Requiem Aeternam - Hugh McElrath

One of the best hymn scholars in Baptist life passed away last week. I got an email letting me know that Hugh T. McElrath passed away from a massive stroke. Along with Harry Eskew, McElrath was the co-author of Sing with Understanding, published by Broadman Press and used by many protestant hymnology students ... Baptist and others. I used Eskew & McElrath at SBTS under Paul Richardson (I took hymnology while McElrath was on sabbatical ... but Richardson studied under, then alongside McElrath).

McElrath was the author of We Praise You with Our Minds, O Lord ... known for years as the Seminary Hymn ... used at opening convocation and at graduation every semester at SBTS. I hope it still is, but much has changed at Southern since I finished there in 1986. The text, written to be sung to the hymn tune CLONMEL, was based primarily on Mark 12:30 but rife with many other scriptural allusions In his memory, I include the text here as it is rendered in the 1991 Baptist Hymnal:

We praise You with our minds, O Lord,
Kept sharp to think Your thought;
Come, Holy Ghost with grace outpoured,
To teach what Christ has taught.
In all our learning may we seek
That wisdom from above
Which comes to all: the brave, the meek,
Who ask in faith and love.

We praise You through our bodies, Lord,
Kept strong to do Your will;
Your Spirit's temples, which afford
A means to praise You still.
We give ourselves, a sacrifice,
To live our lives for You;
For You alone have paid the price
To bring salvation true.

We praise You in our hearts, O King,
Kept pure to know Your ways;
And raise to You a hymn to sing
Eternally Your praise.
Although adoring hearts will bow
As age on ages roll;
We praise You in our beings now,
Mind, body, heart, and soul.

The original, written in 1962, used the King James pronouns for God. There is one place where that makes a big difference to my mind. In order to preserve the rhyme scheme, the last line of the second stanza now ends "... salvation true." rather than "... salvation free." The latter (original) reads better to me from a soteriology standpoint. Salvation true is one thing ... salvation free is so much bigger. But the change was made either by McElrath himself, or with his approval since he was one the editorial team for TBH91.

Bob Kauflin on the Role of the Worship Leader

Bob Kauflin received a piano performance degree from Temple University in 1976, then spent 8 years on the road with GLAD. Since then, he continues to write and arrange for GLAD and others while serving in pastoral leadership on the local church level. He is also a noted speaker on worship and church issues and maintains the worshipmatters.com website.

He recently published a book that I’m looking forward to adding to my library – Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God. To help market the book, the publishers have taken advantage of the changing international information infrastructure and published some video content related to the major sections of the book on YouTube. You can see the whole thing on my previous blog entry. I spent a little time this morning and transcribed it so I can go back and read it again … and so I could share it with my choir and worship team. It’s rich with wisdom … and it applies to ANY worship tradition, and it applies to anyone who speaks, sings, prays, ushers, preaches, etc. to lead others in public worship. Read what Kauflin says:

Years ago God got my attention by allowing me to experience the hopelessness of seeking worship for myself. I’ve learned that God isn’t looking for worship leaders who want to look great in people’s eyes. He’s looking for ones who want to make Jesus look great. And we can’t do both. We can’t try to look impressive and try to make Jesus look impressive at the same time.

Leading worship involves my entire life. It means really wanting Jesus more than anything. It means taking the time to study His word and find out what He’s really like. It means putting the hours in to develop my skills so I can serve my church more effectively. And it means striving to be a great example, not just a great musician.

Being a worship leader isn’t meant to be a hobby or a way of fulfilling my musical aspirations. It’s an opportunity to proclaim that I’m a great sinner who’s been redeemed by a great Savior, and to invite other in to celebrate that reality. Leading worship is a holy responsibility; and if you don’t feel adequate for the task, you’re in the perfect place for God to use you.

If you have time, go see the whole talk (it’s only about 3 minutes) on my blog. You’ll find additional nuggets of wisdom that will enrich your service to God and this congregation. That’s enough to think about for now.

The peace of Christ to you.

Bob Kauflin - "The [Worship] Leader"

According to his web site WorshipMatters.com, Bob Kauflin recieved a piano performance degree from Temple University in 1976, then spent 8 years on the road with GLAD. Since then he continues to write and arrange for GLAD and others while serving in pastoral leadership on the local church level. He also maintains the Worship Matters website.

Out of that background he recently published, Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God. I haven't bought the book yet. I'm hoping to be included in the free book give away drawing of those who comment on the posts on worship.com. You say I'm a cheapskate??? I say you read me correctly. I have to be. We'ry trying to keep food on the table for two teenage boys with huge appetites.

Anyhow, back to the subject. I viewed the first video post on worship.com today and found it quite eye-opening. You may find it that as well.



The peace of Christ to you.

Mark Parisi's music cartoons

Mark Parisi must have a background in high school band at least to be as on the mark in his music cartoons. He rarely fails to make me laugh. As a conductor, the "wave hands around till music stops" cartoon has long been one of my favorites.

http://www.offthemark.com/music/music.htm

Peace to all.