[Fugli]

Got any original liturgical worship songs?

We usually try to play peppy music for the postlude in our contemporary service. So, I'm always on the lookout for new seasonal worship songs based on the Revised Common Lectionary lessons. Since at that time people are leaving the sanctuary anyway, and they don’t have words to the postlude projected on the screen, I can look for stuff that does not necessarily promote congregational singing that we might not use during other times in the service. Sometimes we use this slot to practice upcoming new additions to our regular rotation as well.

To that end, I sometimes write music for the postlude, and I thought that others might find it useful. It tends to be lesson and season specific appropriate to the RCL.

Here are 2 songs from the past two weeks... "Cast Your Nets Again" (2/8/10) = Luke 5:1-11 and "Three Houses" (2/14/10) = Luke 9:28-36

Anyone else have worship songs they've written that they are willing to share?

[Fugli]

I don't know if anyone is getting any use out of this, but here's the two that I put together for this week. We'll do the Ash Wednesday music, but only one song as a group... So I put together a driving version of "Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" that gives a nod to the original Picardy melody in a sort of modal harmony of fifths.

For Sunday (2/21/2010) the lectionary cycle has Jesus in the wilderness for forty days. So I put together a sort of classic rock version of the hymn "Forty days".

We use a lot of fake music... you can see the format from my lead sheets. Rehearsal time is when we work out the instrumentation. I think you can get an idea of the sound I'm going for on each song just by playing the intro bars at tempo.

[Fugli]

Looking ahead to the second Sunday in Lent (2/28/10) I see that there's a choice between the transfiguration text (Luke 9:28-36) and Luke 13:31-35. Since we just did the former at the end of Epiphany, I decided to focus on the latter.

[Fugli]

Ok.. God has a sense of humor... I get that.

I figured I was a week ahead on Lent Songs and that would be a good place to be, so I'm looking at the texts for March 7 today and I land on the Gospel ( Luke 13:1-9). I read it, and ponder it and pray about it for a few moments, and normally something just comes to me. I call it the Holy Spirit whispering in my ear, but however you define it, I usually get a nudge from the Lord. Today, this is what just popped in there:

fruit from poo, fruit from poo,
what flows from your life depends on what went into you
you know it’s never easy when deciding what to do,
don’t waste your fertile soil, make your fruit from poo

It's like I put in a call to heaven, and got Tom Lehrer on the hold musac or something. Maybe I need to take a break for a few days, I am ahead a week anyway.

Anyone else want to post their thoughts or songs for this text?

[relient nelson]

I don't think I could top "Fruit from poo"!! haha

[Fugli]

God puts me a week ahead, and then I draw a blank. I get it now. I had mentioned that I was going to write a Celtic Cantata this year, and thus far I haven't put down a scrip of scrap. God's making the time for me to get it done. It all falls together so easily when I start finally thinking about it. First Outline:

Genesis 1:1-3
John 1:1-5
Song: Light (done)
Isaiah 7:13-17
Song: O Come (done)
Luke 1:26-38
Song: The Angel Gabriel (need alternate traditional melody)
Genesis 18:17-19
Matthew 1:17-23
Song: (Some version of Emmanuel - melody varr. Holly and the Ivy and I saw Three Ships)
Psalm 2:6-9
Luke1:46-55
Song: Magnificat (look for a good orphan melody)
Deuteronomy 18:13-15
Luke 2:1-7
Song: Bethlehem Tonight (done)
Jeremiah 33:12-16
Luke 8:1-20
Song: Angels from the Realms of Glory (varr. kingfold)
Psalm 72:10-14
Matthew 2:1-12
Song: We Three Kings and Road to Bethlehem Medley (Em and G)
Jeremiah 31:31-34
John 1:9-14
Song: Light (repraise?)

[Fugli]

I had to focus differently on the text this time - less on the ending parable, and more on the beginning.

[Fugli]

This Sunday's song is based on the parable of the prodigal son. The beginning and chorus came to me as I awoke yesterday. To my surprise it ended up as a medium slow tempo double jig.

I won't be writing one for the next week, so I've also included the Dayenu here that I put together for our Seder meal during Holy Week. the bulletins are all printed, so I had to use the words provided. What I changed was the melody.

[Fugli]

Back from spring break, brain is fried. I pounded out Palm Sunday's song on Tuesday night, and finished it Wed. Then I uploaded it, and later realized that some of the chording didn't work as well as I would have liked. So here it is with a slight chord change. Got my new book finished up yesterday too just in time for the Norman Medieval Faire this weekend. Woo hoo! Big week!