Notes on the Notes – October 2, 2016

This week’s theme:  World-Wide Communion

“Would You Eat This Bread?”

This week’s scripture readings:

Lamentations 1:1-6 and 3:19-26              Luke 17:5-10

This week’s music:

“All Who Hunger” (VU #460)

Born in 1955, Sylvia Dunstan attributes her love of song to her grandparents, who kept song alive in the family and entrusted Sylvia’s formal musical education to one of the nuns at the local convent. Sylvia began writing songs in the early seventies and soon after met Sister Miriam Theresa Winter, who encouraged her to write songs based on Scripture. Sylvia eventually realized that her talents did not lay with the music and concentrated instead on the lyrics.    In 1980, she was ordained by the Hamilton Conference of the United Church of Canada. During her career she served as a minister, a prison chaplain, and editor of a Canadian worship resource journal, Gathering.

In the summer of 1990 she was invited to lead the annual conference of the Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada in a session exploring her hymnody.  She became acquainted with the American folk hymns in William Walker’s Southern Harmony (1835) at this conference.   She wrote “All Who Hunger” for the tune HOLY MANNA, composed in 1825 by William Moore.  The arrangement used in Voices United is by David Kai, a member of the Hymn and Worship Resource Committee which compiled Voices United.

Sylvia Dunstan died on July 25, 1993, almost four months after being diagnosed with liver cancer. She left behind a ministry that combined a compassionate concern for the needy and distraught with a consuming love of liturgy. (Source: http://www.giamusic.com/bios/)

“All who hunger, gather gladly, holy manna is our bread.
Come from wilderness and wandering.  Here, in truth, we will be fed.
You that yearn for days of fullness, all around us is our food.
Taste and see the grace eternal.  Taste and see that God is good.

All who hunger, never strangers; seeker, be a welcome guest.
Come from restlessness and roaming. Here, in joy, we keep the feast.
We that once were lost and scattered in communion’s love have stood.
Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good.

All who hunger, sing together; Jesus Christ is living bread.
Come from loneliness and longing. Here, in peace, we have been led.
Blest are those who from this table live their lives in gratitude.
Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good.”

We learn from this hymn the nature of the meal and how important it is for all who share it. Those who partake in this meal “yearn for days of fullness” (stanza one), are “never strangers” (stanza two), and will find that “Jesus Christ is living bread” (stanza three).   This is not a memorial hymn that recalls Christ’s suffering, but a joyful hymn of community to be shared at the table.  As the writer notes in stanza three, “Blest are those who from this table live their days in gratitude.”

To hear the tune go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqVPd4JKsP8

Hear the hymn sung at Southern Congregational Church at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXrB8x6-jbU

“One Bread, One Body” (VU #467)

John B. Foley is a theologian, musician, and Jesuit priest who has written new music for the Catholic liturgy.  This hymn is based on I Corinthians 10:16-17 and speaks of the unity of the people of God.

Hear the song at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6xIdDYiA9A

“One bread, one body, one Lord of all,

One cup of blessing which we bless;
And we, though many, throughout the earth,
We are one body in this one Lord.

Gentile or Jew, servant or free, woman or man, no more.

Many the gifts, many the works, one in the Lord of all.

Grain for the fields, scattered and grown, gathered to one, for all.

One bread…”

“Bread of Life, Feed My Soul” (MV #194)

“Bread of life, feed my soul,
As the presence of the Spirit makes me whole.
Bread of life, fill my heart
With the grace and mercy you impart.

I have heard your voice calling,
“Come, my friend, and share
In the feast that is laid out for you
To show how much I care.”

Bread of life, help me live
A life as pure and true as Jesus did.
Bread of life, help me see
The boundless love of Christ for you and me…

This hymn from More Voices is a communion prayer for healing and guidance. The words and music were written by Stephen Spencer in 2005.  The arrangement is by Rick Gunn (2005).

Hear Stephen Spencer sing his song and speak about the story behind it at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5cYNFZk470

“At the Table of the Lord”

“At the table of the Lord, there is hope.
At the table of the Lord, there is joy.
Come and take your place at the banquet of grace.
There is room at the table for you.

At the table of the Lord, there is peace.
At the table of the Lord, there is love.
And though many have come, there is still room for one.
There is room at the table for you.

At the table of the Lord, there is rest for the weary.
At the table of the Lord, there is strength for the soul.
At the table of the Lord, there is comfort and mercy,
And the lives that are broken can all be made whole.

At the table of the Lord, there is life.
At the table of the Lord, there is grace.
The meal is prepared.
No cost has been spared.
There is room at the table for you.

The meal is prepared.
No cost has been spared.
There is room at the table for you.

At the table of the Lord, there is peace.
At the table of the Lord, there is hope.
At the table of the Lord, there is joy,
There is love.”

This week’s Worship Choir anthem was written by Joseph M. Martin with music by David Angerman and Joseph Martin. It was written in 2005.

“You Nourish Us” (VU #545)

“You nourish us with food, O God, for body and for soul;
Our love and service is our thanks, for life that’s free and whole,
For life that’s free and whole.”

Wayne Irwin and Flora Litt were associated over many years with prayer ministry in the Hamilton Conference of the United Church.  They wrote the words for this hymn in 1979 as a gift for the Five Oaks Christian education and conference centre in Ontario.  The tune is by Nikolaus Herman (1554), a poet and composer of chorales and songs for children, who was organist and choirmaster at a Lutheran church in Joachimstal in Bohemia.   J.S. Bach later wrote three harmonizations of the chorale.  The one we will be using is from Cantata No. 151, Susser Trost, mein Jesus kommt.

“Holy, Holy, Holy” (VU #942)

“Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might;
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might.
Heav’n and earth are full, full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest.”

This week we will be using the Sanctus from Communion Setting E in Voices United. It is taken from the Deutsche Messe by Franz Schubert (1826) and has been arranged by Richard Proulx.    The Sanctus is part of the rite of holy communion.  It is said or sung as part of the prayer of consecration of the bread and cup and describes the worshippers joining with the angels in praise of God.

“Bread of Life, Broken and Shared” (MV #197)

“Bread of life, broken and share,
Cup of life outpoured.
In this meal we are transformed to be like Christ our Lord,
To be like Christ our Lord.

I am the Bread of Life – all who come to me shall never hunger;
And all who drink will never thirst, for I will give eternal life!

When we eat this bread; when we drink this saving cup,
We proclaim your death, until you come in glory!

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
It remains a single grain, but if it dies, it bears new life!”

This communion hymn was written by David-Roger Gagnon in 1996.

“Bread for the Journey” (MV #202)

“Bread for the journey, food for the way.  Cup of God’s blessing, tomorrow, today.”

Today’s benediction response was written by Bruce Harding in 2000.