Music News for August 2010
"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!" Psalm 150:6
HYMNS WE LIKE TO SING
The following hymns were sung in Worship on July 11th. These hymns were requested as favorites from members of the congregation; here are the stories behind them:
Jesus Loves Me!
Anna Warner and her sister, Susan, grew up near West Point Military Academy, where they became known for leading Sunday school services for the young men there. After the death of their father, a New York lawyer, the sisters supported themselves with their various literary endeavors. Susan became known as a best-selling novelist. Anna also wrote novels and published two collections of poems. She wrote this simple hymn in 1860 to be included in one of her sister's novels. In the story, it was a poem of comfort spoken to a dying child.
Today millions of voices around the world sing, "Yes, Jesus loves me!"
The Church's One Foundation
Windsor on the Thames, with its royal castle, is one of England's most popular tourist attractions. Samuel Stone's ministry was located here, among the poorer people at the outskirts of town.
Samuel Stone was a fighter. He stood up for what he believed, and if local "toughs" threatened the neighborhood, he was not afraid to take them on. In the Church of England, Stone was regarded as a fundamentalist, opposing the liberal theological tendencies of his day.
When he was twenty-seven, he wrote a collection of hymns based on the Apostles' Creed. This hymn, taken from that collection, is based on the article in the creed regarding the church as the body of Christ.
Two years later, Anglicans from around the world met to discuss the crucial theological issues that were raging in the church. Significantly, they chose Stone's hymn as the processional for their historic conference.
Just a Closer Walk with Thee
"Just a Closer Walk with Thee" was probably the favorite southern gospel song of the twentieth century, yet no one knows who wrote it or when it was written. It became known nationally in the 1930s when African-American churches held huge musical conventions. In the 1940s southern gospel quartets featured it in all-night gospel-singing rallies. In the 1950s Elvis Presley set sales records with it on a 45 RPM single. In the 1960s Tennessee Ernie Ford made the charts with it. And by the time the 1970s had ended, more than a hundred artists had recorded the song.
Its history probably goes back to an unknown writer in the slave fields of the South before the Civil War. Southern black church choirs kept the hymn alive until World War II.
But while the song is indebted to the African-American experience for its soul, people of every background can identify with it because it presents the humble prayer of every Christian's heart, and humble prayer is the kind that God honors.
JAM Sessions to continue!!
We're having so much fun making music on Wednesday's after Bible Study (7:45 - 9:00pm in Choir Room) that we will continue meeting in August!! Come, bring an instrument and join in! Music provided.
Mark Your Calendars for Choir:
Rejoice Choir: 1st thru 5th grade youth will resume meeting every Wednesday evening from 7:05 – 7:35 p.m. in the Choir Room beginning Wednesday, September 1st!
WORSHIP CHOIR: Adults will meet every Wednesday from 7:45 – 9:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary beginning September 1st. Come join us in blending our talents (any level from beginning to accomplished).
Adult HANDBELL CHOIR on Tuesday’s from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. in the Choir Room beginning September 7, 2010.