The Spiritualities of Christian Hymns – a synopsis

Aside

Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,
 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:19-20

Several weeks ago, I had the privilege to attend the Diocesan sponsored workshop, The Spiritualities of Christian Hymns presented by Dr. Carl Daw, Episcopal priest and past Executive Director of the Hymn Society in the US and Canada.  It was an inspiring, educational, enlightening, and spiritual day as we explored and sang our way through many of the glorious hymns of our 1982 Hymnal.  (As Dr. Daw questioned whether we had sung each hymn, I was able to answer in the affirmative each time thanks to the two marvelous Hymn-a-thon experiences we held at St. Bede!)

Dr. Daw reminded us that hymns

• are sung prayer (singing with and for others is praying with and for others)
• are a recollection of the readings
• reinforce the thoughts expressed by the sermon (as was so evident with the hymn sung following Marlene’s sermon several weeks ago, “Come thou o traveler unknown” #636)
• express enthusiasm for our faith
• present scripture in new ways
• are wonderful ways to teach our faith
• help us experience God’s presence
• are never simply “decoration” or “moving music” in our service but are sung in praise and glory to God

The oft quoted phrase attributed to St. Augustine, “Those who sing pray twice” means that singing adds to our praise and worship of God—that our voices are gifts, with which we can make music to the Lord.  Sung prayer expresses the joy of the heart, the happiness resulting from one who has encountered Jesus Christ and experienced his love.  St. Augustine was right—he who sings prays twice.  May we sing together—in holy worship, and in our homes—in praise and thanksgiving for all that God has given us.  (Bishop James Conley)

Dr. Jeannine Jordan, organist, is the Minister of Music at St. Bede Episcopal Church in Forest Grove, Oregon. She and her husband, David Jordan, media artist of Pro-Motion Music , are the creators and presenters of the dramatic story-driven organ and multimedia concert experiences, From Sea to Shining Sea, Bach and Sons, and Around the World in 80 Minutes.  Subscribe to our free monthly e-newsletter for more intriguing and engaging articles – click here  #DrJeannineJordan  #OrganAndMultimediaConcert

This is One Amazing Book

Check our pew racks and you’ll find not only a Bible and a Book of Common Prayer but another blue-covered book, The Hymnal 1982.    It is one amazing and important book.  Our hymnal draws all of us, all Episcopalians, together musically in the same way that the Book of Common Prayer draws us together in prayer and liturgy. 

Hymns are powerful expressions of our faith, powerful reminders that our Lord is with us in struggle and sorrow, powerful exaltations of joy, powerful and loving reminders of God’s grace.  Singing our praise through hymns is another form of communing with Christ and each other. 

I had many plans for this newsletter article this month, but because of visits from my family, work, practice, and most recently, the death of a dear friend, I put off writing the article until the day after our editor wanted it.  Well, now I know why.  It is so I can share a story with you about the power of hymns – the power of a hymn we sang several weeks ago, “The Lord My God My Shepherd Is.”

Two weeks ago, I learned one of my students (and a very dear friend) was diagnosed with colon cancer, a mass on the liver, and pulmonary embolisms.  A shock but I was sure with prayer and the miracles of medicine this wonderfully caring, generous, woman of God would go through and survive treatment for all the above and life would go on.  I was wrong.  She declined dramatically and quickly.

One week ago, I was teaching Paul, one of my many incredible organ students – a 54-year-old man who is a savant in some very particular ways, and also has cerebral palsy.  His lessons have been such an amazing journey for me.  He grew up in the Lutheran church the son of a pastor.  He has heard hymns all his life and amazingly can play by-ear, even with his physical limitations, almost any hymn his sister, Ruth and I can name or hum.  Not only does he know the tunes, but he knows how many verses each has.  Woe is me when I choose a Lutheran hymn that happens to have 11 verses as he will play every verse for me as he is singing that text in his mind.  His lessons are often jaw-dropping for me.  And…if I give him a word, like “shepherd,” he will create a medley of hymns that contain the word “shepherd” in some verse or other of the hymn.  Truly it is astounding seeing/hearing this man/ child share God’s glory through hymns.

And, so back to the story.  A week ago, I knew their friend and fellow-student, Karen who attends and plays the organ at Paul and Ruth’s church, was in the hospital and struggling mightily after colon surgery.  So, I decided to record Paul playing “The Lord is My Shepherd” and send it to Karen.  The response from Karen’s daughter who shared this recording with her Mom, was that Karen was at peace and smiled throughout the recording.

Today I sent word of Karen’s death to my student group.  Several expressed their sadness at losing a friend and colleague but the following response from Ruth, my student Paul’s sister, truly shows the power and glory of the many hymns, but in particular #663 from our amazing blue book, The Hymnal 1982.

“I am so grateful for you and your moment of genius last week during Paul’s lesson.  Recording him playing The Lord is My Shepherd was clearly a God-inspired moment.  I know that song brought joy and comfort to Karen and her family.  It has brought comfort to me at hearing this news.  It amazes me how you and Paul were used in this special way.  I am grateful.”

And this is the power of the great hymns of our faith. 
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Dr. Jeannine Jordan, organist, has a large organ studio with students of all ages and skill levels.  She is also the Minister of Music and Organist at St. Bede Episcopal Church in Forest Grove, Oregon. She and her husband, David Jordan, media artist of Pro-Motion Music , are the creators and presenters of the dramatic story-driven organ and multimedia concert experiences, From Sea to Shining Sea, Bach and Sons, and Around the World in 80 Minutes.  Subscribe to our free monthly e-newsletter for more intriguing and engaging articles – click here #DrJeannineJordan  #OrganAndMultimediaConcert

The St. Bede Hymn-A-Thon Fund-Raiser

Enter the Hymn-A-Thon – the singing of ALL the hymns in your hymnal in one day

·   FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANTLY YOU REALLY HAVE TO WANT TO DO THIS AND BELIEVE THAT IT IS IMPORTANT.    You have to believe that it is important to have great worship music, in our case, the music of our strong Episcopal tradition.  Only then will things will start to fall into place.

·   It’s like crowdfunding in a way.  Each person in your little choir or church knows a number of people around the country or even the world that they can ask for donations

·   Not everyone you know will want to participate but there are many that will be glad to help in some small or large way

·   Think about it, if everyone you know on your email list would donate the cost of going out for a large fast food meal or a small fine dining appetizer, you would be able to push forward and bless the church with great music and without apology.

What happened at St. Bede was that in three short weeks the musicians got behind the Hymn-A-Thon idea and helped friends and relatives understand the importance of the music ministry in our church. Many people supported us even if they weren’t part of our local church. People from around the country, in fact, became patrons and generously pushed our St. Bede Music Ministry forward into the future.

Because of time and space we won’t go into the whole process here, however we would invite you to contact us for some suggestions and direction if you are interested.  The blessings you will receive from singing hymn after glorious hymn (720 in our case) will amaze and astound you.

Dr. Jeannine Jordan, Minister of Music St. Bede Episcopal Church, Forest Grove, Oregon – jeannine@promotionmusic.org
and David Jordan, choir member and accompanist, St. Bede Episcopal Church – david@promotionmusic.org

Getting Creative – Funding Music Ministry in the Small Parish Church

In the Minneapolis Airport there is a poster showing a picture of Daniel in the Lion’s Den surrounded by hungry but slightly confused looking lions. The caption is: “We in the 21st Century are not the first people to feel stressed.”

Today in church music we find ourselves in a situation that is not much different than it was centuries ago. We are not the first people to feel that there is not enough support to continue a fine music program/ministry.

The Hymn-A-Thon is such a great idea, I wish it were mine, but it’s not. It has been done before. However the purpose behind the Hymn-a-thon at our church is what is different from some others. Being a small parish, we as many, due to limited financial resources were faced with drastically cutting back the music ministry. However, whether you are in a large or small parish, there is a core of people who really believe the music ministry is very important and want to see it continue. It is their belief that music helps people worship and become closer to God.

Before you give up and think that your church is too small or too something else to attempt a Hymn-a-thon, let’s look at this idea more carefully.

First, let’s talk about patrons for a moment.

The term “patron” goes back to the medieval ages and through the Renaissance, feudal Japan, Southeast Asian Kingdoms, Aristocracy and right through to March 6, 2014. Patrons were the people and institutions that helped move the arts forward for present and future generations to enjoy and in which to participate. Patrons of the arts as were important in the early ages just as they are today.

ENTER CROWDSOURCING

Thanks to organizations like crowdfunding or crowdsourcing, the definition of who patrons are has expanded. Patronage is no longer just for the very wealthy, but for anyone who is interested in helping support a worthy project.

Instead of giving up and asking, “Why is this happening?  Why is our Music Ministry being cut?” say instead, “Our Music Ministry is too important to let go, so what we are going to do about it?”  That was the impetus the musicians of St. Bede had to start thinking about what could be done to mitigate the cuts proposed to their music ministry.

One Sunday morning, a choir member showed up with a newspaper article about a Hymn-A-Thon Trinity Cathedral in Portland had recently done. Their event raised funds to support their choir’s upcoming English tour. We thought, “well, we wouldn’t be raising funds for a tour, but a Hymn-A-Thon could work equally well to raise funds to further our small parish music ministry.”  Three weeks later, on the date we had chosen to “make something” happen, we held our own St. Bede Hymn-A-Thon.

What might surprise you is the number of people who really do believe in what you are doing.  We can become myopic (see paranoid) in our vision and think that people are not interested in maintaining or furthering excellence in church music.  However, as we found, there are a great number of people who respect and value the traditions of the past and want to sustain them for the future.