Hymn Blog - March 14, 2010

March 14, 2010 – Fourth Sunday of Lent

VU 112 – O God, How We Have Wandered. Written in 1980 by Monsignor Kevin Nichols, a British Roman Catholic, and long time member of the International Committee on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), this hymn is a penitential reflection on today’s gospel lection, the story of the Prodigal Son. Often set to PASSION CHORALE in other hymn books, Voices United sets it LANCASHIRE, a more lively tune, composed by 19^th century British organist and composer Henry Thomas Smart.

MV 126 – Are You a Shepherd? This text by pastor, educator, and hymn poet Ruth Duck is set to ZILKER PARK, by William P. Rowan. Rowan was born in San Diego, California on November 30, 1951. He is a graduate of Southern Illinois University (B.A. and M.M.) and the University of Michigan (M.M.). He serves as director of music ministries at St. Mary Cathedral in Lansing and is the liturgical consultant for the diocese of Lansing. Rowan is the composer of many published hymn tunes, anthems, and organ works. His hymn settings have been sung at hymn festivals throughout the United States, Great Britain, and Europe, and are included in in most recent hymnals. He is a founding member of the Huron Valley Chapter of The Hymn Society, has a wife, Juanita, and two children.

MV 20 – God of Still Waiting. The text is by American Episcopalian, Carl Perkins Daw Jr., who taught English at the College of William and Mary prior to theological studies. He was ordained a priest in 1982, and served as a pastor in Virginia and as vicar-chaplain at the University of Connecticut.   He served from 1996 to his retirement in 2009 as the Executive Director of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. He was made a fellow of the Society in 2007. He is a widely published hymn poet, with six of his texts appearing in Voices United and three in More Voices. The setting for this text, HESYCHIA, is by Alfred V. Fedak, who currently serves as Minister of Music and Arts at Westminster Presbyterian Church on Capitol Hill in Albany, New York. A Fellow of the American Guild of Organists, Mr. Fedak also holds the AGO’s Choirmaster Certificate, and serves on the Guild’s Board of Examiners.  A prolific composer of church music, Mr. Fedak has published nearly 100 individual compositions, mostly sacred works for organ and for voices, which appear in the catalogs of a dozen different publishers.

 MV 169 – When Hands Reach Out Beyond Divides. Keri Wehlander is an author, hymn lyricist, liturgical dancer and leader of retreats and workshops. Spirituality and the arts provide a primary focus for her work in various settings in both her native Canada and the U.S. A passion for making biblical stories and imagery come alive is at the heart of her work.   The tune, SALEM, is from the 1854 edition of Southern Harmony, a shaped note hymn book from the Sacred Harp tradition, where it is set to the text “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds.”