“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.
“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.
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).
“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 Congregationon September 19, 2021 at the Traditional Service.
“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.
“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.
“When in Our Music God Is Glorified”
Fred Pratt Green
UM Hymnal, No. 68
“When in Our Music God is Glorified” was the opening hymn at Pender’s Music Appreciation Sunday on June 11, 2023 It was sung by Pender’s congregation, accompanied on piano by Heidi Jacobs and directed by Brian Stevenson.
“When in Our Music God Is Glorified” was played by Pender’s pianist-organist, Liz Eunji Moon at the Traditional Service Postlude on September 11, 2022
Sometimes a great tune can keep a hymn text alive. Sometimes a great text can revive a neglected tune. The latter is true in this case.
Noted British hymnologist John Wilson (1905-1992) suggested that the Methodist poet and hymn writer Fred Pratt Green write a text to the tune ENGELBERG, composed in 1904 by the famous British composer Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924).
Stanford’s tune had been well-known in the earlier 20th century until Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) composed the immensely popular SINE NOMINE in the same metre (sung to “For All the Saints”) for the English Hymnal (1906).
Hymnologist J.R. Watson records that “Wilson urged Pratt Green to write a text for a Festival of Praise . . . which could be sung to Stanford’s neglected tune.” Pratt Green based his text on Psalm 150 but alluded to Mark 14:26 in stanza four of the hymn, a stanza recalling the hymn sung by the disciples at the Last Supper.
The hymn, composed in 1972, first appeared in New Church Praise (1975) and in the single-author collection The Hymns and Ballads of Fred Pratt Green (1982) with the title, “Let the People Sing!”
The opening line (called the incipit) originally read, “When in man’s music, God is glorified. . . .” Pratt Green reluctantly altered this to the current title for the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and this change has universally been accepted in North American hymnals.
The Rev. Carlton Young, editor of the UM Hymnal, notes that the change in text, though an important “social witness” in the area of inclusive language, weakens the theological and aesthetic qualities of the hymn: 1) Theologically, “the change tends to weaken the affirmation that mere mortal musicians and their music may and often do glorify God”; 2) aesthetically, the wonderful alliteration between “man’s” and “music” paralleled by “God’s” and “glorified” is lost.
Dr. Young speculates that this “text has probably been set in anthem form more than any other of the late twentieth century.”
Ministry of music
This hymn is groundbreaking in many ways.
There are numerous examples in the history of hymnody where music is a metaphor for some theological theme or experience. In Babcock’s “This Is My Father’s World,” for example, “all nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres.” Charles Wesley speaks of “the music of the heart” in his paraphrase of Psalm 150, “Praise the Lord Who Reigns Above.”
However, Pratt Green uses music not just as a metaphor that points us to another idea, but explores music-making as a phenomenon in the Christian’s experience in its own right. The second stanza concludes with the marvelous thought that “making music . . . move[s] us to a more profound Alleluia!”
In this way, Pratt Green seems to agree with Martin Luther who said, “Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.” Luther and Pratt Green seem to ascribe a quasi-sacramental quality to music—music as a means of revelation and grace.
Pratt Green (1903-2000) was born in Roby just outside of Liverpool, England. Following his education, he was ordained in 1924 as a Methodist minister and served in various parishes throughout England well into the 1940s. Although he had a long interest in poetry, he did not focus on hymn writing until his retirement from active ministry.
Eminent British hymnologist Erik Routley (1917-1982) suggested that in Fred Pratt Green, Methodists finally had a successor to Charles Wesley.
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