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1 Sou unds of Joy BC Synod Worship Committee How Shall we Sing God s Song? 10,000 Reasonss (Bless the Lord) CCLI Song # , ThankYouu Music. SHOUT! Music Publishing, About a month ago, one of my choir members told me about an ear worm that he had had all week since choir practice the previous week. It was the first time I had heard that expression, but it resonated with me. So often, I tooo have those ear worms, "The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning, it's time to sing Your song again. Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes." those melodies that just wonʹt leave your head and you end up singing them all the time. My children will attest to how annoying this is to them as well, to hear their mother singing what amounts to really bad karaoke all week long. It was the intention of the worship committee to feature a hymn from the Evangelical Lutheran Worship in this space. However, a new contemporary hymn introduced to me by our pastor a couple of weeks ago has been going round and round in my head and I can t seem to dislodge it from the circular pathways it has found in my brain. It has definitely become an ear worm. I was even caught the other day humming it while I stood in line to buy my groceries. It is written by Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin and is called 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord). The melody is haunting, and itʹs an easy tune for a congregation to learn. I introduced it to my musicians one day afterr November, 2012 Hymnsight Hymnsight is a good web resource for any churchh that currently projects the liturgy, either in part or in whole onto a screen or is exploring this creative option for worship. In addition to photo galleries featuring over 2000 images there is a comprehensive how to manual for those who are new to the idea of using projected images in church. The great news is that the use of the images is free no permission needed as long as the use is non profit and churchh related. Hymnsight is a project of retired amateur photographer Ralph Milton and a group of his seasoned church friends who wanted to use their talents to give back to the church that has nurtured them throughout their lives. Check it out at: Thanks to Rev. Adolf Manz for bringing this resource to the attention of the worship committee

2 service, and while we were practicing it, others came over and joined us, intrigued by what they were hearing. The chorus talks about singing like never before, and having so many reasons to bless the Lord. Verse one: The sun comes up, itʹs a new day dawning, itʹs time to sing Your song again. Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes. It is a hymn that can be used with just piano, or you could add guitar, bass and drums. Harmony lines could be added quite simply. It utilizes simple chords, I, IV, V, and VI and itʹs easy to follow. There are no bridges or anything to worry about. Itʹs simply chorus, verse, chorus, verse, etc. ending with an extended chorus. As I was teaching it to one of my singers recently, she mentioned how sometimes she wakes up at night with a song stuck in her head, and how much better that is than having a worry stuck in her head. Iʹm sure that you will wake up with this tune stuck in your head. Take the time to listen to it. It is beautiful. How nice it would be if we could be singing all day and night, and blessing our Lord. Itʹs easy to find it on YouTube and if you have a CCLI license you can find it on their website. Sylvia Duncan serves as Music Director at Shepherd of the Valley in Langley, BC Book Review by Lorraine Reinhardt To Dance with God, by Gertrud Mueller Nelson, published by Paulist Press 1986, 241 pages, $10.56 (paperback). To Dance With God takes us on a journey into ritual. Nelson writes with charm and insight about ritual in general, and Christian ritual in particular, for both the family and the church community. The world has become an increasingly secular place where rationality and intellect have taken the place of church. But people have, at their core, a desire for the Divine which they don t realize is the missing something for which they are yearning. Our search for the Divine typically overlooks the ordinary; our ears and minds and hearts are not always open to experiencing God in everyday things. The religious experience is the attaching connection that we make between the homely and the fantastic, both metaphorically and personally. (p.19) The making of ritual is a basic human need. It is also divine inspiration. We create sacred spaces for ourselves, either church spaces or shrines of another kind. We have holy days (holidays) enacted by law. We gather symbols: wedding rings, birthday cakes, and prepare ceremonies, usually at times of transition in our lives. When we make ceremony and celebrate the nodal points in our life, we make an art of the life we live. (pp ). Celebrations require a number of different elements. There must be a leader and participants. There must be enough focus to the celebration to name a theme. Celebrations most often happen at times of transition and they nurture the person(s) through that transition. Celebrations often happen in routine cycles, like birthdays.

3 Time and space appropriate to the moment must be defined and circumscribed. (p. 49). Ordinary and earthy elements are made holy by their use in these celebrations. In Part Two, Nelson works her way through the church year, beginning with Advent. She prepares us for each of these seasons of the church and then offers some suggestions for personal, family and church community celebrations. She includes a homemade game for Epiphany, a la Parchesi. She suggests holding an Epiphany pageant, rather than a Christmas one. She suggests creating a prayer box for mealtimes. At each meal a family member pulls out a prayer which is then prayed at the start of the meal. For Easter Sunday she invites each member of the community to bring a bell which is rung at a specific time during worship. For Thanksgiving the processional cross is made from sheaves of wheat, or grasses are tied to the cross. Nelson writes from her perspective as a Roman Catholic Christian, consequently some of what she has to say applies only to that tradition. But her underlying premise is that all of our lives are God s and how we live in our day to day reflects what God is and has done for us. There is no separation between the sacred and the secular worlds of our existence. To Dance With God is an inspiration for a way of living out our ordinary days, as well as our holy days, in a God centred way. I highly recommend this book. Lorraine Reinhardt is a member of Spirit of Life in Vancouver. She sings professionally with the Vancouver Chamber Choir and also teaches singing in her private studio. Worship Notes by Vida Jaugelis Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful I must confess that this time of year activates my cocooning gene. Since the coming of the rainy season on the west coast and the turning back of our clocks to standard time my homing instinct seems stronger. As dusk begins to fall, I find myself trying to wrap up my work so that I can at least catch the last rays of daylight for my drive home. As I try to concentrate on the road ahead of me through the pelting rain, the warmth and coziness of home beckons me. Curling up on the couch with my favorite mohair throw and a cup of hot chocolate is all I can think of as I drive through the dreariness. That s the trouble with this time of year. Cocooned in the comfort of our homes and churches with our Christmas trees and Advent wreaths it is all too easy, as one writer put it, to let nothing of the world and its misery touch us. Yet the reality is that in our choirs, Bible Study classes and our neighborhoods, there are people who are hurting and in pain. Perhaps they ve experienced the sudden death of a loved one, or an unexpected job loss or a recent divorce. Perhaps, even we ourselves are trying to deal with strained family relationships and wish the whole season with its emphasis on parties and celebrations would just go away. For people in turmoil, every shout of Merry Christmas exacerbates their

4 sense of isolation and every carol reminds them of just how out of step they are with the seasonal expectations of good cheer. Indeed! Rather than Christmas cheer, the experience of the griefstricken is one of advent groaning of mourning in lonely exile here. In light of this reality, I wonder if in the midst of our children s pageants, Christmas bazaars and candlelight we can make room in our churches for the sorrowing to experience the consolation of Christ? Many churches, in recognition of how the lead up to Christmas both inside and outside the church often disenfranchises those who are grieving, have begun to offer a Blue Christmas or Longest Night Worship service in Advent. Such services are quietly reflective and give people who mourn the time and space to acknowledge their sadness, while holding out healing and hope to sustain them in the difficult days ahead. Some churches hold their Blue Christmas service on the longest night of the year, which falls on or about December 21, the traditional feast day for Saint Thomas the Apostle. This linkage invites making some connections between Thomasʹs struggle to believe the tale of Jesusʹ resurrection, the long nights just before Christmas, and the struggle with darkness and grief faced by those living with loss. As a supplement to the regular Sunday worship services, A Blue Christmas liturgy reminds not only the sorrowing heart but all of us that Advent is a journey from despair to an active hope in the Second Coming of Christ. If you just want to know what a ʺBlue Christmas Serviceʺ is, the following article by Tiffany Vail gives an overview: ws/dec01/blue.htm If you are looking for resources and ideas about how to plan such a service for your setting, the following links compiled by Debbie Lou Ludolph, Director of Worship Ministries for the Eastern Synod should be helpful to you. Key.html Lutheran (NW Synod of Wisconsin) complete Eucharistic service: ter.org/wma/worship/church_ seasons/christmas/blue/0001/l ongest_night.html Process & Faith service: ources/liturgy/blue christmas United service from Kelowna, BC: /sermons/bluexmas.php Liturgy based on readings from Isaiah deringpastor/liturgy/christma s Liturgy In a Minor Episcopalian complete Eucharistic service: s.wordpress.com/2012/03/blue christmas worshipservice.pdf The Eastern Synod s complete list of Advent, Christmas and New Year web resources can be found here: ries/worship/files/2012/10/ad vent Christmas 2012 Worship Resources1.pdf Rev. Vida Jaugelis is a member of First Lutheran Church in Vancouver and serves as a healthcare chaplain for Fraser Health Authority.

5 Did you enjoy this newsletter? Do you have ideas or suggestions for future issues? Then contact one of the committee members below: Lorraine Reinhardt, committee chair, Sylvia Duncan, Vida Jaugelis, Karla Paciejewski,