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This Week
Sunday October 5, Communion at Marden
Tuesday October 7, Discussion at Wares'
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The Foyer
Let us sing…Do you have a favourite hymn? How about your congregation? Are there hymns you love to sing together? Are there hymns that have a habit of reappearing on your order of worship?
We’re a group that loves to sing. Lately we’ve been taking particular notice of our hymns, what they say, how their melodies speak to us. It’s not unusual for someone to ask for a hymn to be repeated, or to ask if we could please sing the hymn just used as a prelude piece.
Last week we discovered an old familiar hymn printed in our current hymnal with new words! It surprised some of us who had thought we could sing this particular hymn without looking at the words. But no. They were new words.
This launched the conversation in our Tuesday group. What was the origin of this hymn? Was it one of “ours” and how did these new words come about? We learned from Jane Gardner’s article in the Herald that the practice of “correcting” hymns began at the very beginning of our church’s history. WW Phelps was assigned to correct Emma Smith’s collection. In discussing our experience with the various editions of the church’s hymnals we recalled many examples of familiar songs being changed, updated or discarded altogether when their words no longer fit the current theology or identity.
We’ve come to pay particular attention to the lyrics of our hymns, both the new ones and the old familiar ones. Very often the words of one our hymns provide the main message for the day. As we launched our new season Hymn 237 formed the foundation prayer. With the words of God Renew Us By Your Spirit we prayed for renewed energy, revitalized dedication to our mission and a sense of joy and celebration to share with all we meet. I find myself returning to the words of this hymn as I plan activities and worship for the months ahead.
Oh, in case you’re wondering, the hymn whose words changed was #127, We Gather Together (in Hymns of the Saints it was #11) in case you’d like to look it up. It’s a traditional Dutch hymn translated by Theodore Baker and “corrected” by Ruth Duck.
--MS
