Red Mountain Music along with a number of other fantastic musicians from the New York area released a collections of songs last year called simply “Songs for Lent.”  The texts were curated by Cardiphonia from the Sacred Harp as they entered into conversation with the traditional Stations of the Cross.  The music is still available on NoiseTrade.  We also encourage you to make a donation that will benefit Plywood People – a 501c3 organization helping address social needs

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For more information about New York Hymns

For more information about the Sacred Harp Hymnal

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<Listen and Download Album @ Noise Trade>

<PDF Book of Chords and Leadsheets>

<PDF of the Texts only>

<A reading of the scriptural ‘Stations of the Cross’ – PDF>

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First – Christ condemned to death
(music by Kanene and Jason Pipkin)

Remember, Lord, our mortal state;
How frail our lives! how short the date!
Where is the man that draws his breath,
Safe from disease, secure from death?

Lord, while we see whole nations die,
Our flesh and sense repine and cry;
Must death forever rage and reign?
Or hast Thou made mankind in vain?
-
Words: Isaac Watts, 1719
Meter: Long Meter (8,8,8,8)
—

Second Station – The cross is laid upon Jesus
(music by Brian T Murphy)

Broad is the road that leads to death
And thousands walk together there;
But wisdom shows a narrow path,
With here and there a traveler.

“Deny thyself, and take thy cross,”
Is the Redeemer’s great command;
Nature must count her gold but dross,
If she would gain this heav’nly land.

The fearful soul that tires and faints
And walks the ways of God no more,
Is but esteemed almost a saint,
And makes his own destruction sure.

Lord, let not all my hopes be vain,
Create my heart entirely new,
Which hypocrites could ne’er attain,
Which false apostates never knew.
-
Words: Isaac Watts, 1707
Meter: Long Meter (8,8,8,8)

—

Third Station – Jesus falls
Vers #1 by Chris Miner -
Vers#2 by Clint Wells – mp3 ¦ chord chart

And am I born to die?
To lay this body down!
And must my trembling spirit fly
Into a world unknown?

A land of deepest shade,
Unpierced by human thought;
The dreary regions of the dead,
Where all things are forgot!

Soon as from earth I go,
What will become of me?
Eternal happiness or woe
Must then my portion be!

Waked by the trumpet sound,
I from my grave shall rise;
And see the Judge with glory crowned,
And see the flaming skies!
-
Words: Charles Wesley, 1763
Meter: Short Meter (6,6,8,6)
—

Fourth Station – Jesus meets his mother
Vers#1 by Bruce Benedict – Leadsheet
Vers#2 by Brian T Murphy -

I’m dying, Mother, dying now;
Please raise my aching head,
And fan my heated, burning brow,
Your boy will soon be dead.

Turn o’er my pillow once again,
And kiss my fevered cheek;
I’ll soon be freed from all the pain,
For now I am so weak.
-
Words: Anonymous
Meter: Common Meter Double (8,6,8,6,8,6,8,6)
—

Fifth – Simon of Cyrene is made to bear the cross
(music by Karl Digerness)

Must Jesus bear the cross alone,
And all the world go free?
No, there’s a cross for ev’ryone,
And there’s a cross for me.
The consecrated cross I’ll bear
Till death shall set me free;
And then go home my crown to wear,
For there’s a crown for me.
-
Words: Thomas Shepherd, 1693
Meter: Common Meter (8,6,8,6)
—

Sixth Station – Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
(Music by Jason Pipkin)

Away, my unbelieving fear;
Fear shall in me no more have place;
My Savior doth not yet appear;
He hides the brightness of His face;

But shall I therefore let Him go,
And basely to the tempter yield?
No, in the strength of Jesus, no!
I never will give up my shield.
–
Words: Charles Wesley, 1742
Meter: Long Meter Double (8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8)
—

Seventh Station – Jesus falls again
music by Clint Wells – mp3 ¦ chord chart

Thou Man of grief, remember me,
Thou never canst Thyself forget.
Thy last expiring agony,
Thy fainting pangs and bloody sweat.
Father, if I may call Thee so,
Regard my fearful heart’s desire;
Remove this load of guilty woe,
Nor let me in my sins expire!
I tremble, lest the wrath divine,
Which bruises now my wretched soul,
Should bruise this wretched soul of mine,
Long as eternal ages roll.
-
Words: Charles Wesley, 1762
Meter: Long Meter (8,8,8,8)
—

Eight Station – Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
(music by Melanie Penn)

He dies, the friend of sinners dies,
Lo! Salem’s daughters weep around;
A solemn darkness veils the skies,
In trembling shakes the ground.

Ye saints approach! the anguish view
Of Him who groans beneath your load,
He gives His precious life for you,
For you He sheds His precious blood.

Here’s love and grief beyond degree:
The Lord of glory dies for men;
But lo! what sudden joys we see!
Jesus, the dead, revives again.

The rising God forsakes the tomb;
Up to His Father’s court He flies,
Cherubic legions guard Him home,
And shout Him welcome to the skies.
-
Words: Isaac Watts, 1709
Meter: Long Meter (8,8,8,8)
—

Ninth Station – Jesus falls a third time
music by Clint Wells – mp3 ¦ chord chart

Jerusalem! my happy home!
Oh, how I long for thee!
When will my sorrows have an end?
Thy joys when shall I see?

Chorus:
Home, sweet home, my long-sought home,
My home in heav’n above.
Thy walls are all of precious stones,
Most glorious to behold!
Thy gates are richly set with pearl,
Thy streets are paved with gold.

(Chorus)
My friends, I bid you all adieu;
I leave you in God’s care;
And if I here no more see you,
Go on; I’ll meet you there.
-
Words: “F. B. P.”, 1583
Meter: Common Meter (8,6,8,6)
—

Tenth Station – Christ is stripped of His garments
(Vers#1 by Jered McKenna // Vers#2 by Benj Pocta)

The day is past and gone,
The evening shades appear;
Oh may we all remember well,
The night of death is near.
We lay our garments by,
Upon our beds to rest:
So death will soon disrobe us all,
Of what we here possess.
-
Words: John Leland, 1792
Meter: Short Meter (6,6,8,6)
—

Eleventh Station – Jesus is nailed to the cross
(music by Eric Marshall)

Behold the Savior of mankind
Nailed to the shameful tree!
How vast the love that Him inclined,
To bleed and die for thee.
Hark, how He groans! while nature shakes,
And earth’s strong pillars bend!
The temple’s veil in sunder breaks,
The solid marbles rend.
’Tis done! the precious ransom’s paid!
Receive my soul, He cries:
See where He bows His sacred head!
He bows His head and dies.
But soon He’ll break death’s anxious chain,
And in full glory shine!
Oh Lamb of God, was ever pain,
Was ever love like Thine?
-
Words: Samuel Wesley, Sr., 1700
Meter: Common Meter Double (8,6,8,6,8,6,8,6)
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Twelfth Station – Jesus dies
(Music by Brian T Murphy and  Ashley Spurling)

Alas and did my Savior bleed?
And did my Sov’reign die!
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
Chorus:
Oh, come, sinner, you will hear
The Savior say, “Weep not for me,”
See the Savior on the cross!
Oh, sinner, hear Him cry,
“Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabacthani.”
Thus might I hide my blushing face,
While His dear cross appears;
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt mine eyes to tears.

Chorus
But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
’Tis all that I can do.
-
Words: Isaac Watts, 1707
—

Thirteenth – Jesus’s body is taken down from the cross
(Vers#1 by Michael Van Patter // Vers#2 by Jered Mckenna)

’Tis finished, The Redeemer said,
And meekly bowed His dying head.
While we the sentence scan,
Come sinners, and observe the word,
Behold the conquest of the Lord,
Complete for sinful man.
-
Words: Samuel Stennett, 1787
Meter: Common Particular Meter (8,8,6,8,8,6)
—

Fourteenth – Jesus body is laid in the tomb
(music by Matt Boswell)

image (c) Erik Nykamp "A Tree Planted"

PDF – 2012 Program Book (workshops and worship)

Video and Audio from workshops will be posted here

It’s not often that you get the opportunity to worship with over 1500 people from dozens of different countries, cultures, and denominations.  This diversity is one of the chief joys of participating in Calvin’s Worship Symposium held every year up in balmy Grand Rapids, Michigan.  The theme of this years symposium was ““When Life is Prayer” with a special focus on the Psalms.  This theme corresponded with the publication of a new psalter “Psalms for All Seasons” that every single attender received. (Cardiphonia contributed Psalm 120)

HIGHLIGHTS:

Participating in this seminar:

Seminar 3: Tune My Heart to Sing Your Praise: The Re-tuned hymn (and psalm!) movement in the context of the broader culture, hosted by Greg Scheer and James K.A. Smith and featured Bruce Benedict, Sandra McCracken, Kevin Twit, Eelco Vos, and Isaac Wardell.
When Kevin Twit and RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) began setting historic hymn texts to new tunes, who knew it would grow into a movement with contributions from Indelible Grace, Sojourn Music, BiFrost and others? And who knew that in Europe a similar approach would rejuvenate singing the Psalms? Several leaders in this movement will discuss the cultural background, perform examples of their own songs, and discuss the future of this movement. We’ll give special attention to ways of using this repertoire in the local church.

- Here is a list we put together for the conference of all of the “re:hymned” albums we know of.  http://tinyurl.com/rehymns.

Leading worship

For over 900 people on Friday and Saturday mornings with Greg Scheer, Kevin Twit, Karl Digerness, and Sandra McCracken.

Set List:O God, Our Help in Ages Past (Ps90), To You, O God, I lift up my Soul (25C), Praise the Lord, Sing Hallelujah ((148C), Jesus, Draw me ever Nearer (Getty), Wait for the Lord (Taize), Justice will Roll Down (McCracken)

Friday evening there was a mini-festival to celebrate the new psalter and a diverse group of musicians gathered to play their various compositions led by Martin Tel the chapel director at Princeton Seminary.  We were invited to play our Psalm 120 and were the featured ‘folk’ group of the night.  We show up at about the 38:00 min mark. http://vimeo.com/36081203

Helping with these workshops:

B3: The Psalms of Ascent during Holy Week
The Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-134, also called the psalms of pilgrimage) are a collection of 15 psalms that the Israelites sang as they journeyed each year to Jerusalem for Passover.  This session will explore these psalms as resources for leading your congregation on a journey singing and praying with Jesus through Holy Week.

Psalm 130 "Like the Watchman Waits for the Morning" (c) Aaron Collier, 2007

It was also great to see Aaron Collier’s Psalm 130 up in the hallway and included as program art.

C12: Developing Vertical Habits, a panel with Worship Renewal Grant recipients, moderated by Betty Grit
Recipients of Worship Renewal Grants will describe practical resources that helped people of all ages better understand why we do what we do in worship.

Hearing these plenary sessions from NT Wright and Walter Bruggeman.

• Performing a Counter World: the Alternative Reality Offered by the Psalms for the Worlds We Inhabit. Walter Brueggemann
  

“The dominant world given to us by our culture is not the real world,” he said, “and we need not inhabit it. In a world without God there are only idols. The Psalms mediate to us the covenant-making God of Israel.”

• Praying the Psalms: Personal, Pastoral, Theological and Liturgical Reflections.  N.T. Wright (video here)
  

“The Psalms work in us and invite us,” he said, “to live in the radically alternative world that is both creational and covenantal.”

There was even time for a fun outing into the usedbook utopia of Grand Rapids led by the experienced hand of Kevin Twit.

From Indelible Grace
(here is their most recent ‘live’ album that is a greatest hits album of sorts)

Arise, My Soul, Arise  – Kevin Twit

O Love that Will Not Let Me Go – Christopher Miner

God Be Merciful to me (Ps 51) – Christopher Miner

The Church’s One Foundation  – Brian Moss

On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand – Christopher Miner

Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken – Bill Moore

Jesus, I Come – Greg Thompson

Father Long Before Creation – Andrew Osenga

All Must Be Well – Matthew Smith

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From Red Mountain Music
www.redmountainmusic.com

Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts  – Brian T. Murphy

Jesus, Lover of my Soul – Greg Thompson

Help My Unbelief – Clint Wells

God of my Life, to Thee I Call – Clint Wells, Brian T. Murphy and Benj Pocta

All Things New – Clint Wells

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From Sojourn Music
www.sojournmusic.com

In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross

We are Listening

Only Your Blood

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From City Hymns
www.cityhymns.com

Out of the Depths (Psalm 130)

Satisfied

There is a Fountain

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Bifrost Arts
www.bifrostarts.com

Jesus Savior, Pilot Me

Kyrie

Be Still My Soul

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From Sovereign Grace
www.sovereigngracemusic.org

Before the Throne of God Above - Vikki Cook arr.

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From Cardiphonia / Redeemer
www.cardiphonia.org

Come, Holy Ghost - Bruce Benedict/Ray Mills

Alas, and Did my Savior Bleed - Annie Quick

The Lord is King – Nathan Partain

Come, Thou Everlasting Spirit – Benedict

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I’m hoping I’ve missed 20 or 30 more that you sing regularly.  You can see some more suggestions over at our facebook page – liturgyfellowship

part one | part two

I discovered this movement of retuning hymns as I was entering seminary and at the time it was a revelation.  There was both the solid theology of the hymns that embraced what I felt was a richer reflection of humanity and music that I (and others) could accomplish in smaller (less technology oriented) settings that was interested in being singable and congregational.

In many ways (in the parlance of gospel speech) it was a ‘third way’ between traditional and contemporary worship. This has been called ‘blended’ or ‘convergence’ worship…but in general it means a concerted effort to plan worship that draws from a wider variety of sources.

But its certainly not the last word on trying to re:capture a biblically informed, congregationally attuned worship.  There are still a lot of issues that this new movement doesn’t address.  Here are a few of them that I offer as thinking/conversation points.

1. Hymns express worship at only certain points along the continuum of sung expression.

The Psalms (and canticles) present us with a wide spectrum of ‘song’ that exists along the emotional / content continuum.  There are some Psalms that present one emotion with few words, and others that engage complex emotional movements with many words. I think that in order for our worship to be truly biblical in its scope then we must strive to have worship that exists at every point along this continuum. [Scotty Smith has a wonderful talk on the continuum's of worship i remember - link anyone?]  This chart forces some generalizations but also, i think, makes the point.

Complex Content<———————————————————–>Simple Content
Complex Emotion<———————————————————->Simple Emotion
Complex Form<—————————————————————> Simple Form

  Hymns—Gospel Hymns—-Modern/Praise —-Spirituals—-Service Music

If you look at your worship service and only see week after week of 4 verse hymn after 4 verse hymn then you are probably not engaging your people in a very complex or nuanced way.  The Psalms and the rest of scripture tell us that we need 150 different kinds/lengths/moods/measures of songs.  Sometimes we need a Psalm 136 that liturgically retells the grand scope of redemptive history.  Sometimes we need a short praise-chorus exclamation of praise like Psalm 117.  Sometimes we need the soft lullabye of Psalm 131 and other times the loud creational call of Psalm 150.  With every shade of praise to lament, encouragement to imperative.  Now obviously music isn’t the only thing in a service providing content and emotional conduits….so even with hymnody you can provide a full diet of prayer and praise (but i don’t think that many people think this way when planning worship)

2. Most of our hymn texts come from a specific time, and place, with cultural and theological baggage. 

Most of our hymns (with some notable exceptions) come from the british Isles during the romance of hymnody (17th and 18th centuries). They reflect certain theological and cultural underpinnings, and while for the most part they translate well into american protestant worship they should not be expected to speak into every culture.  It should be the case that every culture and people have a unique musical and theological voice to contribute to the whole.  Each culture has a unique gift to bring and we should celebrate that, as much as it can be done intelligibly, in our worship. Here are two critical case studies.

1. Gospel Music and the African American Music Tradition

European Hymns would have been the sole diet of song for most american slaves, yet over time they developed their own culture of music, the ‘spiritual’ that reflected different cultural and theological concerns (freedom and deliverance from slavery, Exodus, etc) and has impacted american (and sacred) music in every way.   The new hymns movement actually incorporates many of the roots of rock music that originated in this tradition.

2. Hymns and Missional/Global Worship

During the height of the British Empire the english hymn was carried to the far reaches of the globe.  In many places the hymn (metered prose with western melodic principles) was taught as the only accepted means of musical worship…nothing to say of the instrumentation required!  It was even the case I’ve heard that people learned to sing the hymns IN English.  This caused lots of damage and short-circuited the work of the Spirit in those places. Thankfully in the past 30-40 years the nations have begun to create their own indigenous worship music. This is even studied today as ‘ethnodoxology.’  A lot of churches would love to include some sort of global music expression in their worship but run up against the strangeness factor.  I would encourage you to make this happen…even if its only as part of a ‘mission’s weekend’ or retreat.  When we explore and embrace the songs of the nations we get to experience a true eschatalogical foretaste of heavenly worship.

Our hymnody was the result of over a 1000 years of western intellectual, spiritual, and cultural history.  Each culture should have a sacred music that stems from their own vast well of experience.

?: What should we think about the pervasiveness of CW in East Asia?  Look up some Pop praise from Taiwan if you want an awesome example!

3. Singing just hymns distracts us from the rich song of Scripture itself!

Scripture is full of song…and I am always shocked at how little we sing of it.  Certainly it would not be too difficult to put to verse the many snippets of song we see in the Old and New Testament and work harder to create versions of the psalms that appeal to our cultural and musical tastes!  In terms of a psalter I’m pretty excited that THIS has just come out.  In terms of singing scripture besides the psalms I have had to look outside of the protestant tradition largely.  Surprisingly it is the Catholics that often do a better job of singing the full breadth of scripture. In church music parlance this is usually called ‘service’ music.  It refers to many of the ancient-praise songs like the kyrie (Ps51) (Bifrost) or the gloria (Luke 2:14) (HighStreet Hymns) or the Sanctus (Is 6:3; Rev 4:8) (Red Mountain Music).  Taize Music and the Iona Community are also interesting sources of both service and global infused worship music.

Here are a few other notable song and poetic texts in scripture that need your work.

• Canticle One — The (First) Song of Moses (Exodus 15:1-19)
• Canticle Two — The (Second) Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:1-43)[2]
• Canticle Three — The Prayer of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10)
• Canticle Four — The Prayer of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:1-19)
• Canticle Five — The Prayer of Isaiah (Isaiah 26:9-20)
• Canticle Six — The Prayer of Jonah (Jonah 2:2-9)
• Canticle Seven — The Prayer of the Three Holy Children (Daniel 3:26-56)[3]
• Canticle Eight — The Song of the Three Holy Children (Daniel 3:57-88)[3]
• Canticle Nine — The Magnificat: Luke 1:46-55); the Song of Zacherias (the Benedictus Luke 1:68-79); The Nunc Dimittis (Luke 2:29-32)

Other Questions:

• Many of the worship movements in the past 3o-40 years have surrounded age and generational boundaries.  One question I have is how the re:tuned movement is doing as an approach that is inter-generational? Or will it become another style-ghetto that follows RUF students into the broader church?
• Groups like Sojourn Music have begun to explore using existing hymn texts as a theological framework for a song but often deconstructing the text itself.  What benefits and drawbacks does this approach present?
• Does retuned hymnody encourage a more embodied approach to worship (that is often a critique of hymn based worship settings)?

This is part two of a series of posts reflecting on the new hymns movement that has developed in the past ten years as we get ready to join Kevin Twit and Sandra McCracken of Indelible Grace, Mike Cosper of Sojourn Music,  Isaac Wardell of Bifrost Arts, and Elco Vos (Psalm Project) at the Calvin Symposium next week up in Grand Rapids, MI.

- A renewed interest in poetry

This is huge.  While there is nothing sacred about the ‘hymn’ form…there IS something sacred about poetry and how it expresses truth.  The largest book in the Bible attests to this.  Most of the major moments of redemptive action in history are either preceded by or responded with poetic expression. Lester Ruth taught us that poetry often does a better job than prose at communicating the paradoxical theologies of scripture in a way that both maintains the tensions of scripture and leads us to devotion and praise.

“O Love incomprehensible, that made Thee bleed for me. The Judge of all hath suffered death, to set His prisoner free!”- Augustus Toplady

“Gaze on that helpless object of endless adoration!
Those infant-hands shall burst our bands,
And work out our salvation” – Charles Wesley

- A renewed interest in the formative nature of poetic theology

When my church began a year-long series in the Psalms of Ascents in 2009-2010 (facilitated by a Worship Renewal grant from Calvin) one of the most significant reflections we made as a leadership team was that our people were totally unequipped to engage with poetry.  No one reads it anymore, no one writes it.  Our culture has relegated poetry to hallmark cards and sentimental schmaltz.  This is a far cry from the culture in which the Psalms were written.  Poetry was the language reserved to communicate the most important things in life.  Poetry (The Psalms) was the language of the heart, of commerce, of kings (David), and only poetry could adequately express the encyclopedia of emotions of the human heart…literally revealing “the anatomy of all parts of the soul” (Calvin).

Kevin Twit and John Witvliet have both emphasized in various places that modern worship has not adequately formed us to engage and deal with suffering and death.  They would both suggest that a return to a formation in the poetry of the psalms AND hymns would help a great deal in correcting this cultural astigmatism.

- A renewed interest in the poetic expression of theology.

The rationalistic emphasis of the enlightenment and our own american culture and history is to blame for this (300 year oversimplication in a sentence).  Our obsession with precision, efficiency and practicality means the neglect of poetry.  There is a reason that we have to borrow almost all of our hymn texts from another time and culture.  There hasn’t been a major pastor/poet to emerge in the American milieu. (How is this possible!! When the British Isles had so many??)  We have had to rely on our musicians (Fanny Crosby is an excellent eg.).  Seminaries don’t teach an appreciation of poetry as a means to teach and express theology and devotion, and this vacuum leaves pastors not only negligent of this biblical literary form but also highly suspect of it as well!   Again we rely on our musicians and worship leaders…often ill equipped themselves to deal with the language and tools of poetry in the faith formation of their congregation’s.

Formation Note: I love one particular practice of Charles Wesley.  I’m not sure if he was the first to do this but he literally wrote ‘hymnio continua’ through scripture. What a great spiritual discipline and one that is a challenge to everyone who wants to worship his/her way through the bible.  This is an important practice we can embody to ‘chew’ on scripture.  We should write and sing our way through all that scripture has to teach us about God and our great salvation.  You can download these two collections here.  (Scripture Hymns Vol 1 ; Vol 2)

Much of the text and sentiment of modern worship is very poor poetry.  I hear pastors lament it all the time…yet somehow they seem unwilling to tackle the problem themselves or broach the topic meaningfully from the pulpit.  Even most pastors think it is the musicians (or the CWM industry’s job??) to write better poetry.  I’ll never forget a songwriting seminar I took with Stuart Townend while I was working in London.  This man had a holy fire to provide the church with great poetry.  (Stuart talked about bad poetry as worse than heresy! He was ruthless!) The incredible success of his and Getty’s collaborations are a testament to his passion and love for the church.

This whole movement of writing new music to old hymn texts seeks to address many of the cultural, theological and devotional voids we feel.  And its exciting to see how so many different groups are approaching this project from various perspectives. Indelible Grace, BiFrost Arts, Sojourn Music, Zac Hicks and Cherry Creek Worship and Cardiphonia all reflect various shades of a love and desire to see great song infused with great poetry.

* Do you have a pastor songwriter that you love?  Let me know!!

Some more resources to check out:

Kevin Twit  – Articles on worship and hymnody

Keith Getty – Seven Tips for writing for congregations.

Bobby and Kristen Gilles – check out this great new blog for songwriting “My Song in the Night“

One of the many notable things about Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology is that he concludes each chapter with a hymn.  Here is the list.

I’m looking forward to taking this class in June “Singing What We Believe: Theology and Hymn Texts” taught by Bert Polhman at Calvin Seminary.  Should be very challenging.

Vito and Monique Aiuto of The Welcome Wagon are leading a songwriting workshop at The Glen Workshop East this summer (June 10-17).  He is a published poet and I imagine this would be a stellar atmosphere to work on songwriting.

Next week I’m traveling up to Grand Rapids to participate in the Calvin Worship Symposium.  One seminar I’m helping with is “Tune My Heart to Sing Your Praise: The Re-tuned hymn (and psalm!) movement in the context of the broader culture.” We will be looking at the past 10+ years of the re-tuned hymn movement that originated in large part at RUF Belmont with Kevin Twit and Indelible Grace

In preparation for this seminar I’ve been reflecting on my own experience of this movement and some of the cultural streams associated with it.  Here are a number of reasons why I think this movement has been successful and has grown from a local to a national movement.  Many of them hinge on significant cultural movements beginning to change the shape of material and popular culture around 2000 when Indelible Grace was beginning.

1. Folk Music Makes a Resurgence

This movement road an upsurge in the popularity of folk music in the main steam media consciousness.  Building on the renewed popularity of folk music brought to contemporary culture by the Brother, Where Art Thou (2000) Soundtrack (Listen to this 10th anniv interview with T Bone Burnett) and the immense collection of hymns texts in its backpocket Indelible Grace found a rich milieu in which to wed the old with the new in a musical synthesis that filled a pressing need for grassroots sacred song. Observation:  Sufjan Stevens and the rise in interest in Shape Note Singing have been two other movements that I have associated with the emergence of folk.

2. Generation X’rs Revolt Against the Boomer Church

The Boomer generation invented and fueled the Contemporary Worship Movement, CCM, and the Mega Church Movement.  These were often concerned with slick production, positive thinking, and (over)simplicity in message.  Generation X’rs wanted authenticity, deeper theology, more intimate worship settings.  Old hymn texts and folkier music was a perfect fit for the mood of this generation.  Further Question: How does Passion Music fit into this discussion?

3. Lack of Song Choice and Publishing Stagnancy

Prior to this movement there was largely only two places to go for choices in church music – traditional hymnals or the Contemporary Worship Movement (CWM) publishing behemoth. (actually…both are publishing giants) The dichotomy these two groups facilitated and catered to created a stranglehold on churches that fueled the worship wars of the 80s and 90s.  Both groups through either the old mainline denominations or the  new church growth movement kept up their publishing and presence through numerous conferences and magazines.  Pitting Organ and Choirs versus Mega Sound Systems and Praise Bands.  In neither of these places could you find the plaintive voice of folk – The old home of community song.  The time had come for folk music (and the tenets of folk) to make a major resurgence.

4. The Digital Revolution

Indelible Grace arrived on the scene just as the innovations of the internet, file sharing, and the home studio were beginning to change the face of the music industry.  Between 1999-2001 Napster obliterated the way our generation thought about music ownership.  Through the inspiration of Indelible Grace, songwriters in colleges and churches all over the US began to write their own re:tuned hymns and could easily share them over the internet without having to utilize the expensive means of the big recording studio. Cdbaby (founded in 2000) now made it easy to produce and distribute a CD.   As a new generation of songwriters began to explore this new form it was now easy to trade songs.  This grassroots movement spread from college ministry to college ministry and church plant to church plant.  Indelible Grace, staying true to their grassroots even collated many of their own songs and made them available for free on a digital hymnal site.

Note: To date their have been over a 1,000 new songs released on CD’s in this movement…not counting scores more that exist on websites and blogs alone.

Moore Square Plan - Raleigh, NC

My church, Christ the King, is moving locations in a few weeks.  We are moving from a lovely elementary school space in Five Points, Raleigh to an old brewery space in the heart of downtown Raleigh — in the current ‘City Market’ space called Cobblestone Hall.  In preparation for this move our pastor Geoff Bradford is preaching a series on what it means to live out the Gospel where we live.  In essence how to live out the Gospel in a place and time that is neither the Garden nor the New Jerusalem…and the incredible tensions we live in and out being stranded between our two homes.

Series Texts and Titles:

Revelation 21:1-5a,21:22-22:5   
All things New: The Redeemed City 

Genesis 11:1-9   
The Fallen City

Jonah 3:1-5; 4:1-11   
A Prophet to the City

Jeremiah 29:1-14
A Priestly People for the City

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Here are a few songs we will use as part of our series:

All Things New (Red Mountain Music)
mp3 | leadsheet

On Jordan’s Stormy Banks (Indelible Grace)
demo – mp3 | charts

Oh, When Shall I See Jesus (Benedict arr.)
mp3 | chart

Come All Ye Pining (Red Mountain Music)
mp3 |  leadsheet

Then There Shall Be (Chad Gray)
mp3 | leadsheet | info

Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken
mp3 | leadsheet | capo | Sacred Harp

A few more with similar themes:

Abiding City - Sandra McCracken
God of the City – Passion
Let us Build the City of God (pdf) – Dan Schutte & John M Talbot

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Here is our Community Group Study Guide (pdf)

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More Resources:

Books:
Eric Jacobsen – “Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith

Tim Keller:
Buildings for Community – (pdf)

http://theresurgence.com/files/pdf/tim_keller_2005_buildings_for_community.pdf

The Missional Church – (pdf)

http://www.redeemer2.com/resources/papers/missional.pdf

The Gosple and the Poor – (blog)

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/publications/33-3/the-gospel-and-the-poor

Reaching Your City with the Gospel (video)

http://www.vergenetwork.org/2011/06/29/tim-keller-reaching-your-city-with-the-

gospel-video/

Why Cities Matter (video)

http://adrianwarnock.com/2009/03/why-cities-matter-tim-keller/

Gospel and Culture Lectures (video)

http://www.faithandwork.org/lecture_videos_page3658.php

There is still time to register (till Jan 19th) for this fantastic worship conference coming up the end of January (26th-28th) in the balmy winter haven of Grand Rapids, MI.  The theme this year focuses on the psalms and corresponds with the publication of a huge new psalter The Psalms for all Seasons.

The Calvin Symposium on Worship has been going on for over 10 years and is largely run and organized by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, which awards a large number of worship grants every year alongside a brisk publishing schedule.  (Our church has recieved two of these recently. Sojourn Music has recieved a number, Indelible Grace got their start with a worship grant).

Here is how the Symposium is described on their website.  You can go HERE to see my blog post on last years conference.  It is a wonderful time to be quite overwhelmed with people, services, music, and folks from most parts of the world.

The annual Calvin Symposium on Worship is a three-day conference sponsored by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and the Center for Excellence in Preaching. This ecumenical conference brings together a wide audience of pastors, worship leaders and planners, artists, musicians, scholars, students, and other interested worshipers. People come from around the world to gather for a time of fellowship, worship, and learning, seeking to deepen and integrate all aspects of worship, develop their gifts, encourage each other, and renew their commitment to the full ministry of the church. This year the symposium will explore praying and worshiping through the psalms.

Cardiphonia will be helping this year with two seminars.  One all day seminar on thursday.

Seminar 3: Tune My Heart to Sing Your Praise: The Re-tuned hymn (and psalm!) movement in the context of the broader culture, with Bruce Benedict, Sandra McCracken, Kevin Twit (Indelible Grace), Eelco Vos (The Psalms Project), and Isaac Wardell (BiFrost Arts), hosted by Greg Scheer and James K.A. Smith.
When Kevin Twit and RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) began setting historic hymn texts to new tunes, who knew it would grow into a movement with contributions from Indelible Grace, Sojourn Music, BiFrost and others? And who knew that in Europe a similar approach would rejuvenate singing the Psalms? Several leaders in this movement will discuss the cultural background, perform examples of their own songs, and discuss the future of this movement. We’ll give special attention to ways of using this repertoire in the local church.

and a one hour workshop offered on both Friday and Saturday.

B3: The Psalms of Ascent during Holy Week
The Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-134, also called the psalms of pilgrimage) are a collection of 15 psalms that the Israelites sang as they journeyed each year to Jerusalem for Passover.  This session will explore these psalms as resources for leading your congregation on a journey singing and praying with Jesus through Holy Week.

I’m also really looking forward to hearing plenary sessions from Walter Bruggeman and N.T. Wright among many excellent, excellent seminars. Go here for the complete schedule.

• Performing a Counter World: the Alternative Reality Offered by the Psalms for the Worlds We Inhabit. Walter Brueggemann.
• Praying the Psalms: Personal, Pastoral, Theological and Liturgical Reflections. N.T. Wright.

Hope you can make it.  Please grab me if you are there so we can meet!

Bobby Gilles of Sojourn Music interviewed me for his excellent songwriting Blog “My Song in the Night“  You can read the interview here.

Donatello "Massacre of the Innocents"

This Sunday celebrates the first Sunday of Epiphany where we celebrate Jesus Christ coming into the world as light into darkness.  His life in every way shines God’s glory into our world but with the coming of God’s glory we also face the uprising of sin and evil.  Here is a song I wrote a few years ago meditating on some of the contrasting themes of Epiphany (the Light coming, those that journey towards it and away from it, the fight of darkness against the light).

<Here is our post from last year with a lot more on Epiphany>

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O Holy Child (Hosanna to the King)
mp3 | chords | leadsheet

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Oh holy child, you’ve been made known
A thousand miles into the unknown
A light in the sky, for all mankind
You shined from the deep dark of space
You shined in the deep dark of our sin.

Refrain
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna to the King

Oh holy light you’ve been made known
From Babylon, with the rising moon
Up to the king of Jerusalem
But not from the throne of David’s Citadel
Not from a throne but from a stable

O holy night, you’ve made been known
Where heavenly hosts, and shepherds roam
All to the wonder of His seemless light
You shined from the womb of prophets long-foretold
You shined from the womb into the night.

Oh holy wrath, oh holy blood
Bethlehem’s cries and Rachel’s breath
Running from His righteous wounds
He came for the peace, of ancient Israel
He came for the peace, for favored men.

(c) 2009 Bruce Benedict