SONGS OF PRAISE – BRIDGE ST. ANDOVER
SUNDAY OCTOBER 2nd at 6pm
21 ‘Born in song!’ Words and music written by the Rev. Brian Hoare, one-time Principal of Cliff College, while on a train journey from London to Chesterfield, for the 1979 bicentenary celebration of John Wesley’s visit to Sheffield. The opening phrase comes from the preface to the 1933 Methodist Hymnbook and indicates the importance that hymn-singing has always had in Methodism – both for teaching and expressing the Christian faith. The tune ‘Chatsworth’ was named after the Duke of Devonshire’s great mansion near Cliff College in Derbyshire.
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59. ‘Lord, the light of your love is shining…’ Graham Kendrick has written a considerable number of modern worship songs during the past 30 years, of which this is one of the best-known. He is eminent as a worship leader, speaker and musician and has done much to bring more modern words and music into Christian worship in many parts of the church. Twenty of these are to be found in Singing the Faith including ‘
‘Jesus, stand among us at the meeting of our lives…’
‘Light of the world, you stepped down into darkness…’
‘Make way, make way for the King of kings…’
‘From heaven you came, helpless babe…’
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82, ‘O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder…’ This might be regarded as a sort of latter-day Sankey-type hymn. Translated from the Swedish, it was popularised by George Beverly Shea and Cliff Barrows during the Billy Graham campaigns in the mid 20th century.
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248. ‘I heard the voice of Jesus say…’ This hymn has been familiar and popular for more than 120 years. The words were written by Horatius Bonar, a Scottish minister. The tune used is called Vox Dilecti, (meaning ‘Sweet Voice’) was composed for this hymn by J B Dykes, a well-known Victorian composer of such music.
Among other of Horatius Bonar’s hymns still sung, although excluded from Singing the Faith, are
‘O love of God, how strong and true…’,
‘Rejoice and be glad, the Redeemer hath come…’,
‘Fill thou my life, O Lord my God…’.
and the communion hymn, ‘Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face…’,
Andover sheet 2
293. ‘All heaven declares the glory of the risen Lord… This is another worship song that has become popular in recent years – words and music written by Noel and Tricia Richards. Noel Richards has been involved in Christian music since the age of 15 when he was associated with the Youth for Christ movement. Five of his hymns appear in Singing the Faith.
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158 ‘Lord, you sometimes speak in whispers…’
This hymn is one of many by Christopher Idle and reminds us of the many different ways in which God can make himself known to us. In Hymns & Psalms we had an excellent hymn by the same author on the meaning and use of the Bible…’Powerful in making us wise to salvation…’ This is in Singing the Faith as is another by the same author on the final passion of Christ. The tune for tonight’s hymn is the well-known Welsh Calon Lan.
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359 ‘Lord Christ, we praise your sacrifice…’
This hymn, with its tune, is in Hymns & Psalms and had first appeared elsewhere in 1975. It links together several events in the life of our Lord when he was helpless, and ends with the appeal for us to share in that same sense of sacrifice in his service. The author, Alan Gaunt, a minister of the United Reformed Church, has written quite a number of modern hymns, ten of which are included in Singing the Faith.
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398. ‘There’s a spirit in the air…’
We have had this hymn in Hymns & Psalms and it has been well-used over the years, as is his ‘Christ is alive, let Christians sing…’ The author, Brian Wren, also from the United Reformed Church, has written quite a number of hymns that are in use in many books today – there are 15 of them in Singing the Faith, some of which will be new to Methodist congregations.
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470. ‘Lord, for the years…’
Most of us will have become familiar with this hymn and its tune via ‘Songs of Praise’ on television or united services. Written by Timothy Dudley-Smith,
former Bishop of Thetford, now retired and living in Salisbury, these words and this tune have become popular in many situations. The tune by Michael Baughen seems to fit the spirit of the words perfectly. Nine hymns by the same author are to be found in Singing the Faith, including ‘Tell out my soul the greatness of the Lord’. There is also a setting of the Apostles Creed by Timothy Dudley-Smith at the back of the book to a familiar hymn-tune.
Andover sheet 3
608 ‘All praise to our redeeming Lord…’
Here we are on very familiar ground with our own Charles Wesley and the tune Lucius. One only hopes and prays that the words of the 4th verse are true! (I once knew a Methodist minister who would not allow his congregation to sing this verse because they did not ‘think and speak the same, and cordially agree!) There are 77 Charles Wesley hymns in Singing the Faith, about half the number to be found in Hymns & Psalms.
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653 ‘O Christ, the Healer, we have come…’
Some of us had the privilege of knowing the Rev. Fred Pratt Green, a Methodist minister, poet and hymn-writer. He was a lovely character, humble and friendly to all. He might be regarded as a latter-day Charles Wesley, although he would have strongly refuted such a suggestion! It is good that 23 of his hymns are to be found in Singing the Faith, including this one on healing.
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663 ‘I, the Lord of sea and sky…’
This hymn has become well-known in many congregations and meetings. The words and tune are by Daniel Schutte, an American Catholic. He has written many hymns on all sorts of subjects over the last 40 years, but this is the one that seems to have found most favour with a wide range of churches, Catholic and Protestant.
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748 ‘Glorious things of thee are spoken…’
Here we are back to the days of the Wesleys. John Newton, who wrote this hymn, had a very varied career. He went to sea as a young boy and became reckless and ungodly. Later he became part of the crew of a slave ship. He fell into the hands of an African slave dealer, and during his escape he came across Thomas a Kempis’ book Of the Imitation of Christ, which was the start of a new approach to life for him. Even so he became the master of a slave ship for some six years – although later a strong abolitionist. He met the Wesleys and became a committed Christian, then a preacher with a strong and influential congregation, eventually becoming ordained in the Church of England.
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768 ‘The peace of the Lord…’
We end with words and tune by the Rev. Brian Hoare, who wrote our opening hymn.This provides a musical opportunity for members of the congregation to bless one another in the name of our one Lord and Saviour. Although we are using it at the end of the evening, it could be used at the beginning of a service or part-way through as seems most fitting.
SONGS OF PRAISE – NEWBURY METHODIST CHURCH
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 25th 2011
115 ‘Praise ye the Lord…’ Isaac Watts, born in Southampton, was one of the first writers of Christian song to move from putting the biblical psalms into verse into giving them a Christian understanding – although this does not appear in this particular hymn which is based on verses from Psalm 147. Watts’ thus prepared the way for the Wesley brothers in introducing a freer use and interpretation of biblical teaching into hymnody.
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8. ‘God with us: Creator, Father…’
The author, Alan Gaunt, a minister of the United Reformed Church, has written quite a number of modern hymns, ten of which are included in Singing the Faith. Here we have one in the classic Trinity formation – v.1 the Father, v.2 the Son, v.3 the Holy Spirit, and v.4 the Trinity itself.
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233 ‘When Jesus came to Jordan…’
Some of us had the privilege of knowing the Rev. Fred Pratt Green, a Methodist minister, poet and hymn-writer. He was a lovely character, humble and friendly to all. He might be regarded as a latter-day Charles Wesley, although he would have strongly refuted such a suggestion! It is good that 23 of his hymns are to be found in Singing the Faith, including this one on the baptism and temptations of Jesus.
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235 ‘Christ our Redeemer…’
This hymn was written by Timothy Dudley-Smith, former Bishop of Thetford, now retired and living in Salisbury. Like the previous hymn, it deals with the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Nine hymns by the same author are to be found in Singing the Faith, including ‘Tell out my soul the greatness of the Lord’. There is also a setting of the Apostles Creed by Timothy Dudley-Smith at the back of the book to a familiar hymn-tune.
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293 ‘All heaven declares…’
This is another worship song that has become popular in recent years - words and music written by Noel and Tricia Richards. Noel Richards has been involved in Christian music since the age of 15 when he was associated with the Youth for Christ movement. Five of his hymns appear in Singing the Faith.
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Newbury sheet 2
158 ‘Lord, you sometimes speak in whispers…’
This hymn is one of many by Christopher Idle and reminds us of the many different ways in which God can make himself known to us. In Hymns & Psalms we had an excellent hymn by the same author on the meaning and use of the Bible…’Powerful in making us wise to salvation…’ This is in Singing the Faith as is another by the same author on the final passion of Christ. The tune for tonight’s hymn is the well-known Welsh Calon Lan.
409 ‘Let us build a house…’
The words and tune of this worship song is by Marty Haugen, an American whose work has been used by both Catholic and Protestant churches. In these verses the Kingdom of God is depicted as a house – a home – being built where God’s family live together.
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696 ‘For the healing of the nations…’
The words of this hymn are by the Rev. Fred Kaan, United Reformed Church ministeraugenH
and close associate of Alan Gaunt and Brian Wren. It appeared in
Hymns & Psalms and has been very useful for use in Remembrance Services and prayers for peace.
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681 ‘Community of Christ…’
The words of this hymn are by Shirley Erena Murray of New Zealand, whose prolific work has been used in more than 100 hymnbooks and some of her hymns have been translated into other languages. Like the previous hymn, it is an appeal for justice, not only between nations, but also within communities.
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640 ‘We turn to God…’
Here we have a translation of words by the German Christian martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed for his faith under Hitler’s regime. These thoughts were set down in his Letters and Papers from prison and published after the war. The tune is by Paul Leddington Wright, musical editor of Singing the Faith, who is often the musical director of television’s ‘Songs of Praise’.
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Newbury sheet 3
489 ‘All I once held dear…’
The words and tune are by Graham Kendrick who has written a considerable number of modern worship songs during the past 30 years. He is eminent as a worship leader, speaker and musician and has done much to bring more modern words and music into Christian worship in many parts of the church. Twenty of these are to be found in Singing the Faith including ‘
‘Jesus, the light of your love is shining…’
‘Jesus, stand among us at the meeting of our lives…’
‘Light of the world, you stepped down into darkness…’
‘Make way, make way for the King of kings…’
‘From heaven you came, helpless babe…’
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588 ‘I come with joy, a child of God…’
This modern communion hymn is by Brian Wren of the United Reformed Church who has contributed much to modern hymnody. It is a rewrite of that in Hymns & Psalms that begins ‘I come with joy to meet my Lord…’. Some verses are the same and some have been changed – which may prove confusing at first!
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557 ‘Let him to whom we now belong…’
Having begun with the first recognised English hymn-writer, Isaac Watts, we end with his immediate successor, Charles Wesley. Although the number of Wesley hymns in Singing the Faith is only half of those in Hymns & Psalms, it is to be hoped that the remaining ones will be valued all the more. There can be no finer hymn of Christian commitment and dedication than is found in these four verses.
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768 ‘The peace of the Lord…’
We end with words and tune by the Rev. Brian Hoare, who wrote our opening hymn.This provides a musical opportunity for members of the congregation to bless one another in the name of our one Lord and Saviour. Although we are using it at the end of the evening, it could be used at the beginning of a service or part-way through as seems most fitting.
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