Church Music

Getting back to As One Voice: The Next Generation, No 29 is Canadian singer songwriter Brian Doerksen’s “Come, Now is the Time to Worship.”   This is associated with Vineyard UK and they certainly don’t do it at 58bpm (prayerfully) as indicated in AOV NG.  I suppose that is because it is such an obvious welcoming song it needs to be more uptempo to fill that role.

My backing is about 70 and still seems painfully slow but it is meant to a prayerful version.  I have to like this because all Canadian singer songwriters are wonderful.

This choral arrangement looks very interesting indeed – I’d love to hear it. There appears to be sheet music of this all over the web (eg here and here), although you can hear a snippet and download what I assume is the real version of the sheet music from OCP.

Apart from in AOV NG, I also have a copy in “the source: new songs” No. 7.

Come, now is the time to worship
Come, now is the time to give your heart
Come, just as you are to worship
Come, just as you are before your God
Come

One day every tongue will confess You are God
One day every knee will bow
Still the greatest treasure remains for those
Who gladly choose You now

One day every tongue will confess You are God
One day every knee will bow
Still the greatest treasure remains for those
Who gladly choose You now

Come, now is the time to worship
Come, now is the time to give your heart
Come, just as you are to worship
Come, just as you are before your God
Come

© Vineyard Songs 1998.

I’ve been doing far too much blogging on one thing, trying to get through AOV NG, so just for fun I thought I’d start a series on mistakes.  I used to use backings a lot in church because I am an average guitarist and they provide something to hide behind.  I care less now, but it used to bother me, so I’d try to have backings for most songs we played.  Sometimes I’d never heard the song and the music I was given didn’t indicate much about what was meant to be going on.  This led to some distinct lapses in taste shall we say.

Example one, Trisha Watts and Monica O’Brien’s beautiful song “Summoned by Love”.  (It’s in AOV Vol2 No 18)  Now I didn’t know it was a ballad, it just screamed funk to me.

Verse 1

Be still and know I am God.

Listen to me and see

You’re not alone in your journey.

Trust in yourself and trust in me.

Chorus

Summoned by You,

Summoned by love we come.

We are gathering to celebrate Your Word, O Lord.

Summoned by You,

Summoned by love we come.

Our lives we give in offering to You.

Verse 2

Be not afraid of the night.

Darkness shall not prevail.

My light will guide and make clear your way.

Tender and strong your heart will stay.

Chorus

Verse 3

Go now in faith and in peace.

Your life will be my sign.

Know deep within I am with you now,

Now and until the end of time.

Chorus

 

 

OK so it probably is a ballad.  They must have been very short of music to not chase me out the door, but I suspect someone must eventually have taken me aside and explained it didn’t go like that.

Alphabetically we are in a run of veni sancte songs and No28 in AOV NG is “Come, Holy Spirit” and this is another contribution from John Angotti.  John Angotti is a WLP artist and is famous enough to be hated by traditionalists in America, which is some recommendation.  There is nothing radical to get upset about here though, unless reminding Catholics of their obligation to a social gospel is offensive.  This is pleasant enough but confirms my cultural prejudices in that for the most part, the Australian songs in this collection are more interesting and better for being less polished and slick than the American ones.

The text is available here and you can listen to the song at John Angotti’s Myspace page. It can purchased as a single sheet at WLP.

This is my backing for educational purposes only.

Gina Ogilvie and Monica O’Brien have another “praise and worship” style song at No 27 in NG.  This is good as a loud song and suits the electropop on the CD.  My backing has a similar feel.  You could use it to rouse the assembly after a more reflective veni sancte in a first communion service.

Chorus

Come Holy Spirit

Come Holy Spirit

Light a fire in our hearts (Rpt 1st time)

Verse 1

Justice and mercy flow,

By grace your people know.

Power and wisdom comes from you.

Chorus

Verse 2

Leave hurt and fear behind,

Through love and faith we’ll find

Healing and hope comes from you.

Chorus

Verse 3

Your spirit makes us strong,

By faith we all belong.

Goodness and love comes from you.

© Monica O’Brien and Gina Ogilvie 2008.

“Come Be with Me” (AOV NG 26) is another celtic style chant from Keith Duke.  This would be a useful piece for quiet reflection.   The less accompaniment the better.

Come, be with me

All you who carry heavy burdens;

I will give you rest,

I will give you rest.

© Kevin Mayhew Ltd 2005.

No 25 in AOV NG is recommended as a recessional song – “be my hands be my heart for the world” says it all.  Written by Tom Franzac a GIA/OCP artist and from the nineties, this is another one that I suspect is very familiar in the USA.  The version on the AOV NG CD is very (too) smooth, almost lounge in style, with a 70’s sax solo and an MOR singing group mulching the chorus.  If this song has a problem it’s that it’s too laid back for sending out.  I’m also worried about rhyming “hasten” with “basin” and all the “t’wards”, which I note he avoids in the CD version.

The text is available here (scroll down to the bottom). You can purchase a copy for download at GIA.

My version isn’t lounge- it’s cool jazz man – and just to help you learn the song.

“Closer Than You Know” is a beautiful tune by James Maher MSC and is No 24 in AOV NG, but again I’m struggling to find it a liturgical place.  Perhaps just as a Eucharist song and let everyone figure it out for themselves.

‘Without beauty, without majesty (we saw him),
no looks to attract our eyes;
a thing despised and rejected by all,
a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering …’ (Is 53:2b)

Verse 1
I am here, your God revealed,
Behind the veil,
Closer than you know.

Humble lamb, fragile flesh,
Crying out,
Closer than you know.

Refrain

I am here, close to you.
Tear the veil and see.
Your every step, your every breath,
I share eternally.

Verse 2

Disfigured face, wounded fool,
Rejected sign,
Giving all I am.

Torn away, tortured soul,
Sacrificed,
Giving all I am.

Refrain

Verse 3

I am here, your God revealed.
Crucified,
Closer than you know.

Abundant love, enduring hope,
Opened up,
Closer than you know.

Refrain

© James Maher msc 2007.

No 23 in AOV NG is another great Australian composition, “Christ Lives in Me”.  This is written by Rebecca Williamson and Simon Hyland.  It is probably another praise and worship/high school song but more reflective than most.  It can still build to a standard freak out if desired.  The sheet music in AOV has a missing G chord 2^nd line bar 2.

Chorus

It’s no longer I who live but Christ lives in me.

It’s no longer I who love but Christ who loves in me.

There’s no more fear because of my trust in you

Rpt

Verse

I have been crucified with Christ, and now rejoice in new life.

All my old ways have been sacrificed.

So as we surrender to your will,

Let us open our hearts for you to fill.

Draw us closer and hold us still

Chorus

Bridge

The ultimate sacrifice he made

So that all people would be saved.

Chorus

© Rebecca Williamson and Simon Hyland 2008

22 in AOV NG is this chant by Keith Duke.  My backing doesn’t really do it justice so I’d watch the You Tube for this one.  This one has lots of liturgical applications.

You can also buy it in a collection of prayer chants at Kevin Mayhew.

Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ above me, Christ below me.

Christ to left and Christ to right;

Christ within both day and night.

© Kevin Mayhew Ltd 2005

While I really haven’t found anything too terrible in this collection, some of the songs are outstanding.  Like Gina Ogilvie and Monica O’Brien’s “Christ be Near Us” (No 21 AOV NG), which is such fun to sing it should be used for gathering, sending out, you name it – just use it.  Fitting the words into the verses is a little awkward but really it’s all just there to get you rollicking into the chorus.

The single sheet can be purchased for download from As One Voice.

Verse 1

Show us hope when we’re uncertain,

Guide us through the darkest night.

Created in your likeness,

May we become Your light!

Chorus

Christ be near us, Christ surround us,

Shine Your light this day.

Be our guide as we journey.

Shine Your light we pray.

Verse 2

Teach us wisdom that is grounded

In Your ageless living word.

Fill us with Your fire,

Make us burn with new desire.

Chorus

Verse 3

Guide us on the path of justice;

Give us courage to be strong.

We will be Your living presence

And show the world that love belongs!

© Monica O’Brien and Gina Ogilvie 2007