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Category Archives: Hymn History

Hymn History: God of Grace and God of Glory

“God of Grace and God of Glory”
Harry Emerson Fosdick
The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 577

God of grace and God of glory,
on thy people pour thy power;
crown thine ancient church’s story;
bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the facing of this hour.

“God of Grace and God of Glory” was the opening hymn at Pender’s 9:00 am Traditional Service on Pentecost, May 28, 2023.

It was sung by Pender’s congregation, accompanied on piano by Heidi Jacobs and guitar by Brian Stevenson.

Pender Opening Hymn “God of Grace and God of Glory” May 22, 2022 accompanied by flute and cello.

“God of grace and God of glory” was written in 1930 by Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) for the dedication of the famous Riverside Church in New York City.

Fosdick was granted degrees from Colgate University and Union Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1903 to ministry in the Baptist Church and became pastor of First Baptist Church, Montclair, N.J.

Fosdick served as a chaplain during World War I and then was pastor of First Presbyterian Church in New York City. From this congregation he was called to pastor Park Avenue Baptist Church, which was renamed Riverside Church.

As we sing this hymn, perhaps it is helpful to remind ourselves of the events that shaped the “hour” and the “days” that provide the context for this great hymn.

“God of grace and God of glory” was written while the United States was in the throes of the Great Depression between the two World Wars. Fosdick was a champion of the social gospel, a movement that recognized the plight of the poor, especially in the urban Northeast during the Industrial Revolution.

UM Hymnal editor Carlton Young has noted: “Fosdick’s stirring radio sermons, books, and public pronouncements established Riverside as a forum for the critique of the same wealth and privilege whose gifts had made possible the building of the church.

“Under his leadership Riverside Church was interdenominational, interracial, without a creed, and, astonishingly for Baptists, required no specific mode of baptism. At the center of Fosdick’s ministry was urban social ministry.”

Fosdick was perhaps the most vocal proponent of the social gospel of his time—a position that brought both wide acclaim and broad disdain.

The congregation moved to a $5 million edifice made possible by a gift from John D. Rockefeller Jr. The new building overlooked the Hudson River in what Fosdick called “a less swank district” than Park Avenue, where the congregation had been located near Harlem.

The hymn was written in the summer of 1930. It took shape as he reflected on the construction of the new building, and was first sung as the processional hymn at the opening service on Oct. 5, 1930, and again at the dedication on Feb. 8, 1931.

The language of the hymn is ultimately that of petition. “Grant us wisdom, grant us courage” concludes each stanza with the effect of a refrain. A petition begins stanza three with “Cure thy children’s warring madness,/ bend our pride to thy control.” The final stanza, equally prophetic, begins with “Save us from weak resignation/ to the evils we deplore.”

Fosdick wrote the text to be sung to the stately REGENT SQUARE (usually sung to “Angels from the realms of glory”). Methodist hymnologist and hymnal editor Robert G. McCuthan, however, first paired it with the Welsh tune CWM RHONDDA for the 1935 Methodist Hymnal. It was an immediate success and the new coupling has been almost universally adopted.

Hymnologist William Reynolds says Fosdick disapproved strongly of the new pairing. When Dr. Young asked the poet why he continued to oppose the use of CWM RHONDDA with his text, Fosdick replied, “My views are well known—you Methodists have always been a bunch of wise guys.”

That discussion notwithstanding, I object to the tempo played by many organists who take the hymn much too fast at the beginning, forcing the congregation to race through the prophetic petitions that conclude each stanza. The Welsh tune demands an appropriately stately tempo (think “processional,” not “horse race”) that gives the congregation time to absorb the challenges offered by the poet.

Adapted from https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-god-of-grace-and-god-of-glory

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Posted by MaryO on August 21, 2023 in Hymn History, hymns, Ministries, Music, Music Ministry, Pender UMC, Posts of Interest, Videos

Tags: Brian Stevenson, Cwm Rhondda, God Of Grace And God Of Glory, Great Depression, guitar, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Heidi Jacobs, history, hymn, pender sanctuary choir, Pentecost, piano, Processional, Regent Square, Social Gospel, video

Hymn History: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

07 Aug

“Love Divine All Loves Excelling was the opening hymn at Pender’s 9:00 am Traditional Service on July 23, 2023 It was sung by Pender’s congregation, accompanied on piano by Heidi Jacobs and flute by Brian Stevenson.

The Pender UMC Traditional Service Opening Hymn “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” on Sunday June 26, 2022 was accompanied by Liz Sellers on piano and sung by the Pender Congregation.

Watch the entire service here

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling was the opening hymn sung by Pender’s Choir and Congregation on September 19, 2021 at the Traditional Service.

The clarinet was played by Brian Stevenson

The flute was played by Jane McKee

The organ was played by Liz Eunji Sellers

Watch the entire service here

“Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”
Charles Wesley
UM Hymnal, No. 384

Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven to earth come down;
fix in us thy humble dwelling;
all thy faithful mercies crown!

Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation;
enter every trembling heart.

Charles Wesley (1707-1788) was a prolific hymn writer of the 18th century. Coming from a musical family, he left a lasting legacy of congregational song.

The youngest of 18 children, Charles possessed prodigious talents that soon blossomed. Little did he know that “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” would rise to become one of the most popular and consistently vocalized Christian songs.

Writing hymn texts that are solidly based on the Scriptures gives them an appeal across denominational lines. It is estimated that during his lifetime, Wesley penned more than 9,000 poems of a spiritual nature, 6,000 of which are hymns. His writings were passionate and well-crafted, conveying the true essence of Christian teaching.

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Posted by MaryO on August 7, 2023 in Hymn History, hymns, Ministries, Music, Music Ministry, Pender UMC, Posts of Interest, Videos

Tags: Brian Stevenson, Charles Wesley, clarinet, congregation, flute, Heidi Jacobs, history, hymn, Jane McKee, Liz Eunji Sellers, Love Divine All Loves Excelling, organ, Sanctuary Choir, traditional service, video

Hymn History: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

31 Jul

For Pentecost May 28, 2023, Pender’s choir sang Come Thou Fount directed by Brian Stevenson and accompanied on piano by Heidi Jacobs.

The Pender UMC Traditional Service Opening Hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” on Music Appreciation Sunday June 12, 2022 was accompanied by Liz Sellers on piano, Brian Stevenson on Irish whistle, AJ Rios on drums and sung by the Pender Sanctuary Choir and Congregation.

Perhaps all hymns are to some extent autobiographical in that they reveal something of the author’s spiritual experience. In some hymns, the autobiographical thread is stronger and more obvious. Such is the case with British Baptist hymn writer Robert Robinson (1735-1790), who as a barber’s apprentice, fell under the powerful influence of George Whitefield’s preaching.

A favorite line in the last stanza, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love,” is thought to be particularly autobiographical, referring to Robinson’s early life, when his mother sent him to London to be an apprentice. It was during this time, according to hymnologist Kenneth Osbeck, that “he associated with a notorious gang of hoodlums and lived a debauched life” until he came under the spell of Whitefield.

After his conversion in 1755, Robinson first preached at a Calvinistic Methodist chapel at Mildenhall, Suffolk, and then founded his own independent congregation at Norwich. He was re-baptized in 1759 after taking up Baptist theological perspectives.

This led to his nearly 30-year relationship (1761-1790) as pastor of Stone Yard Baptist Church at Cambridge. Baptist hymnologist William Reynolds notes that Robinson “was an unusual man, and, while lacking formal education, he rose to great prominence as a preacher, scholar.” Robinson published A History of Baptism in 1790.

“Come, thou Fount of every blessing,” written in 1758, was the first hymn in A Collection of Hymns for the use of the Church of Christ, Meeting in Angel-Alley, Whitechappel . . . (1759). Martin Madan included the first three stanzas in his Collection of Psalms and Hymns (1760), which established the practice of eliminating the original fourth stanza.

UM Hymnal editor Carlton Young laments the omission, saying it “eliminates the apocalyptic climax of the author’s invitatory prayer to the Holy Spirit.”

The missing stanza follows:

O that Day when freed from sinning,
I shall see thy lovely Face;
Clothed then in blood-washed Linnen [sic]
How I’ll sing thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransom’d Soul away;
Send thine Angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless Day.

One of the most obvious biblical allusions appears in stanza two: “Here I raise mine Ebenezer/ hither by thy help I’m come.” The Hymnal Revision Committee for the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal received requests to alter this stanza by omitting the term “Ebenezer,” which means “Stone of Help,” a reference to 1 Samuel 7:12: “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, and named it Ebenezer; for he said, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’” But not finding a suitable substitute, the Committee chose to maintain the original language.

On this side of the Atlantic, the tune NETTLETON has been the most common but not exclusive musical setting for this famous and well-loved text. NETTLETON first appeared in John Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second (1813).

Adapted from https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-come-thou-fount-of-every-blessing

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Posted by MaryO on July 31, 2023 in Hymn History, hymns, Music Ministry, Pender UMC, Posts of Interest, Videos

Tags: Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing, congregation, drums, George Whitefield, guitar, Heidi Jacobs, history, hymn, pender sanctuary choir, Pentecost, Robert Robinson, The Um Hymnal, video

Hymn History: Jesus Calls Us

24 Jul

“Jesus Calls Us” was the middle hymn at Pender’s 9:00 am Traditional Service on July 9, 2023 It was sung by Pender’s congregation, accompanied on piano by Heidi Jacobs.

Jesus Calls Us was the middle hymn sung by Pender’s Choir and Congregation on September 19, 2021 at the Traditional Service.

The clarinet was played by Brian Stevenson

The flute was played by Jane McKee

The organ was played by Liz Eunji Sellers

Watch the entire service at https://youtu.be/bVxQSvDAPuM

“Jesus Calls Us O’er the Tumult”
By Cecil Frances Alexander
The United Methodist Hymnal, 398

Jesus calls us o’er the tumult
Of our life’s wild restless sea;
Day by day his sweet voice soundeth,
Saying, “Christian, follow me!”

How does a hymn written for a minor saint’s day by a Victorian hymn writer known for her pedagogical hymns for children become one of the most often sung hymns on Christian discipleship?

Mrs. Cecil Frances Alexander (1818–1895) was one of the most beloved hymn writers of the nineteenth century. Born Cecil Frances Humphreys in Redcross, County Wicklow, Ireland, she married Irishman William Alexander at age 32. Alexander was an Anglican rector who became Bishop of Derry and Raphoe in 1867 and, following her death, archbishop and primate of all Ireland.

Hymnologist Alfred Bailey captures the context of Mrs. Alexander’s hymns: “Before her marriage she had been a member of the Evangelical wing of the Anglican Church. That fact shows in her intense devotion to the religious education of children” (Bailey, 1950, p. 352). By contrast, William Alexander was a Tractarian—what might be called a “high church” devotee today—following the ethos of the Oxford Movement. She authored more than four hundred hymns—most of which were written for children before she was married. These were published in several collections, the most popular being Verses for Holy Seasons (1846) and Hymns for Little Children (1848).

Like many Christian women of this era, Mrs. Alexander was devoted to children’s religious education, using hymns as a tool in their education. She included instructions on the seasons and feasts of the Christian year. Inspired by the influential and brilliant Anglican clergyman John Keble (1792–1866) and his collection The Christian Year (1827), Alexander prepared Verses for Holy Seasons (1846), a book for Sunday-school teachers. The purpose of this collection was to use hymns as “a Christian Year for Children, in which the attempt is made, by simple hymns, to express the feelings, and enforce the instructions, which, in her distribution of the year, the Church of England suggests” (Humphreys, 1846, p. vii).

From Hymns for Little Children, a hymnic companion to the Apostles’ Creed, we still sing “All Things Bright and Beautiful”—based on “I believe in God, the Father, maker of heaven and earth”—and “Once in Royal David’s City”—interpreting “(I believe) in Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary.” Appearing less often in collections today is “There Is a Green Hill Far Away”—reflecting on the clause, “Suffered under Pontius Pilate.”

“Jesus Calls Us o’er the Tumult” is the exception in that it was not written as a children’s hymn and was composed after her marriage. The hymn first appeared in a collection called Hymns for Public Worship (1852), published by the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (SPCK), Tract No. 15, as a hymn for St. Andrew’s Day, November 30, displaying her priority for the Christian year.

Interestingly, Alexander’s children’s hymn for St. Andrew’s Day in Verses for Holy Seasons, “O’er all the earth, with even course, / the seasons come and go,” does not mention St. Andrew or his calling, but is a more general orientation to the concept of saints’ days.

Adapted from https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/articles/history-of-hymns-jesus-calls-us-oer-the-tumult

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Posted by MaryO on July 24, 2023 in Hymn History, hymns, Music, Pender UMC, Posts of Interest, Videos

Tags: Brian Stevenson, Cecil Frances Alexander, clarinet, flute, Heidi Jacobs, history, hymn, Jane McKee, Jesus Calls Us, Jesus Calls Us O’er The Tumult, Liz Eunji Sellers, organ, video

Hymn History: Grace Greater than All my Sin

17 Jul

“Grace Greater Than Our Sin” was the final hymn at Pender’s 9:00 am Traditional Service on June 18, 2023 It was sung by Pender’s congregation, accompanied on piano by Heidi Jacobs and guitar by Brian Stevenson.

The Pender UMC Traditional Service Closing Hymn “Grace Greater than All my Sin” on Music Appreciation Sunday June 12, 2022 was accompanied by Liz Sellers on piano, Brian Stevenson on Irish whistle, AJ Rios on drums and sung by the Pender Sanctuary Choir and Congregation.

“Grace Greater than Our Sin”
Julia H. Johnston
The UM Hymnal, No. 365

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Julia Harriette Johnston (1849-1919) was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister who served First Presbyterian Church, Peoria, Ill. She lived in Peoria from age 6.

Johnston was faithful to the ministries of the church, serving as a Sunday school superintendent and teacher for 41 years. She was also president for two decades of the Presbyterian Missionary Society, an organization founded by her mother.

She authored several books including Indian and Spanish Neighbors (1905) and Fifty Missionary Heroes (1913). In addition to many Sunday school lessons, she also wrote about 500 hymn texts; today her reputation rests primarily upon the hymn “Grace Greater than Our Sin.”

The writer contrasts the theme of God’s abundant grace—manifest through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross—with “our sin and our guilt” (stanza one), “sin and despair” (stanza two), and a “dark . . . stain” (stanza three).

This “marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe,” finds a scriptural basis in Paul’s teaching of justification by faith in Romans 5:1-2: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Paul continues in verses 14-16, “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift of grace. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.”

The text and tune of the hymn first appeared in Hymns Tried and True, a 1911 collection by composer Daniel B. Towner (1850-1919). According to UM Hymnal editor Carlton Young, Towner was “a distinguished Methodist musician.” He studied first with his father and then with famous gospel song composers such as George Root and George Webb.

Towner then served in Methodist Episcopal churches in New York, Ohio and Kentucky. In 1893 he was named head of the music department at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, working with the famous evangelist Dwight L. Moody. Dr. Young notes that Towner “composed over 2,000 songs and was associated with the publication of fourteen collections.”

Baptist hymnologist William J. Reynolds noted that the name MOODY was given to this tune in recognition of Towner’s association with and service to Moody Bible Institute and its founder.

Dr. Hawn is professor of sacred music at Perkins School of Theology, SMU.

Adapted from https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-grace-greater-than-our-sin