Hymn of the Day: God of Grace and God of Glory (ELW 705)
Text: William Williams, 1717-1791
Tune: CWM RHONDDA, John Hughes, 1873-1932

The original text of this hymn was written in Welsh by William Williams, a circuit-riding preacher, in 1745, and given the original title, “A prayer for strength to go through the wilderness of the world.” It has since been translated in seventy-five languages. It was translated into English by Peter Williams (no relation) in 1771. Most modern hymnals now use the first verse of Peter’s translation, and the last two from William’s own translation into English.
The notion of “the wilderness” or “the unknown” is not an idea we’re overly fond of. Part of us would love to know how the future plays out - what to prepare for, what to let go because it won’t be successful anyway. C. S. Lewis alludes to this desire in Prince Caspian, in this conversation between Lucy and Aslan. “Please, Aslan!” said Lucy, “am I not to know?” “To know what would have happened, child?” said Aslan. “No, nobody is ever told that.” “Oh dear,” said Lucy.” Not knowing what the future holds brings a certain uneasiness to our lives. And yet, in a strange kind of way, there is comfort in the fact as well. Whatever happens to us or our loved ones is out of our hands; we simply couldn’t know anything about it if we tried. There is a common phrase: “Let go, and let God.” In this hymn by William Williams, we are given the words to express our prayer that God would guide us as we walk through a life of unknowns. At the end of her conversation with Aslan, Lucy, her head previously buried into Aslan’s mane, suddenly sits up and says, “I’m sorry, Aslan…I’m ready now.” Let us pray that we are always ready to go with God wherever He takes us, songs of praises ever on our lips.

CWM RHONDDA is a popular hymn tune written by John Hughes in 1907. The tune name is taken from the Welsh name for the Rhondda Valley. It is usually used in English as a setting for William Williams' text "Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer" (or, in some traditions, "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah"), originally Arglwydd, arwain trwy’r anialwch ("Lord, lead me through the wilderness") in Welsh. The tune and hymn are often called "Bread of Heaven" because of a repeated line in this English translation.

In Welsh the tune is most commonly used as a setting for a hymn by Ann Griffiths, Wele'n sefyll rhwng y myrtwydd ("Lo, between the myrtles standing"), and it was as a setting of those words that the tune was first published in 1907.
John Hughes wrote the first version of the tune, which he called "Rhondda", for the Cymanfa Ganu (hymn festival) in Pontypridd in 1905, when the enthusiasm of the 1904–1905 Welsh Revival was quite high. The present form was developed for the inauguration of the organ at Capel Rhondda, in Hopkinstown in the Rhondda Valley, in 1907. Hughes himself played the organ at this performance. The name was changed from RHONDDA to CWM RHONDDA by Harry Evans, of Dowlais, to avoid confusion with another tune, by M. O. Jones.

Besides being sung at churches and concerts (all-male choirs particularly seem to love this tune), CWM RHONDDA is heartily sung at rugby matches and royal weddings in Wales. The tune has been praised for its ability to stir up hwyl, a strong feeling of passion, by those who sing it. This is due in no small part to the climbing melody in the tune’s third phrase (“bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more”) which reaches its climax on a dominant seventh chord.

Offertory Anthem: “Even When God is Silent” Sumner Jenkins (1962)

This is a beautifully set, powerful and moving testament to faith. The anonymous text found written on a basement wall in Cologne, Germany had been written by someone hiding from the Gestapo during the Nazi holocaust. 
Mr. Jenkins holds degrees in Church Music and Organ Performance from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music in Winchester, VA. and has done additional study with Dr. Wilma Jensen and Diane Meredith Belcher. He is an active member of the Association of Anglican Musicians and the American Guild of Organists. Sumner joined St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Lynchburg, VA in September, 2016. 

I believe in the sun even when it isn't shining.
I believe in love even when feeling it not.
I believe in God even when God is silent.
I believe in the silence.

Opening Voluntary: “Jesus, Our Divine Companion” Robert Hebble (1934–2020)

This piece is a setting of PLEADING SAVIOR. It was composed by Joshua Leavitt (1794-1873) who was born in Heath, MA, earned a degree from Yale College, practiced law in Putney, VT, was graduated from Yale Seminary, was ordained and served as a Congregational minister at Stratford, CT for four years before he moved to New York City to serve as Secretary of the American Seamens’ Friend Society. He was for many years musical advisor to the most famous revivalist of the Second Great Awakening, Charles Grandison Finney. In 1831 he compiled and published The Christian Lyre, the first hymnal to print music (melody and bass) for every hymn.

American organist and composer Robert Hebble was a graduate of Yale University and the Juilliard School, where he studied with Vittorio Giannini and Roger Sessions. He also spent a year in Paris in private study with Nadia Boulanger. For over thirty years, Hebble's career was closely linked with the famed organist Virgil Fox. Fox was one of the first to recognize Hebble's creative gifts, appointing Hebble as his assistant at New York's Riverside Church at the age of sixteen.

Closing Voluntary: “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah (ZION)” Herbert Colvin, arr. (1924 - 2011)

I found this setting of William Williams’ text set to the tune ZION composed by Thomas Hastings, and give it here today for an interesting comparison with the Hymn of the Day. In fact, the pairing of this text and ZION is found in more hymnals than CWM RHONDDA.

Thomas Hastings was born at Washington, Lichfield County, Connecticut. In 1786, the family moved to Clinton, Oneida Co., N. Y. There, amid rough frontier life, his opportunities for education were small; but at an early age he developed a taste for music, and began teaching it in 1806. Seeking a wider field, he went, in 1817, to Troy, then to Albany, and in 1823 to Utica, where he conducted a religious journal, in which he advocated his special views on church music. In 1832 he was called to New York to assume the charge of several Church Choirs, and there his last forty years were spent in great and increasing usefulness and repute. He died at New York, May 15, 1872. His aim was the greater glory of God through better musical worship; and to this end he was always training choirs, compiling works, and composing music. His hymn-work was a corollary to the proposition of his music-work; he wrote hymns for certain tunes; the one activity seemed to imply and necessitate the other. If we take the aggregate of American hymnals published during the last fifty years or for any portion of that time, more hymns by him are found in common use than by any other native writer. Not one of his hymns is of the highest merit, but many of them have become popular and useful.

Herbert Colvin was Professor of Music Theory and Chair of the Theory Department at Baylor University. His compositions include both organ and choral literature. He was organist at Seventh and James Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. When Baylor University acquired a carillon, Dr. Colvin became the University Carillonneur until he retired from that position in 2006.

Hymn of the Day: Holy God, We Praise Your Name, ELW 414
Text: source unknown; tr. Clarence A. Walworth, 1820–1900
Tune: GROSSER GOTT, TE DEUM Katholisches Gesangbuch, Vienna, 1774

Translators are hymn writers too, and they contribute significantly to Christian hymnody. Translating hymn texts for singing is even more challenging than translating prose. The translator must honor the content of the original poetry, while writing a version that fits the meter and word accent of a pre-existing tune. Then the words should sing as naturally as possible in the new language. In many ways, translating a hymn text for singing is like writing a new hymn text.

Clarence Augustus Walworth studied for the ministry at Union College (1838), considering a vocation as an Episcopal priest. Then, following his father’s bidding, he studied law, passed the bar, and became an attorney in 1841. Abandoning law, he continued his study at General Theological Seminary, New York City. According to his obituary, Walworth decided to become a Roman Catholic priest while in New York, entered the Order of Redemptorists and, under their direction, continued his study in Belgium for five years. He served in England for two years before returning to the United States. In 1858 he collaborated with others to form the Order of Paulists. Following a severe bout with malaria, he became a pastor of St. Mary’s Church, Albany, New York, from 1866-1892. He died in Albany in 1900. In addition to publishing a number of works, he was an amateur geologist, developing an extensive knowledge of the geological topography of New York State.

Also known as: FRAMINGHAM, GROSSNER, GROSSER GOTT, HALLE, HUNGARIAN MELODY, LAUDAMUS, PARIS, PASCHAL, STILLORGAN. GROSSER GOTT was set to the German versification in the Katholisches Gesangbuch. Variants of the tune abound.

Offertory Anthem: “Eternal Light Shine in My Heart” K. Lee Scott (1950)

K. Lee Scott has emerged as one of America’s foremost composers of music for the church during the past two decades. His hymns are found in eight hymnals including A New Hymnal for Colleges and Schools (Yale University Press), Voices United (The United Church of Canada), and With One Voice (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America).

The text by Christopher Idle is based on Corinthians 4:6.

Eternal light, shine in my heart; Eternal hope, lift up my eyes;
Eternal pow'r, be my support; Eternal wisdom, make me wise.

Eternal life, raise me from death; Eternal brightness, help me see;
Eternal Spirit, give me breath; Eternal Savior, come to me:

Until by your most costly grace, Invited by your holy word,
At last I come before your face To know you, my eternal God.

God, who commanded the light to shine in the darkness, Has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledg Of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Opening Voluntary: Aria on “Jewels” Dale Wood (1934-2003)

“Jewels” is a hymn tune and text written by George F. Root, who was born at Sheffield, Massachusetts, and named after the German composer George Frideric Handel. Root left his farming community for Boston at 18, flute in hand, intending to join an orchestra. He worked for a while as a church organist in Boston, and from 1845 taught music at the New York Institute for the Blind, where he met Fanny Crosby with whom he would compose fifty to sixty popular secular songs. At least two of his children, Frederic Woodman Root and Grace W. Root, also became composers. He was a romantic American composer, who found particular fame during the American Civil War, with songs such as "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!" and "The Battle Cry of Freedom". He is regarded as the first American to compose a secular cantata. Four of his hymns are in I. D. Sankey's Sacred Songs & Solos, 1878. Although he wrote over 400 hymns texts and tunes, he is much more widely known as a composer of popular music than as a hymn writer. He died Aug. 6, 1895.

Dale Wood was known throughout the musical community as a master of melody, and "the difficult art of simplicity." In addition to his prolific volume of published choral works and hymn tunes, his compositions for handbells, harp, and organ are performed on a regular basis throughout the world. Every Christmas, Easter, and Sunday morning, one can expect to hear his music being sung or played somewhere by small church choirs, renowned organists, symphony orchestras, and choral groups as large and well-known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which has performed and recorded many of his works.

Closing Voluntary: “Archangel Suite: I Michael” Craig Phillips 

“Michael" is a trumpet processional with a martial opening in trumpet-tune style portraying St. Michael, the chief angelic adversary of Satan.

Craig Phillips is a distinguished and popular American composer and organist and Director of Music at All Saints' Church, Beverly Hills. His choral and organ music is heard Sunday by Sunday in churches and cathedrals across the United States, and many of his works have been performed in concert throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He was named the American Guild of Organists Distinguished Composer for 2012, the seventeenth recipient of this special award. In 2015 Dr. Phillips was named an honorary canon of the Cathedral Center of St. Paul, Diocese of Los Angeles, at a gala event at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and in 2016 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate from Virginia Theological Seminary.

Hymn of the Day:  Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service ELW 712
Text: Albert F. Bayly, 1901-1984
Tune: BEACH SPRING, The Sacred Harp, Philadelphia, 1844.

Albert F. Bayly wrote this text in response to a Hymn Society of America search for new hymn texts dealing with social welfare. It was chosen as the theme hymn for the Second National Conference on the Churches and Social Welfare held in Cleveland, Ohio, October 23-27, 1961. The Hymn Society published the text in Seven New Social Welfare Hymns (1961). The text begins with recognition of Christ's ultimate sacrifice on the cross and then points to the continuing needs of the homeless, the hungry, the prisoners, and the mourners. Bayly's words remind us of modern refugees, AIDS patients, and famine victims who are as close as our doorstep or who are brought to our attention via the news media. The final two stanzas encourage us to move from Sunday worship to weekday service; such integrity in the Christian life is truly a liturgy of sacrifice, pleasing to God.

Albert F. Bayly was born in Bex­hill on Sea, Sus­sex, Eng­land. He received his ed­u­cat­ion at Lon­don Un­i­ver­si­ty (BA) and Mans­field Coll­ege, Ox­ford. Bayly was a Congregationalist (later United Reformed Church) minister from the late 1920s until his death in 1984. His life and ministry spanned the Depression of the 1930s, the Second World War, and the years of reconstruction which followed. Af­ter re­tir­ing in 1971, he moved to Spring­field, Chelms­ford, and was ac­tive in the local Unit­ed Re­formed Church. He wrote sev­er­al pageants on mis­sion themes, and li­bret­tos for can­ta­tas by W. L. Lloyd Web­ber.

Offertory: “Children of the Heavenly Father” Paul Sjolund (1935)

Caroline W. Sandell Berg (1832- 1903), is better known as Lina Sandell, the "Fanny Crosby of Sweden." "Lina" Wilhelmina Sandell Berg was the daughter of a Lutheran pastor; she wrote hymns partly to cope with the fact that she witnessed his tragic death by drowning. Many of her 650 hymns were used in the revival services of Carl O. Rosenius, and a number of them gained popularity particularly because of the musical settings written by gospel singer Oskar Ahnfelt. Jenny Lind, the famous Swedish soprano, underwrote the cost of publishing a collection of Ahnfelt's music, Andeliga Sänger (1850), which consisted mainly of Berg's hymn texts. This hymn promises amazing life and hope from a woman who lived in great pain and anguish. Much like Horatio Spafford’s timeless hymn, “When Peace like a River,” Lina Sandell-Berg’s “Children of the Heavenly Father” was written under the influence of incredible grace amidst heart-wrenching pain. The gorgeous tune is just as comforting as the lyrics, lifting the soul and calming the spirit. The tune for this hymn is called TRYGGARE KAN INGEN VARA. The exact composer is unknown, but the tune is probably a Swedish folk song— although variations on the tune are known to have been in Germany in the early 1800’s.

Paul Sjolund is a leading composer of American church and choral music. The range of his style includes a wide spectrum of majestic anthems, fanfares and festival hymns, poignant children's music, and exhilarating range of spirituals and folksongs.

Children of the heav'nly Father, safely in His bosom gather;
nestling bird nor star in heaven such a refuge e’er was given.

God His own doth tend and nourish; in His holy courts they flourish.
From all evil things He spares them; in His mighty arms He bears them.

Neither life nor death shall ever from the Lord His children sever;
unto them His grace He showeth, and their sorrows all He knoweth.

Tho' He giveth or He taketh, God His children ne’er forsaketh;
His the loving purpose solely to preserve them pure and holy.

Opening Voluntary: “Morecambe,” Pamela Decker (1955)

Frederick Atkinson (1841-1897) wrote the Victorian tune MORECAMBE, named after a town in England’s Midland district. His intent was to provide a musical setting for Henry Francis Lyte’s famous text, “Abide with me, fast falls the eventide”. Indeed the rhythm is identical between EVENTIDE, the tune associated with “Abide with me,” and MORECAMBE. There is, however, no doubt that MORECAMBE is well suited to the text “Spirit of God.” In the first stanza, a descending melody accompanies the words, “descend upon my heart.” Likewise an ascending melody in the third line allows the words “mighty as thou art” to blossom. This rising figure works amazingly well with the text of each stanza. The final three notes of the melody, all on the same pitch, do not end on the customary tonic, home tone or first degree of the scale, but on the third degree. By concluding the melody on the third degree of the scale, there is a floating quality to the ending of each stanza, reminiscent of the hovering of the descending Dove, one of the metaphors of the Spirit.

Pamela Decker is Professor of Organ/Music Theory at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona and she also serves as organist at Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Tucson.  She has won prizes in national and international competitions for organ and composition.

Closing Voluntary: KIRKEN DEN ER ET (Built on a Rock) Wilbur Held (1914-2015)

Composed for this text by Ludwig M. Lindeman (1812-1887), KIRKEN was published in Wilhelm A. Wexel's Christelige Psalmer (1840). A bar form (AAB) tune in the Dorian mode, it is a suitably rugged, folk-like tune for this text, with a satisfying climax in the final line.

KIRKEN (also called LINDEMAN) was the first hymn tune Lindeman wrote. Born into a family of musicians, Lindeman received his early organ training from his father, for whom he became a substitute organist at the age of twelve. Although he studied theology in Oslo (then called Christiana), after 1839 he turned to a career in music. He was the organist of the Church of the Savior in Oslo (1839-1887) and became a virtuoso performer. In 1871 he was invited to come to London to give inaugural recitals on the new organ in Albert Hall. Lindeman published hymn collections and organ works as well as the influential Koralbog (1877), which contained tunes (restored to rhythmic shape) for Landstad's hymnal of 1869. He was also an excellent teacher and founded an organ school (later the Oslo Conservatory) with his son in 1883. A scholarly collector of Norwegian folk music, Lindeman traveled the country collecting folk songs, which he published in a series of volumes (1853-1867) and which influenced the works of composer Edvard Grieg.

Wilbur Held was born in the little Chicago suburb of Des Plaines. Dr. Held’s mother was an accomplished violinist, and there was always music in his home and his church. But piano lessons were poorly practiced, and the decision to get serious about music didn’t happen until after graduation from high school when he enrolled at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, studying organ with Frank van Dusen and theory/composition with John Palmer. After getting serious he did pretty well, and midway in his studies he became Leo Sowerby’s assistant at St. James Church–an association that lasted seven years. He received a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the conservatory. In 1946 he joined the faculty at the Ohio State University, where he became Professor of Organ and Church Music and head of the keyboard department. He remained in this position for over 30 years, and for most of that time was also organist-choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio.

Hymn of the Day: Healer of our ev'ry ill ELW 612
Text: Marty Haugen, 1950
Tune: HEALER OF OUR EV’RY ILL, Marty Haugen

Marty Haugen wrote this meditative song during the winter of 1985-86. During this time, his family was staying at Holden Village, a retreat center in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger crashed shortly after takeoff. According to Haugen:

In addition to the loss of seven astronauts, this crash was a symbolic loss for Americans. At Holden we had very infrequent communication with the outside world, so we did not know of the disaster for a couple of days. When we got some information, we held a service in the evening together, and “Healer of our Every Ill” was written as an expression for our community to grieve together (Daw, 2016, 795, quoting Westermeyer, 2010, 451).

Haugen uses the text of this hymn as a prayer for healing, not only of the body but also of the mind and spirit. The refrain, “Give us peace beyond our fear, and hope beyond our sorrow,” is a powerful prayer and helps us express thoughts we find difficult to put into words. This hymn is also about joy, as evidenced in stanza two with the words, “your grace is still unfolding.” Stanza three’s text, “Give us strength to love each other,” uses language that urges us, even in times of sorrow and fear, to show love and kindness to our sisters and brothers in Christ. The last verse of the hymn asks us to teach Christ’s way of healing and to fill each heart with compassion.

Marty Haugen was born in Wanamingo, Minnesota. Haugen studied piano, violin, trombone, and organ through high school, and he played organ in the Lutheran church where his family attended. He holds degrees from Luther College and United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, and participated in graduate work in Pastoral Studies at what is now Luther Seminary and the St. Paul School of Divinity of the University of St. Thomas (Canterbury Dictionary). His hymns have become very popular and can be found in many hymnals today, including the Chalice Hymnal and Evangelical Lutheran Worship. The majority of his compositions are published by GIA publications, including two settings of the liturgy for Lutheran use, “Holden Evening Prayer” and “Now the Feast and Celebration.” He has also composed settings of the Catholic Mass, including the “Mass of Creation.” Haugen has composed numerous choral arrangements, sacred songs, and hymns, including “Gather Us In,” “Eye Hath Not Seen,” “Canticle of the Sun,” “We Are Many Parts,” “We Remember,” “Shepherd Me, O God,” and “Awake!” Currently, he writes contemporary hymns and liturgies for the Lutheran church and holds a position as composer in residence at Mayflower Community Church in Minneapolis.

Offertory: Sing a New Song Michael Praetorious (1571-1621), Mark Schweitzer, arr.

This is the famous cannon offered today in 3 parts with a dance-like arrangement by Mark Schweitzer and a text based on Psalm 96. Michael Praetorius was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms based on Protestant hymns. His family name in German appears in various forms including Schultze, Schulte, Schultheiss, Schulz and Schulteis. Praetorius was the conventional Latinized form of this family name, Schultze meaning "village judge or magistrate" in German. The Latin Praetorius means "magistrate-related or one with the rank of a magistrate."

Sing a new song, sing to God with a voice of triumph,
Make his praises known to all the nations,
Sing the honor of his name.

Opening Voluntary: “Prelude” from Suite Breve Craig Phillips (1961)

Craig Phillips is a distinguished and popular American composer and organist and Director of Music at All Saints’ Church, Beverly Hills. His choral and organ music is heard Sunday by Sunday in churches and cathedrals across the United States, and many of his works have been performed in concert throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He was named the American Guild of Organists Distinguished Composer for 2012 — the seventeenth recipient of this special award. Dr. Phillips joins an illustrious list that includes past honorees Virgil Thomson, Ned Rorem, Daniel Pinkham, Stephen Paulus and David Hurd.

Closing Voluntary “Herr Jesu Christ! dich zu uns wend” Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877–1933)

The text Herr Jesu Christ! dich zu uns wend, was first published in 1648. Whoever the composer was, the hymn soon became justly popular, and in 1678 it was formally directed to be sung in all the churches in Saxony on all Sundays and festivals. It is a simple and forcible hymn, which survived the Rationalistic period, and text and tune are currently found together in 136 hymnals.

The chorale improvisation based on this hymn, is one of my favorites by Sigfrid Karg-Elert, who composed primarily for small ensembles or solo instruments like organ, piano and harmonium. The 66 Chorale Improvisations on Evangelical Church Hymns Op. 65, are his first organ works composed directly for this instrument. And I find it interesting he wrote 30 Caprices for Flute specifically for a friend, a flautist bound for service in the war. These short exercises were designed to challenge linear one-staff thinking and in short, keep the friend from becoming bored. They are now a standard set of technical, dynamic, and phrasing exercises for young flute students all over the world.