April 20th, 2023
“Here Is Bread” is a beautiful song by Mary Kay Beall and John Carter. You can hear a teaching recording here.
Our words are slightly different from the original song and the version used in the teaching recording linked above.
Here is bread for the hungry heart.
Here is wine for the thirsty soul.
Here is forgiveness, full and free.
Here at the table of the Lord."
It can be sung either a cappella or with a shruti box set to silver (C and G).
February 25th, 2023
Dear Song Leaders and Lydian music lovers,
Here’s our menu of songs for Lent:
Thank you for leading your community in song!
February 25th, 2023
Here’s a beautiful table acclamation by our very own Jack Holloway!
The shruti setting is blue (a C and an F).
And here’s a teaching recording.
February 25th, 2023
This is NOT the song from Godspell but an older hymn, with words by the Swedish poet Lina Sandell, and music by Swedish composer Oskar Ahnfelt, who wrote tunes for many of Lina Sandell’s hymns.
The translation is by American composer Robert Leaf.
Here are the words:
Day by day, your mercies, Lord, attend me,
Bringing comfort to my anxious soul.
Day by day, the blessings, Lord, you send me
Draw me nearer to my heav’nly goal.
Love divine, beyond all mortal measure,
Brings to naught the burdens of my quest;
Savior, lead me to the home I treasure,
Where, at last, I’ll find eternal rest.
Day by day, I know you will provide me
Strength to serve and wisdom to obey;
I will seek your loving will to guide me
O’er the paths I struggle day by day.
I will fear no evil of the morrow;
I will trust in your enduring grace.
Savior, help me bear life’s pain and sorrow;
Till in glory I behold your face.
Oh, what joy to know that you are near me
When my burdens grow too great to bear;
Oh, what joy to know that you will hear me
When I come, O Lord, to you in prayer.
Day by day, no matter what betide me,
You will hold me ever in your hand.
Savior, with your presence here to guide me,
I will reach at last the promised land.
Savior, with your presence here to guide me,
I will reach at last the promised land.
Here’s the sheet music.
And here’s a recording.
February 25th, 2023
“Though the Earth Shall Change” is a lovely song by Tom Witt and Rolf Vegdahl.
Here are the lyrics:
Though the earth shall change,
though the mountains tremble,
though the waters rage,
you God are here.
Though the nations war,
though the peoples battle,
though the empire falters,
we will not fear.
And here’s a recording.
December 30th, 2022
Hello Song Leaders! Here is our menu of musical selections for the upcoming season:
GATHERING SONG:
Arise, Shine (shruti box on silver)
CANDLE LIGHTING SONG: The Light of Christ (shruti box on silver)
TABLE ACCLAMATION: Shelton Table Acclamation
OFFERING SONG: Mxadana Alleluia
FINAL HYMN:
January — Star in the East (American Traditional) Lyrics
February — Be Thou My Vision
Transfiguration 2/27 – God Calls You Good
November 4th, 2022
Welcome song leaders, voices of the congregation, and all who love to sing! Advent is here and so is our new menu of music for the season.
Gathering song: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”
Candle lighting song: “Honor the Dark” or “Walking Into Darkness”
Table acclamation: Vasile Advent Table Acclamation
Prayer song: Preference for “Yea, O God” but you can choose from other prayer songs
Offering song: “The Mighty Will Fall“
Final hymn: “People Look East” (November 7-22)
“For the Beauty of the Earth” (November 28-29)
“In the Bleak Midwinter” (December 5 – 12)
“Joy to the World” (December 19)
Thank you for holding your community in song!
November 4th, 2022
“Walking into Darkness” is a song by Jacob Slichter, with words adapted from the poem “Love is a Stranger” by Sufi mystic and poet Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī as well as line from the song “What a Wonderful World,” (written by Bob Thiele and George Weiss and originally performed by Louis Armstrong).
Here are the lyrics:
Walking into darkness
Water flows from life
Night is a companion
For travelers full of light
High above the travelers
The moon shines cold and bright
Casting all its shadows
Through the sacred night
It is sung over a shruti on the silver setting (C and G) and can be sung in one or two parts that overlap as this recording illustrates.
November 3rd, 2022
“Honor the Dark” is a beautiful song in 4 parts, written and performed by Lea Morris. It’s a wonderful piece for advent and wintertime, featuring loving lyrics which embrace the warmth and power of darkness:
1. Honor the dark, honor the dark
2. Honor the darkness, honor the darkness
3. Honor the dark
As you do the light
Receive the gifts that come to us by day and by night
I choose to honor the dark
Uncertainty and change
Deliver us from fear
Until only love remains
4. As the butterfly slips free from her dark cocoon
As the evening sky reveals the light of the moon
Sometimes, fear surrounds us
Sometimes, there will be pain
Let the darkness heal you until only love remains
To hear how the four parts layer on top of each other, listen to this video on Lea’s youtube channel. Community coordinator Debbie Holloway has also created two supplemental recordings:
a teaching track, which offers suggestions on how to teach the song to a group,
and . . .
a short recording of all 4 parts sung separately, one after the other.
