Content Warning
-
STJ#1063, Winter Solstice Chant
I’m sure there is someone who loves this piece. I’m sure there is someone who isn’t bothered by gendered language. I’m sure there is someone who thinks four verses makes a chant. I am not that someone. Children of the Earth, we have come to sing to each other, Sister to Brother, songs of our… Continue reading
-
STJ#1019, Everything Possible
Things I wonder: Do some congregations sing this together fairly regularly? Do some music directors and ministers flip past it because it is somewhat complex if you don’t know it already? Do others flip past it because in 13 years we’ve learned that binary language is too restrictive? Does composer and colleague Fred Small have… Continue reading
-
STLT#358, Rank by Rank Again We Stand
I don’t even know where to begin, so I guess I’ll begin with this morning’s experience of singing. As frequent readers know, I’m an Anglophile – a lover of British television, British film, the British Isles, and at least once, a British person. Knowing this was today’s hymn before I cracked open the hymnal, I started… Continue reading
-
STLT#357, Bright Morning Stars
I started singing this morning before I opened the hymnal, because I knew what today’s song would be. “Bright morning star’s a-risin’…” I sang. And then I looked at our lyrics – “Bright morning stars are rising” – and thought, huh? Isn’t there just one morning star – the sun, or if we go Christian… Continue reading
-
STLT#348, Guide My Feet
Today, gentle readers, I offer you A Tale of Two Liturgical Moments. Because indeed, as our man Charles Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The best of times was when I learned an arrangement of this African American spiritual in my seminary gospel choir; the harmonies were… Continue reading
-
STLT#325, Love Makes a Bridge
Another list song – must be Brian Wren. And so it is. Now this is not to say his list is bad, necessarily, but It can get tiring pretty quickly. And when it comes to Wren, there is always something – even in songs I like, like this one – that make me go “hmm” … Love… Continue reading
-
STLT#320, The Pen Is Greater
I wish… I wish I felt better so I could really dig into this hymn. I wish I had looked ahead and scheduled a Hymn-by-Hymn conversation with Suzanne Fast about this hymn. I’ll just say that having had a conversation with Suzanne at General Assembly, I now understand how difficult this embracing our bodies without… Continue reading
-
STLT#315, This Old World
Am I the only one who sees the first line of this song and thinks of “Man of Constant Sorrow” from O Brother, Where Are Thou? Really? It’s just me? Can’t be. Anyway… this is another one I have never sung, and likely never would have chosen because it’s got a title “This Old World” and is… Continue reading
-
STLT#212, We are Dancing Sarah’s Circle
I want to tell you a story about why this song means so much to me, but I want to get two bits of “hmm” out of the way first: First: There is a long tradition in folk music – and hymnody – of writing new words to familiar tunes, or adapting old words and… Continue reading
-
STLT#207, Earth Was Given as a Garden
Hmm. I’ve been staring at the screen for longer than is helpful, thinking about this hymn and what to say about it, wondering what it really is I feel about it that’s quantifiable. There’s something about it that bugs me, which actually makes me sad, as it’s perfectly suited for the beloved Hyfrodol hymn tune,… Continue reading
Support this site
I am an entrepreneurial minister, which means I am a freelancer, and every part of my income comes from the work I do. The Hymn by Hymn Project was and is a labor of love, but I now am incurring increasing costs for hosting the site.
If everyone who visited gave just $5, those costs would be covered in a single week.
Whether you give once or monthly, your generosity will keep Hymn by Hymn free and available to to the tens of thousands of people who benefit from it.
Please support the project!
links
Learn more about my ministry at The Art of Meaning
Read my thoughts about congregational life at Hold My Chalice
You must be logged in to post a comment.