Phil's Thoughts

Fill us with Your feast

As part of a team that was writing worship resources for “Leader” magazine for Lent of 2007, I was inspired to write a song that fit hand-in-glove with the theme we were developing. The writing team did a really creative job in designing these worship services and I hope your church finds the worship during that season to be meaningful.

Though our spirits are heavy during Lent, we created services which remind us each week that all of our longing is met by God’s abundance. With that in mind, this song is meant to end each service in this worship series on a high note. The song is anything but a Lenten dirge. In fact, what emerged is a joyful tune that has a bit of a lilt. This is not typical for Lent, but hopefully a life giving way to end each worship service. For those unfamiliar with “Leader” and the worship resources it provides, you can check it out at http://www.leaderonline.org/

The challenge in writing a “hand-in-glove” song for one particular series was to do it in a way that didn’t limit the song to only a single use. I hope I’ve written it in a way that also allows it’s use beyond this series and even outside of the season of Lent. Though no reference is made to the Lord’s Supper, for example, being filled by God’s feast at the communion table comes to mind as another potential use of the song. If the song is enjoyed by a few congregations, I’d gladly add another verse with a more direct communion reference. Let me know if this would be helpful.

Many thanks to Marilyn Houser Hamm for the piano arrangement and recording – both are beautifully done!

Our dearest child

This is the only song of this these five that is meant for a soloist or small group to sing for the congregation during worship. While not all churches use this element in their worship service, it remains an important part of worship in others. What we now call “Worship Music” at Grace Mennonite in Steinbach continues to provide many of our most meaningful moments in worship – allowing the music to serve as a time of inspiration and meditation for the congregation.

I grew up listening to the harmony of Ed and Val Peters in church as they often shared what was then called “Special Music” with our congregation. Half way through writing this song I began to hear their voices singing it in my head. I’m thrilled that they consented to sing it for you to hear! The harmony you hear was created by them and seems to leave their mouths as naturally as breath enters.

This song is rather long and can be arranged differently to suit your needs and to fit appropriately into your worship. Use your judgement and take liberties. A note to guitar players – what you’re hearing is the first guitar playing in G and the second guitar capoed at the 7th fret playing in C form. If the song is too high for your singers, playing the song in C form and moving your capo to the 4th or 5th fret might make life easier for singers and also allow room for other voices to find higher harmonies. Use your judgement, interpret, and accompany the song as you see fit.

Also, if you’re new to finger picking the guitar, this might be a good song with which to learn. The chords are very straight forward, allowing your left hand to go on autopilot while you concentrate on your right hand – rocking your thumb back and forth between two bass notes on each chord and breaking up the rest of the chord with your first three fingers, each taking one of the high strings.

I Will Give You Rest

This tune was written for a retreat with the Saskatchewan Mennonite Youth Organization. The retreat centered around taking “A Holy Vacation with God.” The text for the chorus is taken from Matthew 11:28. This is the first song that I have dared to write using Jesus’ voice. While it feels sort of presumptuous to put words in Jesus’ mouth during the writing, the feeling we get in singing these words together in worship is a strong sense of intimacy and connection with Jesus.

On the full audio file you hear Meredith Daley singing and playing piano. She wrote the piano accompaniment and transcribed the melody. The shorter audio file gives you an idea of how a finger picked guitar might lead the song. The guitar is capoed at the 3rd fret and played in G form. A light strum would work just as well for those more comfortable with strumming.

A further note for guitar players. I frequently add the F# bass note to the D chord. This is done by wrapping my thumb around the neck to grab the bass note on the second fret. This technique is frowned upon by classical teachers but is used widely in the steel string guitar world. You might also use your thumb to grab the G and the F# that are added to the Am chord if that’s easier for you than reaching up with your 4th finger.

God Go With You

This song was written as a sending song – sung by the congregation, as a blessing from one to another. Though it’s easy for a congregation to learn, the way it’s written also makes the song suitable for just one person to sing to the congregation. Perhaps doing that for one or two Sundays would be a good way to teach the song. The full audio file has Meredith Daley playing piano and singing. Her generosity and giftedness has made this Resources project a possibility and has given you a beautiful voice to listen to! She has also provided the transcription.

As I wrote the song I discovered that it lends itself to being sung a second time around if you change the tempo or feel of the accompaniment enough. The brief audio file gives you an idea of how a guitar might make the transition from a reserved first time through into a more upbeat second time through the song. A note to guitarists – the guitar you hear has the low E string tuned down to a D. Not only does this fatten up your D chord. It also tends to encourage a more aggressive and rhythmic approach in playing which can be very helpful for leading a group in singing, especially if the singing is being led only by one guitar.

If your intention is to end your worship service on a quiet note, you could also choose to have a solo instrument play through the melody a few times before inviting the congregation to join in singing. Arrange and accompany the song to suit your needs.

The Mountain of God

This song was written for the assembly of the youth of Mennonite Church Canada in the summer of 2000 in Abbotsford, BC. The worship at that assembly invited us to see and live God’s vision given to the prophet Isaiah in chapter 2. That text along with Jesus’ declaration of his mission statement in Luke 4 melted together in the lyrics. Thanks to Tom and Christine Sine for helping those parts of scripture come alive during a summer course for youth ministers a year before the conference.

The audio file is from Kim Thiessen’s and Darryl Neusteadter Barg’s CD, “Hope is . . .” Big thanks to Kim and Darryl for allowing us to make their recording available. The CD is available from MCC Alberta (learn more about the CD from this link), or from the MCC Online Store.

The melody in the verses tempts people to “straighten out” the timing somewhat, but the song works much better if you’re careful to maintain the lilt of 6/8 time. Worship leading guitarists don’t get much practice playing in this time signature. To practice strumming in 6/8, listen to the audio file from the third verse through the end of the song and play along. Concentrate your energy on playing down strokes on beats 1 and 4 (if you’re totally new to this time signature, count 1-2-3-4-5-6 along with a chorus a few times). Once you’ve got that feel, you’ll have a much easier time playing the same chords with your left hand but breaking them down with your right hand (flat picking) the way you hear Darryl doing it in the first half of the recording.

Though no piano part is written for this, here at Grace one of our pianists leads the song beautifully. We’ll leave the work of arranging that up to you.