All Saints

A short, and hopefully thought provoking post about All Saints Day which we observed on November 4 at St. Andrew's. I've posted previously (click here or here) about some of the things I found as I was going through the music filing cabinets last winter.  Well, there was another bulletin tucked away in one of those drawers dated October 30, 1977 and I've been waiting to write about it until now.

The congregation was actually observing Reformation Sunday (hymn 86 - A mighty fortress is our God) and celebrating the baptism of 4 children (hymn 338 - A little child the Saviour came). The service ended with hymn 307 - The church's one foundation, a fitting close to a service with a reformation emphasis.  They were using The Book of Praise, 1972 edition.

The reason I've been saving this post is that the bulletin also announced to the congregation the deaths of 2 parishioners.  Their names and addresses were given followed by this sentence:  "They now strengthen our ties with the Community of Saints."

That one little sentence has been echoing in my mind ever since. What a wonderful way to remember those believers who have gone on before us into eternity.

One of my favourite hymns is "For all the saints" - sung to SINE NOMINE.  Here is a video link to a performance of Canadian Denis Bedard's variations on that tune.

The Hymn Olympics

My thoughts on comparing the recent Olympic games with hymn singing and my experiences at "The Meeting Place" conference in July can be read by clicking here.

But what will it look like?

I have always loved making puzzles.  One of my early memories is just that:  making puzzles on the living room floor in Meaford, Ontario.  I indulge this 'obsession' about 2 or 3 times a year.  I'm calling it an obsession because once I start a puzzle, I have a hard time doing anything else until it's finished.  There have been a few puzzles over the years that were really tough.  I remember, in college, working on one that was all yellow with a small Dole banana sticker image in one area.  Even though it was a group endeavour, it took quite awhile, as I recall.

One day last week I stopped in at the Salvation Army thrift store.  I think I went in to look for a lamp, but I came out with a puzzle!  You may have guessed from the photo that this is a Clue puzzle which means there is a brief story included giving the facts of a murder.  All the characters from the board game play a part, and the puzzle, once completed, is supposed to give me the clue I need to solve the mystery.  There's a catch though.  There is no picture to follow to make the puzzle - just the challenge this girl needs!

By now you may be wondering how this has any connection to the conference I recently attended. In my previous post I made reference to some of the resources I acquired.  What I didn't mention is that I sang 54 hymns and songs I had never seen or heard before.  I sang 15-20 that I either knew, thought I had sung before or just the text was new (used with a familiar tune).  In trying to think through what might be appropriate and/or practical to use, I feel a little (actually a lot) as if I'm trying to create a new picture without knowing what that picture will actually look like.  It's not impossible, but it will take awhile.  As one song or idea gains credibility, another seems less useful and is set aside. 

Will a clear, complete picture ever emerge?  I hope not - because that would mean that worship, at least musically, is stagnant - not moving forward, just sitting there, finished and in the past.  And that, my reader friends, would be sad.

What are you going to try in worship in order to create a new picture?

Task: Summarize "The Meeting Place: Sharing Our Song"

 
 Remember that song from the early 70's - "There's got to be a morning after..."?  Well, today is the morning after the conclusion of the annual conference of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada.  How can I possibly articulate what a wonderful impact the last five days have had on me? 

I think more time is needed to digest what I took in; the most I'm capable of today is a brief overview:

• 2 brand new, hot off the press, hymnals.
• 3 very thought provoking plenary speakers:  Alice Parker, Andrew Fullerton and Stan McKay.
• 4 hymn festivals - all included lots of sight singing, often in 4 parts, with 200+ people.
• 5 great workshops covering a variety of topics including Canadian hymn writers and finding and using hymns on YouTube.
• innumerable new friends and colleagues, all enthusiastic about music for worship in its many forms!

As I write, the sending song/benediction of our closing hymn festival is running through my head.  I'm sure that was the intent of the organizers - that we go out singing something joyful and energetic which would propel us back into everyday life with the inspiration such a conference provides to those who attend.  The song's tune name is GIPGIL - Go in peace, go in love!

Face to face

Palm Sunday.  The beginning of Holy Week - the week that saw a fickle crowd shout, "Hosanna!" on Day 1, and 5 days later, "Crucify!" At St. Andrew's on Sunday one of the hymns we sang was "There is a Redeemer" which sources alternately say is by Melody Green, or Keith Green or both.  The third verse of this beautiful hymn begins:

"When I stand in glory, I will see His face..."

For some reason, I questioned that phrase.  Will we see Christ face to face?  In the Old Testament there are many instances where people (Moses comes to mind) could not see the face of God.  God's glory is too wonderful for human view.  "I'll have to check on that when I get home", I thought.  [All this went through my head in a few seconds or less, as I continued to play the song.]  Since then, I've thought of other familiar hymns and songs which articulate this thought.

After I got home and had some lunch, I took out my Bible and began to search the concordance for references that might shed some light on my dilemma.  I want to know if what the congregation and I are singing is theologically sound.  There may be other verses that support the hymn text, but the one I found was Revelation 22:4  "They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads."  [The 'his' referred to is 'the Lamb' - Christ.]  I'd be happy to hear from my readers if any of you know of other scripture which either supports or doesn't support the idea that we will see Christ face to face someday.  As for the song, you can hear Keith Green singing it by clicking here.

Expecting no change

You may have gathered that I am still thinking about change.  Spring seems like a good time to ponder that and this year, maybe more than others, the turning of winter into spring has been a bit of a shock and surprise.  In all my years in Winnipeg (36 and counting!) we have never reached +25C on March 19.

As I re-read the title, I realized it could be taken several ways!  If your bill at the store was $15.75, and you had the exact amount in your wallet, you would ‘expect no change.’  Under unpleasant circumstances, perhaps at a hospital, a doctor might warn you to ‘expect no change’.  Neither of these uses of the phrase are what I had in mind.  In fact, I was not thinking in human terms at all but rather about the character of God.  I understand from scripture that God is unchanging; that Christ is ‘the same yesterday, today and forever’.  (Hebrews 13:8)  How reassuring this is in the face of 21st century life!  Is there an expression of that truth in song?  Well, the first example that comes to mind is the hymn “Great is Thy faithfulness” where in verse 1 we sing

...Thou changest not; Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.
Words by Thomas O. Chisholm, c. Hope Publishing Company, 1951

I like this hymn.  The melody and harmony of the refrain naturally build in strength as we repeat the words:  Great is Thy faithfulness.  To my ears, it is a good solid piece of music married to an equally strong text.  Does it resound with every person sitting in worship at a specific time and place?  Probably not, and to me that is one of the most important reasons to find other musical expressions of our faith.  A couple years ago I was introduced to a wonderful, newer hymn which expresses the ideas of God’s faithfulness and justice in updated language.  The hymn is God of the Bible; here is the first verse and refrain:

God of the Bible, God in the Gospel,
hope seen in Jesus, hope yet to come,
you are our center, daylight or darkness,
freedom or prison, you are our home. 

 

Refrain:
Fresh as the morning, sure as the sunrise,
God always faithful, you do not change.  (repeat)

 

The author is New Zealander Shirley Erena Murray;  you can read more about her here.  The complete hymn text is available on the Hope Publishing site.  While you’re at the site, I would encourage you to check out some of her other texts.  The words are deep and well articulated and span a variety of topics and seasons.

I have sung this text with a lovely, vibrant tune called Fresh as the Morning by Tony E. Alonso.  He is a fairly young writer; this tune was composed at the age of 21.  You can hear part of the tune by going here and searching for it by tune name then clicking on the “listen” icon.

Here are two print sources for this hymn:
More Voices, c. 2007, The United Church of Canada
Sing the Journey, c. 2005, Faith & Life Resources, a division of Mennonite Publishing Network.

Unusual weather

Last week we had three foggy days in a row. Now I know in some parts of the world, that would be a completely normal weather pattern, but here on the prairies, I'm guessing it would be more average to have 1 day in a winter (or 2 at the most) with fog and hoarfrost. The first day was Wednesday. The sun came out in the afternoon enough to brighten up the day but not get rid of the frost. Both Thursday and Friday, the fog lingered all day and frost built up on bare tree limbs and evergreens alike. Late Friday afternoon I walked up to the corner to buy a paper and while I enjoyed the walk and the scenery, I have to say it felt a little apocalyptic the way trees and buildings would appear out of and fade back into the fog.

As often happens, I found myself recalling an appropriate hymn text and what came to mind was:

O Lord, my God!
When I in awesome wonder consider all the works Thy hands have made...
then sings my soul... How great Thou art!
Words: Carl Gustav Boberg; English translation: Stuart K. Hine

The photo above was taken in the park behind our home.

The photo on the left is the spruce in our front yard.

What they sang

I might have known I couldn't leave it alone! I just had to check the hymn numbers to see what they sang at those 2 services on October 24, 1954. The first thing to do was go to the bookshelf to pull my copy of The Book of Praise, 1918 which is what I'm assuming they were using in 1954. (New hymnals were issued in 1972 and again in 1997.) Only the numbers were printed in the bulletin - no titles. Where there was a possibility of more than one tune, I have listed all the tune names.

Here's what I found for the morning service:
#21 - (Psalm 24:7-10) Ye gates, lift up your heads on high - ST. GEORGE'S EDINBURGH
#436 - Come let us to the Lord our God - BELMONT
#295 - The church's one foundation - AURELIA
#531 - How firm a foundation - ADESTE FIDELES

At the evening service, these were the hymns:
#77 - (Psalm 91:1-6, 9, 10) The man who once has found abode - TALLIS'S CANON or PHILADELPHIA
#86 - (Psalm 100) All people that on earth do dwell - OLD 100TH
#399 - Come, let us sing of a wonderful love - WONDERFUL LOVE
#254 - All hail the power of Jesus' name - MILES LANE or UNIVERSITY or CORONATION

Here are some observations. There are 2 tunes here I don't know - ST. GEORGE'S EDINBURGH and PHILADELPHIA. It surprised me to see "How firm a foundation" paired with the tune we commonly use for "O come, all ye faithful". In my nearly 14 years with the Presbyterian church, only the settings of Psalm 24 and 91 are unfamiliar. All the other texts and most of the tunes are used on a somewhat regular basis.

While it is true that newer music is also used in worship today, I fear we rely too heavily on the 'tried and true' hymns which people in 1954 sang. Do these speak to people today? Are we trying to keep alive an expression of faith which has no meaning in 2012? Comments are always welcome, my readers.

In the service of the King

Yesterday was Christ the King Sunday, the final Sunday in the church year. I heard a very good, thought provoking sermon titled "Active in the service of the King". This title, as well as thoughts brought out in the message made me think of an old song I haven't heard for years. Of course, I had to look it up. Here are the words of verse and the refrain:

I am happy in the service of the King.
I am happy, O so happy!
I have peace and joy that nothing else can bring,
In the service of the King.

Refrain

In the service of the King
Every talent I will bring.
I have peace and joy and blessing
In the service of the King.

Cyberhymnal indicates that these words were written in 1912 by Alfred H. Ackley and there are days when I quite agree with Ackley: I have peace and joy and blessing as I serve my heavenly King to the best of my ability.

But I also think there are days when serving doesn't bring that much joy. Rather it brings headaches, planning nightmares, logistical diplomacy to the nth degree. Maybe we have to work through those parts to get to the blessings.

Thoughts my faithful readers?

Through gates of pearl...

We sometimes hear the expression "the pearly gates", often in connection with a joke that mentions Peter and someone seeking entrance to heaven. Today, for All Saints' Day, we sang the hymn For all the saints (words by William W. How) and the line that grabbed my attention this year was in the 8th verse: "...through gates of pearl streams in the countless host..." I think the reason this line stood out to me today is connected to what I witnessed at the women's conference I attended in May. You can read about that here. At the end of the message this morning, each one in the congregation was invited to come forward and light a candle representing someone (a saint = Christian believer) who had influenced them in their spiritual walk in the past. The candle would also represent someone that we hope to influence for Christ. Although we are a small group, it was moving to see each flickering flame and realize that those candles represented a miniscule portion of 'the countless host' - some of whom have gone before and some who will come after us.

A glimpse of heaven

Before too much more time goes by, I'd like to write a little about the music at "Look In, Shout Out!" - the first ever national gathering of Presbyterian women in Canada. This event took place May 20-23, 2011 in Richmond Hill, ON and attendance exceeded initial expectations with registration around 540 people. Our worship leader was Glen Soderholm, ably assisted by a 4 piece band and a few others on occasion.

It's hard to know where to begin! The music was well-presented both in format and selection. I enjoyed participating without having to play. There is joy and strength in worshiping in such a large group - an opportunity I rarely have. We learned some new pieces together, which is always a joy to me, and sang old ones in an updated way, breathing new life into them.

Sunday morning worship began with a processional hymn, the traditional "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty" led by Glen and the band. The procession was led by Rev. Margaret Mullin, Thundering Eagle Woman, director of Winnipeg Inner City Missions, who joined the band playing her Indian drum. She was followed by women from many parts of the world - our international guests - from Hungary, India, Guatemala, Malawi, Scotland, Korea and Japan. (I've probably missed a couple countries.) As we got to about the third verse and I watched these women of God come forward, I suddenly had a glimpse of heaven with people from all nations gathering around God's throne singing and praising God with words very much like this hymn. It was an extremely meaningful moment in worship which I think will stay with me for a long time to come.

The greatness of God

Don't be frightened away! I'm not planning to attempt to write all my thoughts on the greatness of God. It's just that I've been reminded once again how many hymns and songs we sing proclaiming God's greatness. If you've been following my blog, you'll know that I have a couple concerts coming up next week and in preparation for them I've been doing some research. In my concerts, I talk a little about the background of the pieces I'm playing - whether it be about the author or composer, or my own connection to the song. Next week's program includes 5 previously unperformed pieces and three of them embrace this very topic. They are: Our Great Saviour, Great is the Lord, and How Great is Our God. The respective publication dates of these pieces are: 1910, 1982, and 2004. It inspires me to know that songwriters, over all the decades and centuries that pass, are still finding new and creative ways to praise God. Why don't you come and hear for yourself?

'Til we cast our crowns before Thee

I did something today I haven't done in over 2 decades. I got up in the middle of the night to watch a royal wedding. Yes, I was curious about 'the dress', but more than that I wanted to experience the music of Westminster Abbey during the ceremony, knowing full well that the music is not considered a highlight to be replayed in its entirety later in the day. There were some glorious moments! The bride's entrance to "I Was Glad" by Sir C.H.H. Parry was wonderful. (I'm not sure that was entirely the context intended by the Psalmist but whatever...) The fanfares by the two groups of trumpeters were marvelous as well. If I'd had a say in the matter, I'd have heard more organ and not quite as much orchestra, but then one has to consider supporting the singing of about 1,900 people in a building with very live acoustics.

The couple's choice of hymns was very interesting. They were: Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah (Tune: Cwm Rhondda), Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (Tune: Blaenwern) and lastly, And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time (Tune: Jerusalem). The first 2 tunes are Welsh and it made me wonder if this was a deliberate tribute to Wales (William's surname as Charles is the Prince of Wales). There are other reasons, of course, for choosing those 2 hymns. I understand that the second is a very popular choice for English weddings and with this particular tune - one that is not well known in North America. The third hymn always makes me think of the movie, Chariots of Fire; that's the first time I ever heard it.

The big question today seems to be, "What was your memorable moment during the wedding?" Well, the moment I'll remember occurred during the singing of Love Divine. The TV camera was on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as they both sang the words, "...'Til we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love and praise." It was a poignant reminder to me that earthly kingdoms - past, present and future - will someday pass away and we will glorify only the King of Kings, and be "lost in wonder, love and praise".

First time ever - Part 3

Yesterday, over the noon hour, I played for the third of this year's Lenten Communion services put on by the Winnipeg Centre, Royal Canadian College of Organists. This year the series is being held at St. Andrew's Anglican Church (Woodhaven). Each participating organist makes their own repertoire selections for the half hour service and all of mine were based on hymns - some more familiar than others. The hymn that falls into the 'first time ever' category is ABERYSTWYTH, a beautiful tune of Welsh origin. The only text I believe it is ever paired with is by Charles Wesley, Jesus, Lover of my Soul.

The first time I ever remember hearing this hymn was when the choir from Canadian Nazarene College came to sing in Orkney church. I think it may have been 1971 during their spring tour of eastern Canada. I seem to recall it being sung a cappella; maybe one of my sisters will remember for sure. It's probably safe to say that the music that stays with us (especially for 40 years!) is connected to us in more than one way. I may not have remembered this hymn and the first time I heard it except that my parents taped the evening's concert on a new radio/cassette player we had with a built in mic. That tape was replayed often and the hymn remained with me. If you can ignore the lip syncing, you can hear Aled Jones singing Jesus, Lover of my Soul by going to this link. The second verse is sung in Welsh.

Advent 1 - Actively waiting

Yesterday we began a new year in the church calendar. As hectic as the season is (for many different reasons) it is a season I love! I'm talking about Advent - the 4 weeks of preparing and waiting for Christ's coming. The Book of Praise (1997) has a great variety of Advent hymns and at St. Andrew's we now know enough of them to sing different ones each Sunday of the season. The ones we sang yesterday were: "Come, thou long-expected Jesus" (HYFRYDOL), "People in darkness are looking for light" and "Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding". The last is one I always associate with the Advent Lessons and Carols service I used to attend annually at All Saints' Anglican here in downtown Winnipeg. In my mind's ear I hear the men and boys' choir and the resounding pipe organ proclaiming "Christ is nigh!"

The title of my post comes from the theme of yesterday's sermon which encouraged us to wait and prepare during Advent, but not in a "sit and twiddle your thumbs" kind of way. In some ways, as a musician, it is easy for me to actively prepare. The Christmas Eve service would be less than wonderful if the choir and I did not rehearse, if I did not give the trumpeter any music, etc. Even with all those things to do, I think there's more to my active waiting than that. I must find/make time to ponder what Christ's coming means in my life, in my actions, in my words as well as in my music!

Advent - Christ is coming!

Thanks be to God

In my last post, I wrote about an often sung Thanksgiving hymn. Today's hymn uses a traditional Welsh tune, AR HYD Y NOS (better known as "All through the night"), and newer words written by Fred Pratt Green copyright in 1970. You can read all the text by going here. When preparing for the service on October 10th, I checked to see what alternate harmonizations I had to enhance the service. I found a very nice setting by Martin Setchell in Last Verse Extravaganza for Organ (pub. by Kevin Mayhew Ltd. in 2001) that seemed to work well. I was a little puzzled by 2 discordant measures until I realized that the words in this part of verse 3 were: "for the truths that still confound us...thanks be to God." What great harmonic writing! And what an unusual thing to be thankful for - something that confounds us. Or is it so unusual? It is reassuring to me to know that I serve a God who is greater than I and that humans will never know or understand everything in our world.

Thanks be to God!

...For our wants to be supplied.

Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. There are many wonderful hymns for harvest thanksgiving and the one that opened St. Andrew's worship yesterday was Come, Ye Thankful People, Come. I always think of my Dad when we sing this because he told me once that he had heard Alberta farmers sing "All is safely gathered in ere the winter storms begin" when their crops were buried under snow and still out in the fields. At choir practice on Weds. that came up in conversation and a couple of the guys figured it was in 1959. That storm hit the whole prairies it seems.

Funny how you can sing a hymn time after time and something new will grab you on a certain occasion. I did remember Dad's story this year too, but what really got my attention was the line, "God, our Maker, doth provide for our wants to be supplied." - Not just our needs, but our wants! We have so much to be thankful for!

High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art

One of the reasons I began this blog is that I enjoy writing. When I was a teenager, I made a little money writing poetry and short, inspirational pieces and it was always so exciting to get that cheque in the mail! I might have pursued writing as a career except that the passion of making music took over and I knew I couldn't do without music in my life.

On my recent trip to Calgary, it was a thrill to meet an author whose work I've read and learned from . Pictured below (L-R) are author Donna Fletcher Crow, me and Donna's daughter, Elizabeth who lives in Calgary.


Donna lives in Idaho and arrived in Calgary around the same time as I did for a family visit and a book signing this coming Saturday. My sister, Sharon, told Donna about my concert at Grace Presbyterian and I was excited to learn that Donna, Elizabeth and a friend were able to come hear me play. There's much more to it than meeting this author whose work I enjoy. Donna writes historical fiction and I learned when reading The Fields of Bannockburn and Glastonbury (the history of Christianity in Scotland and England respectively) that the Celts had many small kingdoms whose monarchs would come together to elect one to be King over all. His title was "High King". Applying this knowledge to the hymn "Be Thou My Vision" gave the words a whole new meaning for me! Donna came to me after the concert and thanked me for my words and shared that she too would never sing this hymn the same way again.

I believe that when we learn more about the hymns and songs we sing in worship, we strengthen and enrich their meaning and our own praise as well.

A Weekend in Calgary

I thought it would be fun to post a few photos on my blog from my weekend in Calgary, Alberta which was Sept. 17-19, 2010. For those who were at one of the events, you can share the memories with me. If you weren't there, maybe this will whet your appetite to come to a concert in the future!



The picture above was taken at Grace Presbyterian Church, Calgary where I played on Friday evening. What great acoustics to play in!



I believe this is the first selection after intermission, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel". The second half of the program was a musical journey through the church year. It began and ended with Advent.


On Saturday, my friend, Jean, took me out to Canmore to the mountains. It was glorious!

Do you see those Rockies in the distance?

We're getting closer now!

The Three Sisters

Sunday morning I played at Trinity Church of the Nazarene in Calgary. They meet in the Orpheus Theatre on the campus of Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). It was a blessing to me to be part of the worship service, to learn a new worship chorus, and to teach the congregation there something new as well.

Here I am speaking about the 2 solo pieces I played: You Are My Hiding Place and a medley of Open the Eyes of My Heart and Be Thou My Vision.

All in all, a wonderful weekend filled with good music, good friends, and God's creation!

Excitement's in the Air!

My musical brain is just full of great melodies these days. I have been practising up a storm because ... ta da! On the weekend, I'm travelling west to Calgary, Alberta to play twice. One is a solo concert (Friday evening at Grace Presbyterian Church) and the other will be during the Sunday morning celebration service at Trinity Church of the Nazarene. I am so looking forward to connecting with old friends and making some new ones, as well as playing the music which reaches deep down to my soul and speaks to me. I know that it also speaks to those who listen because some of you have told me of your personal experiences. Thank you so much for that. To God be the glory!