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George Beverly Shea Profile "I've been listening to Bev Shea sing for more than 50 years, and I would still rather hear him sing than anyone else I know." -- Billy Graham Since George Beverly Shea first sang for Billy Graham on the Chicago radio hymn program, "Songs in the Night," in 1943, he has carried the Gospel in song to every continent and every state in the Union. He is the recipient of ten Grammy nominations, one Grammy Award (1965) and is a member of the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame (1978). As the musical mainstay in Mr....

Here are some of the selections that we have received from respondents to the survey of liturgical songs that have made a difference in the faith life of American Catholics. All Are WelcomeText and music: Marty Haugen, b. 1950.I believe that the words really are words for our time, both for our Church and our world. They tell us who we ought to be and what we are to be about as Catholic Christians. It calls us to be who we say we are. When we sing it at our parish I feel a real sense of community, even though...

There are things that move our spirits, words that God uses to comfort, aid, help and heal. For me, perhaps because I do poetry, some of what has been important have been hymns, certain poetic passages from the Bible and well-known prayers. There was a thread I saw about how sappy and "I" centered a lot of the hymns of the last two hundred years have been, and that is probably true, but at the same time, these can have the power to draw us ever closer, or kick us over the edge when we nearly ready to fall into...

The malls and the Main Streets fall silent. The ringing cash registers and the happy cries of children are but ghostly echoes across silent streets. But the Christ born in a manger 2,000 years ago lives, liberating the hearts of sinners and transforming the lives of the wicked. The authentic story of the redeeming power of the Christmas message is nowhere more vividly illustrated than in the incredible life of an English slaver named John Newton. John Newton was born 300 years ago into a seafaring family in Liverpool. His mother was a godly woman whose faith gave her life...

The surprising origins of "We Gather Together," a Thanksgiving standard. Its mention of God makes it verboten in schools today. But not too many years ago this was the season when teachers would lead their students in the great ecumenical Thanksgiving hymn, "We Gather Together to Ask the Lord's Blessing." It's a singable melody, and the stirring lyrics speak directly of the Pilgrims' experience in overcoming religious persecution.

PC HYMNS? I personally love all the great old Protestant hymns that I grew up with -- despite my now being an unbeliever. So I felt that the cartoon below (backup here) really hit home: Maybe I am a sentimental old fool but, as a tribute to the wonderful original, I am going to reprint the whole of it below. You can hear one rendition of the music here. If certain unhappy souls in Paris at the moment had grown up with this hymn, the world would be a better place: Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a...

A conservative minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America says he and other ELCA pastors are disturbed by the denomination's approval of a new, more gender-neutral hymnal. At its Churchwide Assembly in early August, the ELCA okayed a plan to update the 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship by eliminating the "Father" terminology and male pronouns used in reference to God. The hymnal overhaul will include other gender-neutralizing and diversity-affirming changes to traditional Lutheran worship lyrics and liturgies as well. For example, in the Lutheran Creed, God and Jesus will now be referred to as "Holy Eternal Majesty" and "Holy...

I noticed that the hymn proposals for the "new primary resource" are available online at the Renewing Worship web site. Just in time for them to say that they have been made widely available before the Churchwide Assembly. www.renewingworship.org/about/proposal/pdf/Hymns.pdf In a quick look at the proposal, there are some suggested changes in tune and text that I like. For the most part it preserves what has been known in LBW and WOV. The changes are predictable: -- Those nasty words like "Lord" have been purged when possible (For example, see "For the Beauty of the Earth.") -- That nasty "F"...

I have known people who have left the worship of the church because they believed were losing their faith and could no longer in good conscience say the Creed, or in some other way participate in its common prayer. They could not lie to themselves and others about their beliefs. There are others, however, who have left churches not because they have lost their faith, but because the church demands that to participate in the worship service they must lie to God. As I write I have stumbled away from yet another Evangelical service where half the hymnody has made...

The average Christian will learn more from hymns than from any systematic theology. Hymns chart progression from classic hymns of the 17th and 18th centuries (especially those of Charles Wesley, Augustus Toplady, John Newton and William Cowper) to the Romantic "songs and choruses" of the 19th and 20th centuries. They reflect the shift from Reformation categories (God, sin and grace, Christ's saving work, the Word, church, sacraments, etc.) to Romantic individualism. We sing, "I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses. And the voice I hear, singing in my ear, the voice of God...

A Church of England bishop has called on churches to ban the singing of I Vow to Thee, My Country, one of the best known hymns, because he says it is heretical and has racist overtones. The Bishop of Hulme, the Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, said the hymn's popularity was a symptom of a "dangerous" increase in English nationalism which had parallels with the rise of Nazism. Its associations with the British empire were also questionable in a multi-faith, multi-cultural society. The patriotic hymn, which is set to music from Gustav Holst's The Planets, is a popular choice for Remembrance...

Just in time for the holiday season, the traditionalist party in America's worship war has introduced a new weapon against modernist insurgents. Actually, it's almost 500 years old: Martin Luther's music. For the first time, every hymn the German reformer ever wrote, plus a comprehensive collection of his ballads and chants, have been recorded in English, and published in a set of four compact discs.

Does anyone know the two beautiful songs played while Reagan's casket was being removed from the Washington Cathedral?

How do you write the "political history" of a piece of music? The idea isn't as farfetched as you might think. Music professor Esteban Buch did just that in his book BEETHOVEN'S NINTH: A POLITICAL HISTORY. And it's an intriguing, thought-provoking history. Beethoven's magnificent setting of the ODE TO JOY (the tune to the hymn, "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee") appeals to people everywhere -- and it seems to mean something different to each one. One could argue that people love the symphony simply because of the lyrics that celebrate universal brotherhood, the beauty and emotion of the music, and...

I love hymns. I love singing them and I love listening to them. Hearing the robust Cardiff Festival Choir belt out the stirring hymns of Ralph Vaughan Williams at what my wife regards as an intolerable volume is, for me, a terrific audio experience. It was only when I got to know certain Lutherans, though, that I began to think about hymns theologically. For classic Lutheran theology, hymns are a theological "source:" not up there with Scripture, of course, but ranking not-so-far below Luther's "Small Catechism." Hymns, in this tradition, are not liturgical filler. Hymns are distinct forms of confessing...

What are some of the favorite hymns from in your church. I'm not talking about contemporary praise muzak, so-called "Christian Rock" or a bunch of grown men in robes moaning. I'm talking about real hymns sung from an old-fashioned songbook.

John Wesley's Rules for Singing Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please. Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing. Sing lustily and with a good courage....

Orémus Pro Pontífice V/. Orémus pro Pontífice     nostro Joánne Paulo.R/. Dóminus consérvat eum,     et vivíficet eum,     et beátum fáciat eum in terra,     et non tradat eum     in ánimam inimicórum ejus. V/. Let us pray for our Pope     John Paul!R/. May the Lord preserve him,     and give him life,     and make him blessed upon the earth,     and not hand him over     to the will of his enemies.   Long Live the Pope! Long live the Pope! His praises sound Again and yet again: His rule is over space and time; His throne the hearts of men: All hail! the Shepherd King...

O God of earth and altar O God of earth and altar, bow down and hear our cry, our earthly rulers falter, our people drift and die; the walls of gold entomb us, the swords of scorn divide, take not thy thunder from us, but take away our pride. From all that terror teaches, from lies of tongue and pen, from all the easy speeches that comfort cruel men, from sale and profanation of honor, and the sword, from sleep and from damnation, deliver us, good Lord! Tie in a living tether the prince and priest and thrall, bind...

I Sought the LordI sought the Lord, and afterward I knew He moved my soul to seek Him, seeking me. It was not I that found, O Savior true; No, I was found of Thee. Thou didst reach forth Thy hand and mine enfold; I walked and sank not on the storm vexed sea. 'Twas not so much that I on Thee took hold As Thou, dear Lord, on me. I find, I walk, I love, but oh, the whole Of love is but my answer, Lord, to Thee! For Thou were long beforehand with my soul, Always Thou lovest...