Notes on the Notes – October 20, 2013

This week’s guest: Diane Haglund – United Church archivist

This week’s scripture reading: 2 Timothy 4:1-5

This week’s music:

  “Let Us Build a House (All Are Welcome) (MV #1) –

“Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live, a place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive…Let us build a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone to heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they’ve known…All are welcome in this place.”

 Marty Haugen is a liturgical composer, workshop  presenter, performing and recording artist & author from Eagan, Minnesota.  For the past 30  years, Marty has presented workshops and concerts across North and  Central America, Europe, Asia and the Pacific Rim.  Marty  has served as an editor or consultant to a number of GIA hymnals and has been a contributor to hymnals  or supplements for many denominational groups including the ELCA and ELCIC (Evangelical Lutheran   Church of America and Canada), the United  Methodist Church, the Mennonite Brethren, the United Church of Christ, the United  Church of Canada, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, the Church of  Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and Roman  Catholic groups in Great Britain, Canada, Ireland and Australia.  Hear the song at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhIq8QLuriM

“Creator God You Gave Us Life” (MV #27) –

“Creator God you gave us life, your image formed within our souls, yet through the mist of time and space, we search for that which makes us whole.  In every flower and every tree, we see your great diversity, yet greater still we see your love, expressed in our humanity.  When with our hearts, our hands, our minds, we share our gifts with all the world, our spirits soar beyond the veil, to touch the very face of God.

Through hands that paint majestic skies, and voices chanting melody, with words that reach beyond the page, we comprehend your mystery.”

Both the tune and text of this hymn were written by Judith Snowdon in 2004.  Judith Snowdon was born in England but completed her formal music education in Canada. A recipient of ARCTs from The Royal Conservatory of Music in both Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy, she completed her formal composition studies at Canadian Mennonite University (Bachelor of Church Music) and the University of Winnipeg (Gold Medalist – Bachelor of Arts). An award winning composer and accomplished church musician, Judith currently teaches piano in Dieppe, NB where she also works part-time for the Mennonite Central Committee and serves as organist/choir director at McKees Mills United Church.

“For Food in a World” (VU #552) – The text of today’s offering response is a paraphrase of a prayer written by the late Manfred Wester of Germany.   Ruth Watson Henderson arranged the tune, WORLD HUNGER, to accompany the text in 1995.

“For food in a world where many walk in hunger,  for friends in a world where many walk alone,  for faith in a world where many walk in fear, we give you thanks, O God.”

“O For a World” (VU #697) –

“O for a world where everyone respects each other’s ways, where love is lived and all is done with justice and with praise.

O for a world where goods are shared and misery relieved, where truth is spoken, children spared, equality achieved.

We welcome one world family and struggle with each choice that opens us to unity and gives our vision voice.

The poor are rich, the weak are strong, the foolish ones are wise.  Tell all who mourn:  outcasts belong, who perishes will rise.

O for a world preparing for God’s glorious reign of peace, where time and tears will be no more, and all but love will cease.”

Miriam Therese Winter, a professor of liturgy and worship at Harford Seminary in Connecticut, wrote this hymn for a Presbyterian Women’s Triennial Conference in 1987.  It was later recrafted and recorded by the Medical Mission Sisters.   The tune AZMON, is a German tune collected by Lowell Mason during his European tour in 1837.  It is also known as the tune for the hymn “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing”  (VU #326).

“When You Walk from Here” (VU #298) – This week’s benediction response is by Linnea Good of Vancouver.  It was first published in Stickpeople in 1993.  The text is derived from Micah 6:8.

“When you walk from here, when you walk from here, walk with justice, walk with mercy, and with God’s humble care.”

To learn more about the United Church involvement in residential schools, go to http://www.united-church.ca/aboriginal/schools