What can the Book of Praise tell us about our identity as Canadian Presbyterians? That was the challenge I took for my term paper in pursuit of a master’s degree in sacred music at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas. On a large spreadsheet I put the contents of the book into various streams, such as folk hymns, praise and worship music, classic hymns, global songs, gospel songs, and more. Then I had to choose five to share with my class. This was patently excruciating — so many great hymns, so little time! I invite you to consider the five hymns I chose to sing with my class, and how I feel they represent our piety as members of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
WITH THE LORD AS MY GUIDE
Jim Strathdee (#574)
Many of the hymns we sing are creedal — in singing them, we sing what we believe. This hymn expresses a sturdy, resolute faith in God, which is supported by the many scriptural allusions in the text. By faith, this hymn says, we will face the trials of the wilderness like our Israelite forbears, accept God’s commands to us as Moses did on Mount Sinai, and become aware of the great eternal spring, which wells up inside each of us, as Christ revealed to the Samaritan woman at the well. Scriptural paraphrase and allusion play an important part in our denomination’s hymns, which reflect our Reformed heritage and our continual looking to scripture for guidance and strength. This hymn also reflects the rich vein of folk-inspired hymns in the Book of Praise. This musical idiom appeals to us uniquely as Canadians, with our singer-songwriter tradition in homegrown talent such as Bruce Cockburn, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and the more recent voices of Rufus Wainwright and Feist. The sturdiness of the words calls out for an equally sturdy, rollicking tempo — I can hear fiddle, penny whistle and Celtic-style drum (bodhrán) as possible accompaniments.
JUMP WITH JOY
from Malawi, Chichewa chorus,
translated by Clara Henderson (#406)
This exuberant call-and-response song is an example of the smaller songs included in our hymnal for moments of joyful praise in the community. A leader, such as the music director, a small group of youth or the choir can sing the initial call lines, with the congregation providing the responses. Throw in a drum and shakers and away we go. In my home congregation we have sung it during the time for the children, who provide the jumping with expert skill. Canadian missionary Clara Henderson, who lives and works in Malawi, translated this song from its original language. It represents both the wide variety of global Christian song represented in the book, and the missional aspect of our church’s mandate through its global partnerships forged by Presbyterian World Service and Development.
GOD IS LOVE: COME HEAVEN, ADORING
Timothy Rees (#314)
Part of the mandate of the Book of Praise task force was to update hymn texts whose language had become dated, while remaining sensitive to the theology, poetry and context of the original. This hymn, originally titled God is Love, Let Heaven Adore Him, was revised in a team effort. The strength of the revision lies in the new perspective it brings to the hymn. Where the earlier version used a more passive sentence structure, the revision employs imperative language, inciting the very foundations of the earth to bring praises to God. The earlier line “Let creation sing before Him” gives way to the arresting image, “Come creation, voices soaring…” Seamless, sensitive revisions such as this one ensure that the hymns of the past continue to speak to the present and look toward the faith community to come.
ALTHOUGH I SPEAK WITH ANGEL’S TONGUE
1 Corinthians 13,
paraphrased by Andrew Donaldson (#695)
This hymn, like God is Love: Come Heaven, Adoring, represents the largest single tradition in our hymnal: that of classic, multi-stanza, poetic hymns, especially as written after the Second Vatican Council by poets such as Fred Pratt Green, Brian Wren, Sylvia Dunstan, Margaret Clarkson and Michael Perry, to name a few. This type of hymn has a rational, exegetical focus that is important to our piety — they articulate in reasoned terms how we understand our faith. Scriptural paraphrase is also a focus of this idiom, as in this one from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (full disclosure: composer and church musician Andrew Donaldson, who was co-editor of the Book of Praise, is my dad). The art of this form is to take only the words of scripture and work them into the metre for the hymn text. This example is beautifully paired with the Newfoundland folk melody She’s Like the Swallow. Newfoundlanders may be tickled to know that a small pocket of students in Dallas now know this lovely tune.
O LORD, OUR LORD, HOW MAJESTIC IS YOUR NAME
Michael W. Smith (#409)
This hymn represents the hands-clapping, toe-tapping side of worship expressed especially by Presbyterian youth at gatherings such as Canada Youth and Triennium. However, its driving rhythms and syncopation can be enjoyed at any age. Reading, singing and praying the Psalms is an important aspect of our Presbyterian heritage, and this hymn provides a joyful expression of Psalm 8. It appears as a Psalm refrain in the companion Book of Psalms used in many congregations. It would work equally well with rhythmically driven piano accompaniment or played by a praise team with electric guitar, bass and drums. While contemporary or praise and worship music occupies only a small portion of the hymnbook, it represents a growing movement in the church, and deserves a place in the discussion as we contemplate our future.
This project taught me that our denomination’s hymnal contains a wide variety of materials for expressing our faith through song. I came across many hymns I had never sung before, and many that I hadn’t known were in the book. Inevitably, each congregation that uses the Book of Praise will develop its own canon of hymns that speak to its own community and particular piety. A list of five representative hymns would look very different from one congregation to the next. I would be interested to know what your congregation’s canon looks like — but I warn you, the hard part will be choosing only five!
