Virtual Methodist

Last night I had the joy of being at the QUB Chaplains' Carol Service where not only did the President of the MCI, Sahr Yambasu preach with his usual verve about what God being Immanuel might look like today, but also the music by groups from the Presbyterian and Catholic chaplaincies was beautiful. One piece in particular I had never heard before, apparently an Italian composition from the early 20th century (translated into English) which put the chorus of "Adeste Fideles"/"O Come all ye faithful" into a radically different setting, breathing new life into already powerful, but often overly familiar words. This chimed with an earworm that has been with me for the past few days since Sally and I started our now customary "one album at a time" erection and decoration of our Christmas tree. The first album is invariably Phil Cunningham's peerless Christmas Songbook  and the first track on it is a rendering of Chely Wright and Mindy Smith's senti...

Getting near to the end of this meme, and out of thousands of songs of all styles that I like I am supposed to pick 2!?!?!  Well, here goes - I've mentioned both of these in a previous meme, and neither of them is a hymn or Christian song, but (observing my Thanksgiving discipline) I am particularly thankful to have encountered them at different times... They are both by Scottish female singers (I clearly have a thing for Scottish females)... 1) The Right Place, by Eddi Reader : which has come to me at a number of times as a song of uncomfortable assurance.. (this is a live audio version) 2) Sorry, by Karine Polwart : which wrestles with the whole difficult area of forgiveness, which is (due to the job and the province I work in), a constant theme... Cheers

A colleague in Grand Rapids, Michigan sends out a weekly email to all the ministers in her jurisdiction, and one of my friends there is kind enough to forward it too me every Monday. It is one of the regular emails I really look forward to. This week was no exception as she confessed that her least favorite (sic) hymn is "How Great Thou art." In response I sent her this YouTube link to Eddi Reader's fabulous rendition of this old standard (I should warn you that she employs some weird hand movements but it is beautiful all the same). Anyway... her confession set me off thinking about my least favourite hymns... after all, how could I possibly restrict myself to just one, given that I could rant at length on any number of them... To help me restrict my list I first decided on some broad categories of the hymns and worship songs that cause me to inwardly (and sometimes audibly) groan: 1) The gore-fest "washed in the blood" stuff of the 19th and early 20th century ...