Evergreen Sings: the Blog

The Lord's My Shepherd

2009-04-20T00:05:00.000-07:00

Verne Eke (Fremont Baptist's organist) and I have tentatively settled on a main theme (Psalm 23) and rough date (October) for a first attempt at an Evergreen hymn sing. I eagerly await nominations from the floor of songs based on that Psalm that it would be good to sing. Some of those already in the hopper (which doesn't mean they will all be used) include:

Malotte's 23rd
Lucie Campbell's The Lord is My Shepherd
John Peterson's Surely Goodness and Mercy
Ralph Carmichael's New 23rd
God Leads Us Along
The King of Love My Shepherd Is (Dominus Regit Me? St. Columba?)
The Scots 23rd ("The Lord is my Shepherd, in naught am I wanting")
My Shepherd Doth Supply My Need
Bwana Mungu ni Mchunga Wangu (Swahili, by Samweli Syengo)
The Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want (Crimond)
He Leadeth Me
There Were Ninety and Nine
... name a couple dozen others please ;-) - I'm especially interested in treatments from the hymnic explosion of the late twentieth century, and in non-English-language treatments susceptible of englishing.

Leland aka Haruo

Swahili and Russian at Fremont

2009-03-10T02:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday evening, we had quite a polyglottal songfest at our PSST service (stands for Prayer, Singing, Scripture, Table - lay led). We have a couple of young men from Kyrgyzstan, ESL college students, who attend the service. Only one of them was there tonight, Sanzhar (the other, Edil, came to morning worship today for the first time!). We don't have any songs in Kyrgyz, but we do have a Russian Methodist hymnal, and they are almost equally fluent in Russian and Kyrgyz, and we sang

Come, thou long-expected Jesus (English only, to Hyfrydol)
Joy to the World (Sanzhar and I sang in Russian)
The Easter Song ("Hear the bells ringing"; English only)
In Remembrance of Me ("Red") (English only)
Near the Cross (I sang in Swahili, couldn't locate it in the Russian hymnal but I know it's in there)
Fill My Cup, Lord ("Like the woman at the well"; English only)
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah (English only)
All Creatures of our God and King (Sanzhar and I sang in Russian)
Marvelous Grace of our Loving Lord (Sanzhar and I sang in Swahili; he thought it was Japanese!)
The Wonder of It All (English only)
Wonderful Words of Life (I sang in Swahili, Sanzhar sang in Russian)
Amazing Grace (Sanzhar and I sang in Russian)
Battle Hymn of the Republic (English only)

Lots of fun and great praise.

Welcome!

2009-02-21T00:43:00.000-08:00

If you are arriving here in response to my recent "Personal Request for Hymnic Help" (which I am distributing today at the Building Bridges Event in Issaquah)

I hope you will leave a comment and let me know how you might be able and willing to assist my hymnal and hymn sing projects. I need it. ;-)

What are your (either your personal, or your congregation's) favorite hymns? What hymns do you wish were in your church's hymnal that aren't? Are there any hymns or spirituals or religious ballads that have been written by members of your church, or tunes composed? What have you found to be the most moving musical moments at Evergreen gatherings?

At Fremont, I might mention "Lead on, thou bright Evangel", "Jesus walkin' on the water", "The Corn Song", my own "Just Kill Me" and "Come then, let's have breakfast", and Frank Talmadge's old favorite "Bubbling in My Soul" as examples of the sorts of songs I'd like to have brought to my attention. Or the addition of the "The cross behind me, the world before me" verse to "I have decided to follow Jesus". I'd like to have similar suggestions from all the churches in the Region.

If you have ideas for venues, accompanists, topics, formats, or other aspects of my hymn sing plan, I'd like to hear those, too.

I have a hymnal collection that numbers over 120 items and continues to grow (I'm currently awaiting a Swahili hymnal being sent by a BaptistLife.com member in Oklahoma); if you have an old hymnal that you don't need, tell me the title and year of publication, and I'll see if I can use it. If I can use it, I'll pay you $5 for it. What a deal. A Kyrgyz one would, of course, be just wonderful. (We have Kyrgyz-speakers attending Fremont, you see, and would like to build bridges to Kyrgyzstan.)

Okay, now, go ahead and leave a comment! Thanks! Love you!

A Hymn Sing for Evergreen

2009-02-19T00:51:00.000-08:00

I would like to start, perhaps this fall but no later than a year from now, a series of topical and seasonal hymn sings to build bridges between those in our communities whose spirits are lifted by getting together and praising God in song. To do this I need, primarily, a venue and accompanists. If you know good, adaptable piano, organ or guitar accompanists who might be interested in such a gig, please put them in touch with me. I envision, eventually, a bimonthly or even monthly hymn sing in the Seattle area (this could be copied locally by our churches in other parts of the continent) that would bring together not only Evergreen Baptists but others who enjoy hymn-singing and who would like both to sing old favorites and to learn, or at least try, new pieces. And then, when it is a reality, I need as many of you as fit the definition of “target audience” to show up and sing with us. I’ll make sure it’s announced well in advance in Evergreen Notes as well as in email to anyone who has expressed an interest!

University Baptist hosted a hymn sing several years ago that could be seen as a prototype of what I am hoping to bring about: a singing that was partially programmed (mainly by Tim Phillips) and partly request-based, but in all its parts participatory, not a venue for soloists or performers.

Leland Bryant Ross

My comprehensive list of hymns

2009-01-21T03:22:00.000-08:00

I have made my "Comprehensive" list of hymns available, in OpenOffice *.ods format, on the web (right click and open on or save to your own computer): Comprehensive.ods. This is a spreadsheet which currently lists all the hymns in about 33 hymnals, mostly Baptist. It is an ongoing hobby project of mine, so every week it's bigger than the week before. I used OpenOffice format rather than Excel primarily because in Excel format the spreadsheet is now too big to upload.

The spreadsheet currently covers the entire hymnic* contents of:
African American Heritage Hymnal
Celebration Hymnal
Chalice Hymnal
Hymns for the Family of God
Hymns for the Living Church
Hymnal for Worship and Celebration
New National Baptist Hymnal, 2001 ed.
New Century Hymnal
Baptist Hymnal, 1956
Baptist Hymnal, 1975
Baptist Hymnal, 1991
Baptist Hymnal, 2008
Broadman Hymnal
Christian Worship, 1941
Hymnbook for Christian Worship
For the Living of These Days
Gospel Hymns (BGC, 1950)
Hymns and Songs of the Spirit
New Baptist Praise Book, 1917
American Hymnal, 1933
The Worshiping Church
Worship & Rejoice
Christian Life Hymnal, 2006
Great Hymns of the Faith
Great Songs of the Church
A New Hymnal for Colleges and Schools, 1992
HHB3 = Harvard Hymn Book, 3rd ed.
Worship in Song (Quaker)
United Methodist Hymnal
Presbyterian Hymnal, 1990
Saints Hymnal (RLDS)
Hymns of the Spirit, 1937 (UU)
The Alfred Burt Christmas Carols
plus substantial portions (at least 200 items each) from
Pilgrim Hymnal, 1958
Living Hymns, 1988
Majesty Hymns, 1997
Soul-Stirring Songs and Hymns, 1972
and smaller parts of more than a dozen others.

*including carols and other songs that some might not consider hymnic, such as short pieces of service music.

Burmese and Karen hymnody?

2008-12-21T19:04:00.000-08:00

I've put a request for information on hymns and hymnals (and carols) in Burmese and Karen on My Little Hymnal. With Evergreen churches actively involved in welcoming and helping to resettle refugees from Myanmar and its surrounding borderlands, it seems to me important that Evergreen Sings should include some of their Christian song. If you know of any, or have leads I might follow, please post here or there.

Leland aka Haruo

SBC-specific hymnody - FYI

2008-11-24T21:50:00.001-08:00

Here is a list of the hymns that are found in three or more of the 5 Southern Baptist hymnals 1940-2008 [Broadman Hymnal, 1940; Baptist Hymnal, 1956 1975 1991 2008], but that are not found in a single one of the eight hymnals I have indexed that are currently in use in the Evergreen Baptist Association of ABC:

In all five Southern Baptist hymnals (four hymns):
Lord lay some soul upon my heart Leila (1)
Serve the Lord with gladness Lee
Take my life and let it be Yarbrough (2)
This is the day the Lord hath made He calls Arlington

In four of the five Southern Baptist hymnals (ten hymns):
Are you weary are you heavy-hearted Dayton (3)
Coming now to thee O Christ my Lord Travis Avenue
Great Redeemer we adore thee Redentore
I am so happy in Christ today Sewell
I hear thy welcome voice Welcome Voice
Lord as of old at Pentecost Old-Time Power
O land of rest for thee I sigh O Land of Rest
Of the themes that men have known Fisher
Send a revival O Christ my Lord Matthews
Word of God across the ages Austria

In three of the five Southern Baptist hymnals (thirteen hymns)
A parting hymn we sing Dennis
All praise to thee for thou O King divine Sine Nomine
Come thou fount of every blessing Warrenton (4)
God moves in a mysterious way St Anne (5)
I am happy today and the sun shines bright McConnell
In the lightning flash across the sky Forest Park
No not despairingly come I to thee Kedron
O God of might O Son of light Surabaja
Soldiers of Christ in truth arrayed Mendon
Tell it Tell it out with gladness Hymn to Joy
There's a glad new song ringing Redeeming Love
Tis the grandest theme thru the ages rung Deliverance
Ye servants of God your Master proclaim Lyons (6)

Notes:
*(1) two EBA hymnals give the refrain (tune name Ira), but none gives the whole hymn
*(2) five EBA hymnals (and all five SB hymnals) give this hymn set to Hendon, and one EBA hymnal sets it to Vienna, but only the SB hymnals set it to Yarbrough
*(3) one EBA hymnal has the similarly incipited but otherwise dissimilar "Art thou weary, art thou languid" set to Stephanos
*(4) all eight EBA hymnals and all five SB hymnals give this text set to Nettleton, but a majority of the SB ones also give the truncated setting to Warrenton
*(5) three EBA hymnals give this text set to Dundee, and one (alt.) set to Tallis' Canon, but in the SB hymnals St. Anne predominates (one sets it to Dundee)
*(6) five EBA (and one SB) hymnals set this hymn to Hanover, but no EBA hymnal (vs. three SB) sets it to Lyons, which is preferred by both groups for "O Worship the King"

I would be eager to learn to what extent any of these hymns/settings are actually used in ABC worship. I would also be interested in knowing whether SBs are actually prone to singing, say, "Take My Life" to Yarbrough or "Come Thou Fount" to Warrenton.

Cheyenne Spiritual Songs

2008-06-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

Today, in response to threads on Conjubilant With Song and BaptistLife.com, I posted *.wma files of three Cheyenne Spiritual Songs from the Mennonites' Cheyenne-language hymnal Tsese-Ma'heone- Nemeotȯtse

(cover pic) >>

The BaptistLife.com thread has scanned material from the hymnal including the singable English version of one of the songs, Esenehane Jesus, #3 in the Cheyenne hymnal, and #22 Nameome’etano’tovȯ Jesus (I thought about Jesus in the morning), while the Conjubilant one has an interlinear version of #40 Vehone-ma’kaetaevokėha’e (A Crown)

Leland aka Haruo

Our 63 universal hymns

2008-06-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of the 63 hymns (text-tune pairings) found in all eight of the hymnals at my disposal that are used by Evergreen Baptist Association English-language congregations:

A mighty fortress is our God Ein' feste Burg
Abide with me fast falls the eventide Eventide
Alas and did my Savior bleed Hudson
All hail the power of Jesus' name Coronation
Amazing grace how sweet the sound that New Britain
Angels from the realms of glory Regent Square
Angels we have heard on high Gloria
Be still my soul Finlandia
Beneath the cross of Jesus St Christopher
Blessed assurance Jesus is mine Assurance
Blest be the tie that binds Dennis
Break thou the bread of life Bread of Life
Breathe on me breath of God Trentham
Christ the Lord is risen today Easter Hymn
Come thou almighty King Italian Hymn
Come thou fount of every blessing Nettleton
Come we that love the Lord Marching to Zion
Come ye thankful people come St George's Windsor
Faith of our fathers living still St Catherine
For all the saints who from their labors rest Sine Nomine
Go tell it on the mountain Go Tell It
God of our fathers whose almighty hand National Hymn
Great is thy Faithfulness Faithfulness
Hark the herald angels sing Mendelssohn
Holy holy holy Lord God almighty Nicaea
How firm a foundation Foundation
I am thine O Lord I have heard thy voice I Am Thine
I come to the garden alone Garden
I love to tell the story Hankey
I need thee every hour Need
It came upon the midnight clear Carol
Jesus keep me near the cross Near the Cross
Jesus shall reign where'er the sun Duke Street
Joyful joyful we adore thee Hymn to Joy
Just as I am without one plea Woodworth
Let us break bread together on our knees Let Us Break Bread
Love divine all loves excelling Beecher
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming Battle Hymn
More love to thee O Christ More Love to Thee
My hope is built on nothing less Solid Rock
O beautiful for spacious skies Materna
O come all ye faithful Adeste Fideles
O come O come Emmanuel Veni Emmanuel
O for a thousand tongues to sing Azmon
O God our help in ages past St Anne
O little town of Bethlehem St Louis
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross Old Rugged Cross
Rejoice ye pure in heart Marion
Rock of Ages cleft for me Toplady
Silent night holy night Stille Nacht
Sing them over again to me Words of Life
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling Thompson
Sweet hour of prayer Sweet Hour
The church's one foundation Aurelia
There is a name I love to hear O How I Love Jesus
There's a sweet sweet Spirit in this place Manna
We gather together Kremser
Were you there when they crucified Were You There
What a fellowship what a joy divine Showalter
What a friend we have in Jesus Converse
What child is this Greensleeves
When I survey the wondrous cross Hamburg
When peace like a river attendeth my way Ville du Havre

The complete list of the texts and tunes in the eight hymnals is in a spreadsheet at this location on the Fremont Baptist website. I've tried to treat various modernizations and inclusive rewrites, wherever possible, as "the same as" their older versions; details can be found in the notes in the spreadsheet. I probably missed a couple of those, however, where the New Century Hymnal's first line differs drastically from the received text.

Note that a text that is not uniformly found with the same tune may be underreported. For example, "Away in a manger" is in all eight hymnals, but failed to make the "universal" list because although seven of the hymnals give it to Mueller (aka Away in a Manger, the eighth gives it only to Cradle Song (four of the hymnals give both tunes).

I would be thrilled to receive feedback triggered by these data.

Leland

Mia Himnareto - my new blog

2008-06-07T00:48:00.000-07:00

I've started a new hymnblog, Mia Himnareto - My Little Hymnal. Some of what I post there will probably be pertinent here. Go ahead and comment there if you will be so kind.

New Hymnals Coming!

2008-01-31T00:24:00.000-08:00

I have ordered a number of hymnals in the past few weeks. Two of them have now arrived:

The St. Michael Hymnal, a very Catholic hymnal locally produced by a Roman Catholic Parish (not, interestingly, named St. Michael's; I think it's St. Boniface or something) in Indiana; I don't think I'll put "Long Live the Pope" in Evergreen Sings, but it's nice to have a hymnal with it in it; our organist may be able to use it for a Prelude or something...

Lutheran Worship, which just arrived today. This is the 1982 hymnal of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. It's certainly an attractive volume, and I'm sure it will have some gems in it. LCMS is Jaroslav Vajda's denomination, and I'm interested to see how much of his stuff (and what) they have included.

On order are five Spanish hymnals (one each Methodist, Catholic, Disciples, non-denominational, and Southern Baptist); so far I haven't figured out how to get a copy of the interesting recent Cuban Baptist Alabanza Cubana, which at least one Google reference shows (mystifyingly) as having been published by a Pentecostal publisher (Buena Semilla, I think) in ¡Colombia!

Also on order are Hymns for a Pilgrim People, recently put out by the NACCC; the African American Heritage Hymnal, which I believe is the current pew hymnal at Mt. Zion, Seattle's most "established" Black Baptist Church; a used copy of Melodies of Praise, a 1950s Assembly of God hymnal that I hope will contain several Ira Stanphill songs I want to have; and four more copies of the Christian Life Hymnal. And apparently the United Methodists' Global Ministries' Russia Project is going to send me a copy of the UM Russian hymnal.

Also, Japanese Baptist has a bunch of old Baptist Hymnals (1956) and Broadman Hymnals (1940), and I am hoping they'll part with one of each, as well as perhaps the 聖歌 and the American Hymnal (Broadman, 1930) they also have in their choir closet. I still need to get ahold of a copy of the 1977 New National Baptist Hymnal to supplement and correct my 2001 "Millennium Edition" of said work. That done, I will have all the current EBA hymnals I know of, as well as most if not all of the previous generation.

The Evergreen newsletter published today has a blurb (see p. 2) about this Evergreen Sings project. I hope someone reads it ;-)

Leland

What hymnals are we using?

2008-01-20T16:40:00.000-08:00

Here are the data I have so far. If you know what hymnal one of the churches in the "Unknown" category is using, please post that or email it to me. Thanks! (I think I may have received information about Issaquah and Burien but can't find it now...)

Leland aka Haruo

==========
Current Pew Hymnals of Evergreen Baptist Association churches:

AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE HYMNAL
Mount Zion Baptist Church, Seattle, WA

CELEBRATION HYMNAL
Japanese Baptist Church, Seattle, WA (Eigo Congregation)
Pullman New Wine Baptist Church, Pullman, WA

CHALICE HYMNAL
Good Shepherd Baptist Church, Lynnwood, WA

HYMNAL FOR WORSHIP & CELEBRATION
Fremont Baptist Church, Seattle, WA
Wedgwood Community Church, Seattle, WA

NEW CENTURY HYMNAL
First Baptist Church, Seattle, WA
University Baptist Church, Seattle, WA

NEW NATIONAL BAPTIST HYMNAL
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Baptist Church, Renton, WA

SAMBIKA 21
Japanese Baptist Church, Seattle, WA (Nichigo Congregation)

UNKNOWN
Burien Community Church, Burien, WA
Burton Community Church, Burton, WA
Church of the Covenant, Palmer, AK
Community Church, Issaquah, WA
Confraternidad Cristiana Ebenezer, Burien, WA
Daystar Baptist Church, Renton, WA
Fairview Community Church, Costa Mesa, CA
Filipino-American Christian Fellowship, Lynnwood, WA
First Baptist Church, Bountiful, UT
First Baptist Church, Chico, CA
First Baptist Church, Mountlake Terrace, WA
First Baptist Church, Palo Alto, CA
First Baptist Church, Salt Lake City, UT
Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church, Seattle, WA
Grace Baptist Church, San José, CA
Greater Friendship Baptist Church, Seattle, WA
Greater New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, Seattle, WA
Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, Seattle, WA
New Beginnings Christian Fellowship, Renton, WA
New Direction Baptist Church, Seattle, WA
New Hope Baptist Church, Seattle, WA
Oak Lake Baptist Church, Seattle, WA
Panther Lake Community Church, Kent, WA
Paradise Baptist Church, Seattle, WA
Progressive Baptist Church, Seattle, WA
Shell Ridge Community Church, Walnut Creek, CA
The United Church, Moscow, ID
Urban Grace, Tacoma, WA

Evergreen Sings: the Blog — Welcome

2008-01-17T11:14:00.000-08:00

This blog is where I will discuss my projected hymnal, Evergreen Sings, which I intend to produce as an offering to the common musical ministry of the Evergreen Baptist Association. Comments are welcome, either here or by email to me.