Category Archives: Congregational Songs

Jesus Lives, and So Shall I #2

The first version of “Jesus Lives” was all business: The chords move every half note and the melody takes off quickly, leaving room to breathe but not much more. This second version is more relaxed: It’s not just the country … Continue reading

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Jesus Lives, and So Shall I #1

As Easter rapidly approaches, many worship planners are simply trying to survive Holy Week. But Sundays will keep coming, and you need to have a plan for Eastertide! Don’t Worry. I have you covered. Over the next three days I … Continue reading

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Come Praise, Be Cradled

Update 1/10/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com. For this latest collaboration with TL Moody, I took a different tack. I often match her texts with folk songs. The organic nature of the subject matter often … Continue reading

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The Meadow Sings (TL Moody)

Update: 1/10/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com. The collaborations with TL Moody continue! What I love about this song, “The Meadow Sings,” is that the text wraps nature and doxology together so tightly and beautifully. … Continue reading

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Psalm 84: Blessed Beyond Measure

I’m currently working on a big choral commission for the centennial celebration of Trinity Lutheran Church in Owatonna, MN. (“Big” as in, youth and adult choirs, handbells and handchimes, woodwinds, brass, strings, timpani, harp, and praise team.) While it is … Continue reading

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Speak Sabbath O’er My Soul (TL Moody)

Update 1/10/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com. My second collaboration with TL Moody is a tune for her text “Speak Sabbath O’er My Soul.” What I love about this text is that positions Sabbath as … Continue reading

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“Joy Inside My Tears” at Calvin College’s Chapel

Paul Ryan periodically asks me to speak/sing at Calvin’s chapel. On January 14, 2019 my theme was “Joy Inside My Tears,” in which I explored the paradoxes of the Christian’s emotional life in scripture and song. Just in case you … Continue reading

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Prayer of Jonah at Western Seminary

The first performance of “Prayer of Jonah” took place in December at Western Seminary. The song begins at 27:54 in this video, but the whole enactment of the book of Jonah is well worth watching. The next performance will be … Continue reading

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Is It I, Lord?

My third collaboration with Christopher Webber is a new tune for his social justice hymn, “Is It I, Lord?” The meter of the text is 8.5.5.5 D, which is very unusual. (Unusual, as in “I don’t think it exists anywhere … Continue reading

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Prayer of Jonah

It’s been a good season for commissions, with hymns, choral anthems, and orchestral compositions waiting to be written. But first, this setting of the biblical Song of Jonah. You’ll remember that Jonah was a runaway prophet who was swallowed by … Continue reading

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