What if Bart Simpson took over the Worship Planning?

Thanks to Allen Inness!!

A Simple Prayer…Missional Language in Hymns #1

The hot word right now is “missional.”  Don’t get me wrong, I want to be a part of a church that is hard set on doing the mission of God.  And I am…But the more I think about it, this concept isn’t really that new.  Specifically, I think of songs over the years with overtly missional tones…and I’m struck by just how many time honored hymns speak of things like: trusting in and discerning the Will of God;  following Jesus into a path that isn’t necessarily cheery or easy, and seeking to be the very incarnation of Jesus in our world…

To that end, I’ll begin today doing an examination of some of these hymns and texts.

I rediscovered a hymn just last evening that I haven’t heard or sung in many years…I was particularly struck by the first, fourth and fifth verses (one of the author’s verses is rarely published in Churches of Christ hymnals).

O Jesus, I have promised to serve Thee to the end;
Be Thou forever near me, my Master and my Friend;
I shall not fear the battle if Thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway if Thou wilt be my Guide.

O let me feel Thee near me! The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear;
My foes are ever near me, around me and within;
But Jesus, draw Thou nearer, and shield my soul from sin.

O let me hear Thee speaking in accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion, the murmurs of self will.
O speak to reassure me, to hasten or control;
O speak, and make me listen, Thou Guardian of my soul.

O Jesus, Thou hast promised to all who follow Thee
That where Thou art in glory there shall Thy servant be.
And Jesus, I have promised to serve Thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow, my Master and my Friend.

O let me see Thy footprints, and in them plant mine own;
My hope to follow duly is in Thy strength alone.
O guide me, call me, draw me, uphold me to the end;
And then in Heaven receive me, my Savior and my Friend.

Here’s a note from The Psalter Hymnal Handbook (Brink & Polman), an excellent volume, might I add, that talks a bit about John Ernest Bode (1816-1874)…

“John E. Bode (b. St. Pancras, England, 1816; d. Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, England, 1874) wrote this hymn of consecration in 1866 on the occasion of the confirmation (profession of faith and first communion) of his daughter and two sons. The text was printed in 1868 by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge in a leaflet entitled “A Hymn for the Newly Confirmed” and was later published in an appendix to that society’s Psalms and Hymns (1869).
A fine student at Christ Church, Oxford, England, and a prominent scholar who gave the famous Bampton Lectures (“for the exposition and defense of the Christian faith”) at Oxford in 1855, Bode was a rector in Westwell, Oxfordshire, and in Castle Camps. This gifted poet and hymn writer published Hymns for the Gospel of the Day, for Each Sunday and Festivals of Our Lord in 1860.

Nearly all hymnals, including the Psalter Hymnal, delete two of Bode’s original six stanzas. The hymn originally began with the words “O Jesus, we have promised” and included a reference to Luke 9:57: “I will follow you wherever you go.” The text, especially stanza 4, has been altered for publication in the Psalter Hymnal.
The word “promised” in stanza 1 refers to the vows taken at confirmation/ profession of faith. This hymn is a prayer for Christ’s presence on the Christian pilgrimage–in the face of temptation and external sin (st. 2) and internal guilt (st. 3)–and it assures us that our promises (st. 1) come in response to the promises of Christ (st. 4).”

Isaac Watts & Churches of Christ

So…

In my worship planning for this last Sunday at ND, I made, apparently, a terrible assumption.  I should have realized it when the majority of my singers didn’t seem to know these two particular songs like I thoght they would.  But I pressed ahead anyway, planning two of Isaac Watts’ most well-known, time-honored hymns, “I Sing the Mighty Power of God,” and “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” only to be completely surprised by the lack of participation of our congregation.  Apparently, they aren’t as well-known after all.  As a matter of fact, our people looked flat-out disinterested, some even obstinent to the fact that we were singing them.  I’m not ready to give up on them yet…they’ll be back.  But, wow was I surprised!

Why is this?  Some of Watts’ volumes of hymns, i.e., “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” have kept a prominent place in our hymnody and others, while incredibly popular in other American Protestant religious streams, have been all but absent in our history?  As you might imagine, this led to discussion with several folks.  Is it the language?  It is just too “high-churchy” for us to sing now that we are almost completely “singing in the language of the people?”  (Thanks to the movements of the mid 20th century that moved further away from classical hymnody…)  Is it that we just don’t like the music?  (I don’t see how that could even be possible…)

I’m REALLY curious…who knows.  You CofC folk out there–do you sing these two hymns?  What types of high-church style music do you sing?  Have any of you made notice of the incredible return by people such as Travis Cottrell & Chris Tomlin to hymns like these?  It’s a cycle you know…things go away a while…and then they return years later…

Thoughts?

Isaac Watts

(Correction: PRAISE TO THE LORD, THE ALMIGHTY is by Joachim Neander, not Isaac Watts…just the style reminds me of Watts’)

It’s alive…barely.

The last month has been an absolute blur.
Vacation, research time in Nashville, 2 days in the office, 3 day conference, weekend…and finally, yesterday and today, I’m back in a normal rhythm.
I’ve been working diligently to get one branch of my research, called the LASTING HYMNS PROJECT, well underway.  Over 110 readers from across the country have been invited to join in this research with me as a part of informal data collection to see what people think are the truly Lasting Hymns people still need to be singing 100 years from now.  So many friends, scholars, musicians, ministers and people with a passion for hymns and hymnology have been so generously willing to participate and offer help.  I can’t wait to see what this first leg of results brings in.

What would you consider to be the truly lasting hymns?  Feel free to leave a comment or two…

But for now, a plea from a hymn-writer of years past.  Can you name the hymn that this line comes from (without artificial intelligence help…i.e., google)?

“Grant me the cleansing thy blood doth impart…”

May this simple prayer be our prayer as well…

RIP Walter Cronkite

I  love presidential history…always have, and always will.  And when I did my first “report” on the Kennedy in 5th grade, I remember my grandmother telling me about how vividly she remembered the very place she was when she heard Walter Cronkite report his death.  He was one of the first to be in the White House, live on TV and Radio as President Truman escorted him, along with two other network news reporters on a tour of the then, newly refurbished White House.

He was and is the man whom Americans trusted the most…may he rest in peace.

Here’s his famous and touching report of the news of Kennedy’s death on that fateful day in November of 1963.

“And that’s the way it was…”

Give me Your Tired…Your Poor…Your Old hymnals!

Those of you who know me know that I’m constantly on the prowl for old hymnals!  The subject of hymnals, hymnody and hymns is not just a passion and my collecting old hymnals just a a hobby.  Rather, I’ve been able to research and study them in my graduate studies (this next phase which will conclude in December with a Master’s degree).

I’ve got about 18 different areas that I’ve researched or am researching right now.
One particular area is looking at two hymnals that were produced in the decade of the 1970’s by two men who were brothers.  Their two books (in various and asundry editions) had great popularity among Churches of Christ.  But as I continually study, compare, contrast and converse with other hymnological authorities, I’m shocked at just how much of their work was done illegally.

Rather than do their own leg work to attain appropriate copyright permissions and to set up their books in such a way to be “their own,” well over half of their work was just cut, copied, and pasted from previous books.  If one of your books was taken, copied straight up and pasted in someone’elses book without having given permission or without having been given credit, how might you feel?  I’m not sure how I feel about this…I’m in the middle of trying to have some conversations with parties involved in the publication of these books and also with those whose books were “ripped off…”  I’m anxious to see where this goes.

Oh…and if you have books (hymnals) you want to donate, you can email me at manwithbaton@gmail.com

Senior Adult Choir does Hip Hop

Many of you have probably seen this…but I laughed so hard when I saw it a while back.  And in light of the video I posted yesterday and many of your responses…well, I couldn’t refuse!  In the “info” section to the video on YouTube, here is what it says:  “This was the opening video for our Student Fall Retreat called “You’ve Got Talent.” Everyone is asking what inspired this. Here is goes… 1) We needed a great opening video that caught everyone off guard, and set the the tone for the weekend. 2) With this idea in mind, we thought we could use this video as a great object lesson about media choices (kinda creepy hearing your grandparents sing some of this), and 3) this has been a GREAT transgenerational culture experiment. It has totally bridged a gap with our Senior adults and our students. Hope you enjoy!

New Wineskins…Old Hymns & New Tunes

Randy Gill is a master craftsman when it comes to song writing and arranging.  Period.  One of my favorites of his is a setting of John Newton’s “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds.”  He’s written new music & added a new chorus and paired it with a time-honored text.

How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear
It soothes our sorrows heals our wounds
And drives away our fear

You make the wounded spirit whole
You calm the troubled breast
You’re manna to the hungry soul
And to the weary, rest.

Your name’s the rock on which we stand
Our shield, our hiding place
Our never-failing treasure
Filled with Your abiding grace

(Chorus)
Jesus, Jesus,
Our savior and our Friend
Jesus, Jesus
Our life, our way, our end.

Sometimes, an old hymn has a tune that just doesn’t fit its text.  Or, it’s a tune written in a musical style that doesn’t fit the current setting of time and place in which its being sung…New music or an added refrain/chorus breathes new life into a hymn and melds the ancient with the future.  It’s this melding of old and new that keeps hymns in our liturgical vocabulary…

The Renewed Mind is the Key…(To Why CofC’s are A Cappella!)

There are some unspoken reasons to why Churches of Christ are a cappella.
Take this video for example…This is what would happen if we went instrumental and started incorporating “planned choreography” into our worship!  (Thanks Mike for the link!)

Baby Kent Rhodes is Here!

We’re so happy that our friends Kyle & Susie Rhodes welcomed their baby boy into the world, Kent, today!

Brings back my own memories of the arrival of our sweet Mackenzie!