Hymn: Be Thou My Vision
The text for this hymn comes from an ancient Irish poem,
“Rob tu mo bhoile, a Comdie cride.” It was translated by Mary E. Byrne in 1905
and later versified by Eleanor Hull in 1912.
Hymn: Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me
The text is John Wesley’s translation of Paul Gerhardt’s
hymn “O Jesu Christ, mein schönstes Licht.” Wesley first heard that hymn,
written in 1653, as he voyaged to America with a group of Moravians. LindaJo
McKim writes that the story is told that Wesley needed the support of this text
because he was a misfit.
Hymn: As Those of Old Their Firstfruits Brought
The text was written in 1960 by Frank von Christierson and
published in Ten New Stewardship Hymns
by the Hymn Society of America in 1961. Christierson wrote of his concern for
stewardship, “because I am deeply concerned about missions and the outreach of
the church to ‘all the world,’ also because stewardship is a very important
phase of the Christian life.’” This is the first of two hymns we’ll sing to
tunes with roots in British folk music. FOREST GREEN was originally the melody
for the English folk song “The Plowboy’s Dream” and was arranged by Ralph
Vaughan Williams for The English Hymnal
(1906) as the setting for “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” United Methodist
hymnologist notes the tune’s simple form (AABA) and simple, attractive melody
help to make it one of the “sturdiest” in hymnody.
No comments:
Post a Comment