Category: Congregational Songs

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Church Congregational Songs Psalms Rock and/or Roll

Psalm 149 at Cardiphonia

Update 3/12/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

Exactly one year and a day after its premiere at Church of the Servant, “Psalm 149: Let God’s People Sing a New Song” is appearing on the latest Cardiphonia release.

Bruce Benedict and the Cardiphonia gang are taking on the ambitious goal of producing a series of albums that cover the whole Psalter. This time around they are tackling Psalms 135-150 in a two volume collection. I contributed two songs, the first of which is a setting of Psalm 149, “Let’s God’s People Sing a New Song.” My goal was to make the recording sound like something by Polyphonic Spree. I don’t know that I achieved that, but it’s certainly more epic than my usual fare. Here are the fine folks who helped me bring on the epic:

Joel Klamer, alto saxophone and trumpet
Becca Klamer, harpsichord and backing vocals
Kurt Schafer, accordion
Cal Stapert, recorder
Johnny Simmons, drums
Sarah Bratt, Lis Hatfield, Erin De Young, Marie Bloem, Sine Nomine String Quartet

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Church Congregational Songs Live

Make Us One within Your Spirit

Update 10/1/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.

I’ve introduced “Make Us One within Your Spirit” elsewhere (here for the story of how it lost a contest and here for music and the exciting story of the second draft), but thought I’d post a recording from yesterday’s service. I don’t know that it’s destined to be a big hit, but I’m quite proud of the lyrics. Maybe someday someone will commission me to turn this into a regal choral anthem with brass and timpani. Until then, enjoy the modest yet beautiful sound of Church of the Servant’s musicians leading the congregation in the song.

1. Living God, in the beginning, when you formed humanity–
Man and woman, child and parent, in community complete.
One with you, one with each other, let us live as your redeemed.
Make us one within your Spirit;
Join us in your bond of peace.

2. Jesus Christ, you are our lifeblood and the Church’s living Head.
You have cleansed us with one water. You have fed us with one bread.
And as grapes are brought together before wine can be released;
Make us one within your Spirit;
Join us in your bond of peace.

3. Holy Spirit you revive us, breathing life into dry bones.
Let the winds of new creation, animate our dusty souls.
Fill our lungs with inspiration. Fill our hearts; let love increase.
Make us one within your Spirit;
Join us in your bond of peace.

4. Blessed Trinity, you show us how to live as family.
Only tethered to each other will each one, and all, be free.
Each a gift and each a giver, offered in humility.
Make us one within your Spirit;
Join us in your bond of peace.

Added bonus for those of you who read the lyrics to the end: enjoy a beautiful song called “Una Espiga/Sheaves of Wheat,” also from yesterday’s service.

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Church Congregational Songs

The Beauty of Your Holiness

Biking to work this morning, this song came to mind. Usually I reserve my blog for new music, but I’ll make an exception this once and bring back a golden oldie on its 20 year anniversary. It’s interesting to look back at my first congregational songs. I can see the seeds of what I do today. I’m still interested in writing songs that are singable, but not entirely predictable. (I love the E/G# in the second measure and the C#m7, F#7, G in the chorus. They’re “wrong” but they sound just right.) I only hope that I don’t lose the love of exploring that I had back then.

If you want to read more about the song–and who wouldn’t?–visit “The Beauty of Your Holiness” page at my website.

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Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Global Live

O Come, Holy Spirit (Sarwar)

harmoniumOne of the great things about my church is that we have a constant stream of interesting people joining us from all around the world. One of them is Eric Sarwar, a musician from Pakistan. Eric and I have collaborated before. This time we worked on a song of invocation, “O Come, Holy Spirit.”

As with many of Eric’s songs, they look simple on the page, but take on a life of their own in worship. We began our service today with a quiet tanpura drone and improvisation on the song’s raga (mode). Once the tone was set, the whole Guitarchestra came in and the congregation joined us: PDF, MP3

Later in the service the communion music began with another Sarwar/Scheer collaboration, “O Lord, May Your Kingdom Come.” That led into a set of songs that flowed so well that I include it here in its entirety. Be forewarned: the MP3 is 22 minutes long (31MB). If you have the time, though, it gives you an idea of how the communion section of a Church of the Servant service runs: COS communion 6/21/15.

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Church Congregational Songs Psalms

Psalm 80: Restore Us, O God! (Guitarchestra)

The FDA says: Limit your use of 80 mg Simvastatin. But you can use Psalm 80 all you like.

Update 10/1/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.

After a sluggish round of correspondence (due to travel for me and a new teaching position for Naaman) we’ve finally brought “Restore Us, O God!” from draft into final form. I think it was worth the wait. Particularly unique is its Klezmer-ish feel that captures the lament of the Psalm well.

I was excited enough about it that I didn’t let the Guitarchestra leave rehearsal last night until they recorded it with me. Two times through and you get a pristine recording like this: that’s the magic of Gstra!

I think you’ll be excited enough about it that you won’t want to wait until December 20, 2015 when it comes up in the lectionary next. Go ahead. Sing it now. MP3

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Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Kimbrough’s Psalm 104

Update 12/11/21: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

I’ve featured the music of Wendell Kimbrough before, and today he makes a return appearance. An honor to be sure…

Earlier this year his setting of Psalm 104, “Oh, Rejoice in All Your Works,” won the COS New Psalm Contest. It had its church premiere in January and we’ve sung it a few times since then. This Sunday, Pentecost, the lectionary called for Psalm 104. As fate* would have it, the choir, piano, and a brass quintet were scheduled to lead that morning, so I arranged the song for those instruments.

I was really pleased with how it sounded. Sometimes the transition from guitar-driven folk song to piano-led congregational hymn can be awkward, but in this case, it brought out a whole new majestic side to the song. I hear a best-selling choral anthem in this, don’t you?

*or providence, depending on how you roll theologically.

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Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Live

Pentecostal Splendor at COS

This Fall I arranged Pentecostal Splendor for Calvin College’s Lessons & Carols service. It was premiered beautifully, though I wasn’t able to track down a recording for my blog.

Naturally, when Pentecost arrived at my own church, I thought of using this new piece in my own context. Brass? Check. 60 voice choir? 1/3 check. Organ? Not so much…

I retooled the organ part for piano and called in favors with every singer I knew. The result can be heard here: MP3

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Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Psalm 133: Behold the Goodness

james_guitarchestraIn Psalms for All Seasons is a setting of Psalm 133 (Behold the Goodness of Our Lord, PfAS 133A) that seemed just right for the Guitarchestra this past Sunday. The melody, DETROIT, comes from the Kentucky Harmony hymnal. Like a lot of early American hymn tunes, it has a rugged beauty that just won’t let you go. These tunes often benefit from a more rustic arrangement, rather than the smooth voice leading you find in hymnals, so I provided one.

Here you can see me rehearsing the song this past Sunday, shadowed by the youngest member of the Guitarchestra, James.

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Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Live

Kimbrough: In You, Lord, I Refuge Take

Wendell Kimbrough has appeared in this blog before. Indeed, this song has appeared previously. But for this Palm Sunday I wrote a choral part for his setting of Psalm 31 that I thought deserved a new entry. As you’ll hear on the recording the flute introduces the melody and plays a tag after each verse. Then on verse 3, the flute plays a descant on top of the singing. In verse 4, everyone cuts out but the congregational melody and an a cappella choir accompaniment. It’s really a nice effect, if I don’t say so myself.

The thing I like about arrangements like this is that they’re pretty simple, with just two pages of music, but they have a lot of impact on how you hear the song.

Extra bonus recording: Me singing Sydney “Lord of the Dance” Carter’s song “Bitter Was the Night.”

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Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Finale demo

O Sacred Head, descants

Update 3/22/22: Sheet music for these descants is now available at gregscheer.com.

I can’t let a Holy Week go by without writing a little something, right? Here is a double descant that we’ll use as the intro and over the third verse of “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” on Palm Sunday: MP3.

“Didn’t Bach already write that?” You ask. Why, yes, he did. But he wrote it over a different harmonization, and I just didn’t feel I could ask my pianist to learn one more thing for that service. (She already has 21 songs to learn. Ouch!) But my flutist is always eager for a challenge, so I figured I’d give her one.

It should be noted that this is pretty flexible. A flute and tenor recorder can play it as written, or two violins could play it, or the flute could play the top part without the recorder, or one instrument could start on the second part on the second to last verse and finish with the top part on the last verse, or…

Feel free to send me recordings so I can hear what you came up with.