God’s everlasting nature. For example, Psalm 41:13 states: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen and Amen” (KJV). This is a form of berakhah (blessing or benediction) that pervades Jewish liturgy and life. The Sh’ma is the most famous and prevalent statement in Reform Jewish liturgy that addresses these criteria:

Sh’ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Eḥad (שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד):
“Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.” (Deuteronomy 6:4)

Baruch shem k’vod malchuto l’olam vaed (בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד):
“Blessed is/be the name of the glory/honor of His kingdom forever and ever.”

The “Baruch” is a berakhah added in the rabbinic tradition. It is very similar to Psalm 72:19: “Blessed be His glorious name forever.”

Given this heritage, early Christians adapted the Jewish form to include the Triune God and the Trinity’s eternal nature – “world without end.” Scholars suggest that the opening trinitarian formula is taken from the Great Commission in Matthew: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (28:19). Any trinitarian affirmation at the conclusion of a prayer became known as a “doxology.” 

The Lesser Doxology has for centuries been chanted in Latin at the conclusion of psalms and canticles, especially in the daily monastic prayers:

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper,
et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

The Greater Doxology is the fourth-century hymn Gloria in excelsis Deo, the incipit (opening line) of which was drawn from the angel’s canticle, Luke 2:14. This non-biblical canticle was introduced during the fourth-century Christological controversies as a corrective to Arianism – a doctrine attributed to Arius (c. 256–336) claiming that Jesus was subordinate to God the Father. The Gloria became a stable part of the ordinary (fixed) sections of the Roman Catholic mass except during Advent and Lent when it is omitted.

Protestants often limit the doxology to a single stanza from morning and evening hymns composed by Anglican Bishop Thomas Ken (1637–1711) for a resident boys’ school. While the four lines of this well-known stanza are Trinitarian, Ken does not specifically mention the eternal nature of the Trinity. However, he references the cosmic perspective of our praise to God – taking place both on earth and in heaven:

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, ye heav’nly host,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

The Gloria Patri, also known in English as the Glory Be to the Father or, colloquially, the Glory Be, is also referred to as the Minor Doxology (Doxologia Minor) or Lesser Doxology, to distinguish it from the Greater Doxology, the Gloria in Excelsis Deo.  The lesser doxology is of Syrian origin:

shubho labo w-labro wal-ruho qadisho

men 'olam w'adamo l'olam olmin, Amin.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

from everlasting and for ever and ever (literal translation)^.

The Greek wording is as follows:

Δόξα Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ καὶ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι,

καὶ νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

Both now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The Latin version differs from the Greek version because of the insertion of "sicut erat in principio", which is now taken to mean "as it (glory) was in the beginning", but which seems originally to have meant "as he (the Son) was in the beginning", and echo of the opening words of the Gospel according to John: "In the beginning was the Word".  In 529, the Second Synod of Vasio (Vaison-la-Romaine) in Gaul said in its fifth canon that the second part of the doxology, with the words "sicut erat in principio", was used in Rome, the East, and Africa, and ordered that it be said likewise in Gaul.  Writing in the 1909 Catholic Encyclopedia, Adrian Fortescue, while remarking that what the synod said of the East was false, took the synod's decree to mean that the form originally used in the West was the same as the Greek form.  From about the 7th century, the present Roman Rite version became almost universal throughout the West.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,

sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, and now, and forever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The following traditional form is the most common in Anglican usage and in older Lutheran liturgical books:

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

The translations of "semper" as "ever shall be", and "in saecula saeculorum" as "world without end" date at least from Thomas Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer (1552).

Congregations use several traditional musical settings. One is by Charles (Christoph) Meineke (1782–1850), a German-born organist who moved to England around 1810 and then to Baltimore in 1820. He served as organist of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for several decades. Meineke authored Music for the Church . . . Composed for St. Paul’s Church, Baltimore (1844). His musical setting, included in this collection, is usually given the name MEINEKE.

Joy in My Soul - Mark Hayes

(c.2018, Lorenz Publishing)

Stamps-Baxter is a legendary gospel music and printing company—originally based in Dallas, Texas—that dominated the Southern gospel convention singing movement.  Founded in 1927 by V.O. Stamps and J.R. Baxter, the company famously published hundreds of shaped-note gospel songbooks. They operated a storefront and printing press in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, running highly popular "singing schools" across the American South to teach congregations how to read music and sing in four-part harmony. 

The iconic "Glory Road" theme shows up in several ways within their catalog:  Glory Road was published in the mid-20th century (with a notable 1954 vintage edition) as a collection of uplifting convention-style quartet songs. These convention songs feature fast-paced, joyful, four-part harmony singing meant to inspire congregations about the journey to heaven.

While Stamps-Baxter ceased active publishing in the late 1980s, their musical legacy is deeply revered. Historic artists such as the Speer Family and the Cathedral Quartet got their start in or were closely tied to Stamps-Baxter. Their historical building in Dallas remains an Oak Cliff landmark.

“Joy in My Soul” was written by Margie Hassell and published in the 1954 Hymnal Glory Road.  Hassell wrote a number of hymn texts that were published by Stamps-Baxter.  No biographical information is available on her, and the hymn lyrics are lost other than the first line: There is joy in my soul since my savior made me whole.

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”.

Surely the Presence of the Lord is in this Place

(c.1977, Lanny Wolfe Music)

Lanny Wolfe (born 1942) is a Christian songwriter who has won numerous awards.  Wolfe served for a number of years as the Dean of the School of Music at Jackson Bible School, Jackson College of Ministries, but his most significant influence has been introducing black Gospel music to Pentecostal churches.

"Surely the Presence of the Lord Is in This Place" is based on Jesus promise, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in their midst" (Matthew 18:20).  It emphasizes the senses––feeling, hearing, touching, and seeing.  We can feel the presence of the Lord––and hear the brush of the angel's wings––and see glory on each face.  Wolfe was inspired to write this song in 1977 when a friend invited The Lanny Wolfe Trio to sing at a dedication service for a new building.  "Surely the Presence" is the song that the Trio sang for that occasion. 

Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place;

I can feel his mighty power and his grace.

I can hear the brush of angels’ wings, I see glory on each face;

Sure the presence of the Lord is in this place.

Take My Life and Let It Be

Frances R. Havergal (1836-1879) originally composed her text in eleven couplets as a hymn of "self-consecration to Christ" on February 4, 1874. She told the following story about writing this hymn:

I went for a little visit of five days [to Areley House, Worcestershire, in December 1873]. There were ten persons in the house, some             unconverted and long prayed for, some converted but not rejoicing Christians. [God] gave me the prayer, "Lord, give me all this house." And He just did! Before I left the house, everyone had got a blessing. The last night of my visit. . . I was too happy to sleep             and passed most of the night in praise and renewal of my own consecration, and these little couplets formed themselves and chimed in my heart, one after another, till they finished with "Ever, only, all, for Thee."

The text is a "catalog" hymn that lists aspects of our lives and offers them in Christ's service.  "Take My Life and Let It Be" was first published in the 1874 appendix to Charles B. Snepp's Songs of Grace and Glory (1872). A twelfth couplet was added at some later point, producing the six stanzas published in the Psalter Hymnal.

Although her formal education was sporadic because of poor health, Havergal learned six foreign languages, including Greek and Hebrew, and was well read in many subjects. She began writing poetry at an early age and was also an accomplished singer and pianist. The daughter of a clergyman, she had a conversion experience at the age of fourteen and was confirmed in the Church of England in 1853. Taking seriously her own words "take my silver and my gold," she sent all her jewelry to the Church Mission Society to be sold. She also supported other charitable organizations. Her more than one hundred hymns were originally published in leaflets and later gathered into seven collections: Ministry of Song (1869), Twelve Sacred Songs for Little Singers (1870), Under the Surface (1874), Loyal Responses (1878), Life Mosaic (1879), Life Chords (1880), and Life Echoes (1883), as well as in one large volume, Poetical Works (1884).

The tune MESSIAH, also sometimes called HEROLD, was written by Ferdinand Herold (1791-1833). 

Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee.

Take my moments and my days; let them flow in endless praise.

Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love.

Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee.

Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King.

Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee.

Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.

Take my intellect and use every power as thou shalt choose.

Take my will and make it thine; it shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart it is thine own; it shall be thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour at thy feet its treasure store.

Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for thee. 

A Closing Prayer - Don Besig

(c.1978, Harold Flammer, Inc.)

Don Besig was a public school music teacher for over thirty years in western New York. He taught at all levels and since his retirement has continued to serve as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator. Recognizing a need for choral music written especially for student singers and volunteer church choirs, he began composing for his own choral groups in 1960. He is also the recipient of several ASCAP Plus Awards Don is a graduate of Ithaca College and a member of Phi Mu Alpha and ASCAP. He and Nancy Price collaborate to write music and lyrics.  

The time has come, O Lord, for us to leave this place.  

Guide us and protect us and lead us in thy grace.  

Wherever life may take us as we go our separate ways, 

Help us share with others the things we've shared today.

Redeemed - John Carter

(c.1991, Hope Publishing)

The author of Blessed Assurance, Fanny Crosby (b.1820) became blind at the age of six weeks from maltreatment of her eyes during an illness. She committed to memory the first four books of the Old Testament, and also the four Gospels before she was ten years of age. At the age of fifteen she entered the New York Institution for the Blind, where she later became a teacher.  She began to write Sunday-school hymns for William. B. Bradbury in 1864. As the years went on, she spent regular hours on certain days at the office of The Biglow & Main Co., the firm for which she did most of her writing, and for whom she composed over four thousand hymns. Fanny loved her work, and was happy in it.

“Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it” was published in 1882 in Songs of Redeeming Love.  The tune was written by William J. Kirkpatrick (1838-1921) who served as music director at Grace Methodist Church in Philadelphia. Kirkpatrick compiled some one hundred gospel song collections; his first, Devotional Melodies (1859), was published when he was only twenty-one years old.

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child, and forever, I am.

I think of my blessed Redeemer, I think of Him all the day long;
I sing, for I cannot be silent; His love is the theme of my song. 

I know I shall see in His beauty The King in whose law I delight,
Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps, And giveth me songs in the night. 

Refrain:
Redeemed, redeemed, Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! His child, and forever, I am.

John Carter (b. 1930) has enjoyed a long and productive writing career with many choral compositions, both sacred and secular; over sixty collections of piano works including settings of hymns and carols, and more recently original compositions for piano. He taught in public schools in Ohio and was on the faculty at Morehead State University in Kentucky. John has been a church musician since college days, and has held Minister of Music and Pastoral Musician positions in Presbyterian, Methodist, American Baptist and UCC congregations.  Many of his choral works have been written in collaboration with his wife, Mary Kay Beall, and they have written numerous musicals, both for schools and drama groups, and a musical drama, “Ruth” based on the Biblical story. They have collaborated on numerous commissioned choral works for schools, churches and community choral groups.  John holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and a Master of Music degree from Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee. He studied composition with Forrest Goodenough and Philip Slates.

Trinity United Methodist Church, Duncanville, Texas