It was a great day for hymns in our church - but the last one is a good old chestnut and was sung with about as much fervency as our little church can give.
Share with us a little about your music at church. Is your congregation a "frozen chosen" when it comes to singing, or does it give all it can, or somewhere in between?
What did you sing today in worship?
We weren't so frozen today. We celebrated Children's Sabbath, so we sang all songs that the kids have been learning in a little after worship music time they've had the last few months. Mostly bluegrassy, banjo, gospely stuff. SO FUN!!!
ReplyDeleteOne was new to me, called "In My Father's House". I couldn't find it youtubed or anywhere. The tune is pretty similar to "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart."
Next we did "He's got the whole world in his hands" with verses like "children of the desert" and "children of the mountains" with pictures of children from around the world to guide our singing prayer.
The last one was "Do, Lord" - - not always the best Reformed theology, but you know - - God's bigger than that!!!
After the benediction the adults sang a blessing to the kids with "Jesus Loves the Little Children".
Fun fun fun singing that really let the kids get involved in worship. Mission accomplished!!!
We ended worship today with siyahamba in english, zulu, and spanish. The congregation really got into it at the 11:00 service--there was moving and clapping along with excellent djembe played by one of our high schoolers--and everyone sang along, even when the languages weren't easy. It was great fun!
ReplyDeleteI remember "In My Father's House. :-) Hadn't thought of that one in a long time!
ReplyDeleteOur service is "contemporary" and we sang "Shout to the Lord," "Great and Mighty is He," "Mighty is Our God" and a beautiful contemporary hymn--so God-centered and worshipful and NOT about me and Jesus. ;-) The name of it is "High in the Heavens Exalted." I wish I could share it.
We sang "Immortal, Invisible", "This little light of mine" and an excellent contemporary hymn by Australian songwriter Robin Mann with the refrain "Because we bear your name" (we focussed on the reading from Matthew for the sermon).
ReplyDeleteWe ended with a groovy gospel number that some of our kids brought back from NCYC (a National Australian Youth Convention) called "Lead me on" which we managed to carry through to a reprise of "This little light of mine". Seemed to make everyone pretty happy.
For the reflection after the sermon, the musicians sang the George Mxdana "Alleluia" (from South Africa) with all the harmonies. It was a particularly good Sunday for music this week.
I had a moment of vicarly assertiveness and changed the last hymn so that we could underline my sermon theme with
ReplyDelete"Take my life and let it be"
The concentration was tangible - we really prayed that hymn yesterday. How we'll do with living it today is, of course, another question entirely!
We started with Praise to the Living God and ended with Crown Him with Many Crowns. Rock of Ages got its annual nod at the sequence but I'm blanking on the postcommunion hymn.
ReplyDeleteGuide me O Thou Great Jehovah was the recessional the Sunday God called me to priesthood.
We ended our day with our first ever catered stewardship dinner. We had 63 people there, the youth group did a wonderful job of serving food and beverages, and the stewardship committee presented the budget for the coming year very well. There were 28 "pledging units" there and 25 pledges were turned in at the end of the evening! It was a long but very good day for us.
I don't know how I managed this, but I'm in the midst of the most un-musical Lutheran congregation I've ever been in. I mean -- even back in the day when I went to a dying little rural church whose octogenarian organist played every hymn with a hockey-game beat...the congregation stepped up to outsing her.;-) These people...they just sit there. Even on Reformation Day, singing "A Mighty Fortress," it's more like "A Modest Enclosure."
ReplyDeleteHi--I just found you (via a blog-surfing labyrinth that began with the daily Google "quilters" alert). "Cwm Rhondda" is one of my favorite hymn tunes. At Faithworks, the UCC national conference in 1994, one of the sessions was by a Harry Emerson Fosdick reenactor. I hadn't known much about HED. Writing "Guide Me" was a statement about Europe post WWI, as the Nazi threat was growing. We sing/pray those lyrics even more fervently now.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to all!
Oops--I meant "Guide Us."
ReplyDeleteMy excuse is insufficient coffee...I *know* what the hymn is.
ReplyDelete