Hymn Blog - December 13, 2009

December 13, 2009 – Third Sunday of Advent

VU 18 – There’s a Voice in the Wilderness. This hymn commemorates the 1925 union of the Methodist, Congregational and a large portion of the Presbyterian church in Canada into The United Church of Canada. Author James Lewis Milligan, a journalist and Methodist lay preacher, was director of public relations for the uniting churches between 1922 and 1925. The tune, ASCENSION (BANCROFT), was composed in 1933 as a setting for this text by Henry Hugh Bancroft, organist and choirmaster of All Saints Anglican Cathedral, Edmonton, for the Anglican Book of Common Praise.

MV 33 – Jesus Came Bringing Us Hope. See November 29, 2009 hymn blog.

MV 16 – Come and Fill Our Hearts. See November 29, 2009 hymn blog.

MV 158 – Dream a Dream. Prolific New Zealand hymn poet Shirley Erena Murray wrote the text of this lovely Christmas hymn. The setting is by Canadian composer Ron Klusmeier.

V 143 – We Cannot Own the Sunset Sky. We focus on the climate change conference in Copenhagen as we sing this Ruth Duck text. Duck, professor of worship at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois is a United Church of Christ minister in the U.S.A. The setting, LA GRANGE, is by Minnesotan Marty Haugen. Haugen comes from a Lutheran tradition, and his hymns are found in many Catholic and Protestant hymnbooks in North America and farther afield.

VU 646 – We Are Marching. This South African song was amongst a group of 15 first recorded and published in 1980 by the Church of Sweden Mission and the singing group Fjedur . The subsequent 1984 collection “Freedom is Coming” brought the songs to a worldwide audience.