Archive for the 'Songs We Sing' Category
June 15th, 2022
Greetings song leaders and voices of the congregation! Here is our menu of songs and hymns for Pentecost and Pride, June 2022. Gathering Song: “Come, Come, Whoever You Are” Table Acclamation: Summer Table Acclamation Prayer Songs: Build a shelter / Let it Rest or . . . Down to the River to Pray Or any […]
June 15th, 2022
“Come, Come, Whoever You Are” is a beautiful setting of a Rumi poem by Unitarian Universalist pastor and poet Lynn Ungar. It can be sung in a round of up to four parts. Here’s a recording. And here are the lyrics: Come, come, whoever you are,wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving. Ours is no caravan of […]
May 25th, 2022
Build a Shelter / Let it Rest is a beautiful prayer song with words by Pamela Grenfell Smith and tune by Conie Borchardt. Pamela writes, “This is a lyric about giving permission to rest from one’s own inner struggle and pain.” Here’s a recording. Note that the lyrics can change for new verses. Thus, “Build […]
April 22nd, 2022
Hello everyone! Here is the music we’ll be singing during Eastertide. Gathering Song: Kiev Alleluia Candle Lighting Song: Wade in the Water” Table Acclamation: Festive Table Acclamation Prayer Song: “Down to the River to Pray” Offering Song: “Duncan Alleluia” Final Hymn: April 3-18 “Now The Green Blade Riseth” (shruti on silver) April 24-May 9 “Jesus […]
April 21st, 2022
“Down to the River to Pray” is a beautiful song first published in a 1867 collection of African American songs. It is classic of various American musical traditions, including African American spirituals and Appalachian music. You may recall this version by Alison Krauss from the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? Here is a teaching […]
April 21st, 2022
“Wade in the Water” is a powerful African American jubilee song, first sung by enslaved people in reference to the Israelites who escaped bondage in Egypt. Historians believe Harriet Tubman herself sang the song to encourage those escaping slavery to make use of rivers and streams to lose the dogs used by patrols trying to […]
March 9th, 2022
Greetings, beloved song leaders and voices of the congregation, Here is the menu of music for the 2022 Season of Lent. Gathering Song: “Lament for Zion” -or- “John Bell Kyrie” Candle Lighting Song: “Here is Bread for the Hungry Soul ” Table Acclamation: Lent Table Acclamation AND Holy, Holy, Holy Prayer Song: Any […]
November 7th, 2021
Hello Song Leaders, Advent is here, and it brings a new menu of musical selections! Gathering song: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” Each week, we’ll sing a different verse: Nov. 7: Verse One Nov. 14: Verse Two Nov. 21 Verse Three Nov. 28 Verse Four Dec. 5 Verse Five Dec. 12 Verse Six Dec. 19 […]
September 2nd, 2021
Dear Song Leaders, Behold, the songs for fall of 2021! Gathering Song: September 12 through October 4 “Till The Moon Is No More” October 10-November 1 “Like the Willow Weeping” Candle-Lighting Song: “The Journey of a Thousand Miles” Table Acclamation: Fall Table Acclamation (Shelton)” Offering Song: “Amen” Final Hymn: September:“God Calls You Good” October:“I Met […]
September 2nd, 2021
“I Met A Stranger on the Road” is a hymn with words by David Bjorlin, set to a traditional Scottish tune and arranged by John Bell. You can hear a recording of it here. The sheet music is here.