Praying Twice

The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost October 27, 2019 Every fall, even city dwellers enjoy celebrating all things "harvest." From apple picking to pumpkin spice lattes, autumn harvest themes surround us. Hymnody celebrates the harvest as well. Familiar hymns like "Come, ye thankful people come" and "We plow the fields" harken back to the fall harvest festivals in England.  The Rev. Fred Pratt Green In 1970, the Rev. Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000) was asked to write a hymn connecting the harvest to contemporary issues. The resulting hymn, "For the fruit of all creation," is unique for several reasons.  In most cases, a text is written first, then composers create music to fit the text. However, Green was asked to write a hymn to fit the tune East Acklam , composed by British composer Francis Jackson in the 1950s. The tune was originally composed to fit another hymn, "God, that madest earth and heaven," but that text was a...

The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost October 20, 2019 The St. John's Bible, a modern illuminated Bible The Hymnal 1982 contains nine hymns that focus on "Holy Scripture" (626-634). These hymns speak volumes about our beliefs regarding the Bible. If you'd like to learn about the Episcopal Church's approach to scripture, reading through these nine hymns is a good place to start. Today, we will sing one of these hymns: "Book of books, our people's strength" (631, Liebster Jesu ). According to The Hymnal 1982 Companion , this hymn "recognizes the place of the Bible in the lives of people throughout history, gives honor to its various authors, and praise to God the 'author and giver of all good things.' (BCP 233)" The author, the Rev. Percy Dearmer (1867-1936), sought to write a hymn expressing appreciation of the Bible in the modern world.  Book of books, our people's strength, s tatesman's, teacher's,...

The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost October 13, 2019 Through hymns and anthems, we can experience the work of great theologians throughout church history. This week's communion anthem is based on a text by Thomas  á Kempis (1380-1471), a medieval monk and author who lived and worked in the Netherlands. Thomas spent his days immersed in scripture and prayer, working as a copyist of manuscripts. In his lifetime, he copied the entire Bible 4 times. While instructing novices in his religious order, he wrote a series of pamphlets which were later combined into a book entitled The Imitation of Christ . Nebraska hymn poet Rae E. Whitney (b. 1927) wrote today's anthem text which is based on Thomas á Kempis ' writings. Listen to a recording:  Without the Fire Without the Fire, there is no Burning, w ithout the Teacher, there's no Learning, w ithout the Shepherd, no safe Keeping, w ithout the Sower, there's no Reaping. Without the Judge, there is no P...