Evergreen Sings : the Worship Resource

In 2013 I will be working on a worship music resource, which I call Evergreen Sings, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the creation of the Evergreen Region of American Baptist Churches. Although this is a personal project of mine, I am hopeful that I will be able to receive input from all of the Evergreen churches, so that the content of the resource may help us share music that we find particularly moving or important with each other. I hope to be able to present a useful though not final version of the resource at the 2013 Annual Meeting, and a more "final" version by Martin Luther King Day, 2014.

If there are hymns or songs that are particularly treasured by your church, I want to know them and, if possible, I want to include them in Evergreen Sings. Please email any such suggestions to me at rosharuo@gmail.com. Thanks! Updates and discussion on this project will appear on my hymnblog, https://miahimnareto.wordpress.com/.

The Lord's My Shepherd

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

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!

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

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

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?

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