Notes on the Notes – October 3, 2021

This week’s music:

“All Who Hunger” (VU #460)

“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.”

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.   (Source: http://www.giamusic.com/bios/)

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

“Who is My Mother?” (MV #178)

“Who is my mother, who is by brother?
All those who gather round Jesus Christ:
Spirit-blown people born from the Gospel
Sit at the table, round Jesus Christ.

Love will relate us, colour or status
Can’t segregate us round Jesus Christ:
Family failings, human derailings
All are accepted round Jesus Christ. 

Bound by one vision, met for one mission
We claim each other, round Jesus Christ:
Here is my mother, here is my brother,
Kindred in Spirit, through Jesus Christ.  Amen!”

With words by Shirley Erena Murray (1982), and a jazzy tune by Ron Klusmeier (2002), this hymn reminds us of the Christian call to inclusion.  Throughout the world, we are all one family in Christ.

“Sanctify This Place”

“Sanctify this place, hallow this ground.
Glorify Your name, let Your joy abound.
Bless your children now, shower us with grace.
Surround us with Your love, and sanctify this place.
Anoint us with Your oil, consecrate us for Your service,
Purify us in Your holy flame till all that remains is holy,
For You are holy.

Sanctify this place,…”

This week’s anthem is by Lew King (2004).

“One Bread, One Body” (VU #467) 

“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.”

John B. Foley is a theologian, musician, and Jesuit priest.  This hymn is based on I Corinthians 10:16-17 and speaks of the unity of the people of God. We will be using the chorus during our time of communion.

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

“For the Fruit of All Creation” (VU #227)

“For the fruit of all creation, thanks be to God.
For the gifts to every nation, thanks be to God.
For the ploughing, sowing, reaping,
Silent growth while we are sleeping;
Future needs in earth’s safekeeping, thanks be to God.

In the just reward of labour, God’s will is done.
In the help we give our neighbour, God’s will is done.
In our world-wide task of caring for the hungry and despairing,
In the harvests we are sharing, God’s will is done.

For the harvests of the Spirit, thanks be to God.
For the good we all inherit, thanks be to God.
For the wonders that astound us, for the truths that still confound us,
Most of all that love has found us, thanks be to God.”

Our closing hymn sends us out together in praise and thanksgiving for God’s goodness.  The words for this harvest hymn were written by Fred Pratt Green in 1970.  They remind us that as God gives to us, we are commissioned to care for each other.  The words have been set to the traditional Welsh song “Ar Hyd Y Nos (All Through the Night), which was arranged as a hymn tune by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1906.

Hear the song sung in Welsh at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEGgoi6zawg

“Choral Amen” (VU #967)

Our 3-fold choral amen is also referred to as the Danish Amen, although the composer is unknown.