For those who serve as pastors

For those who serve as pastors – a holy, foolish call;

For those who rise in triumph and also those who fall, 

With fearful contemplation we wonder at their task

To preach and teach and listen, and idols to unmask.

 

For those whose fame and glory have led them to betray,

Whose pride and lust for power drive souls into decay;

We pray for these, the fallen, sometimes through gritted teeth,

That your love yet may conquer and surge up from beneath.

 

For those whose souls have broken beneath abuse and scorn,

Whose service is rejected, whose faith is left forlorn; 

We pray, dear God of calling, that hope may bloom anew, 

And holy fire rekindle in service sure and true.

 

For those in times of chaos who struggle just to breathe,

For whom all days of serving with dangers writhe and seethe;

With earnest, pleading sorrow we lift them to your care

So they again are able to hope and do and dare.

 

For those who in their calling can see no path ahead;

No road extends before them, but only empty dread; 

Dear God of all compassion, whate’er their path may be,

In prayer and contemplation, give them a road to see.

 

O God of word and table, of pulpit and of font,

Give strength to these your servants and leave them not in want.

Give them the grace to serve you with heart, soul, strength, and mind,

And help them in their serving new joy in you to find.

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, October 2021

MUSIC: Tune SALLEY GARDENS, Irish folk melody

Not one I really expect to be sung in a church, ever, but one for all the fellow clergy who are up against it one way or another (or maybe many ways) in these freakish and painful times. Perhaps not exactly your typical Clergy Appreciation Month offering, but an offering of appreciation nonetheless.

O love your God, alternate fifth stanza

O love your God with all your heart,

            With all your power to love;

Now show that love to all around

            As to your Lord above.

 

O love your God with all your soul,

            With all your power to feel; 

Give to the world your greatest gifts

            To show your Lord is real.

 

O love your God with all your strength,

            With all your power to do;

Show deeds of holy service now

            To serve your Savior true.

 

O love your God with all your mind,

            With all your power to know;

In word and thought be full of grace,

            The power of God to show.

 

With mind and strength and soul and heart

            The love of God proclaim,

That all the world may know that love

            And call on Jesus’ name.

 

Alternate final stanza:

As you have loved the Lord your God,

            So love your neighbor well; 

There is no rule of greater worth 

            Than in these loves to dwell.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, June 2019; alternate stanza October 2021, after Luke 10:26-28 or Mark 12:28-31.

MUSIC: Suggested tune AZMON, Carl Gotthelf Gläser, 1828; arr. Lowell Mason, 1839.

A revision of a text from back in June 2019, found here. Mark's rendering of this encounter adds what seems to me a significant comment from Jesus, the part about how there is no commandment greater than these. With this text approaching in the lectionary, a quick revision to bring this note into the hymn seemed desirable. 

"What must I do to gain life eternal?"

“What must I do to gain life eternal?

How must I live to have this reward?

How can I then inherit, Good Teacher,

All of the blessing this world can afford?”

Jesus replied, “You know what the law says?

Put into practice those words and live.”

Came the reply, “O Teacher, I do this!

Is there no other command you can give?”

 

Jesus beheld the man who so questioned, 

And gave him answer in holy love; 

“Sell what you own and give to the poorest.

Follow me for all the joy you dream of.”

Sorrow took hold, for he had possessions

Many and great, he held as his own. 

Could he then live without all his owning?

What would he be with his fortunes all gone?

 

What must we be to enter the kingdom?

How must we live to be in God’s reign?

What are the things that keep us in bondage,

Holding us back in frustration and pain?

Give it away, whatever constrains us; 

Tear it all down and to Jesus turn. 

Follow our Christ, the true wealth that matters;

Follow our Jesus for whom our hearts yearn.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, October 2021, after Mark 10:17-23

MUSIC: Suggested tune GATHER US IN, Marty Haugen, 1979. Copyright 1982 GIA Publications, Inc.

 

A hymn after the story of Jesus’s conversation with the man who had many possessions (he’s described as neither young nor a ruler in Mark), with the question turned to us at the end. What keeps us from forsaking all and following? (In this case this is the tune that took hold quickly once the opening line was settled; since it is under copyright it is not reproduced here.)

Make this, God, a place of welcome (Dedication hymn)

Make this, God, a place of welcome for all those who come this way;

For those who need sanctuary just to make it through the day.

For your children facing trouble in dark places of the mind, 

May this be a place of healing where good hope we all can find.

 

For your children in addiction far beyond their own control,

May this be a place of wholeness both in body and in soul.

For your daughters who seek learning, yet in poverty and need,

May this be where, through our sewing, they can open doors indeed.

 

For your children long in seeking who they’re truly meant to be,

May this be a place for finding home and hope to know and see.

For your children, wounded, broken, who have nowhere else to turn,

May this be a place of healing not bound to what they can earn.

 

For the hopes of saints before us who once dreamed these faithful dreams,

We give thanks for all these centers through which that dear vision beams.

Make this, God, a place of welcome for all those who come this way;

In this place may your good pleasure be our mission every day.

 

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, September 2021, for the rededication of the Highlands Regional Ministry Center, Gainesville, Florida.

MUSIC: Tune ODE TO JOY, Ludwig van Beethoven, 1824; adapt. Edward Hodges, 1842; alt.

When Christ's own body comes to table

When Christ’s own body comes to table,

When all God’s children gather there,

The grace of sacramental living

Is given freely, everywhere.

 

Now bread we break and wine we offer,

Though not our own, but Christ’s we give.

In nations found the whole world over

God’s people take this feast and live

 

In every place, at every table,

Our Lord presides at every feast.

No gates, no walls are there to hinder

All those who seek, from great to least.

 

As now we gather, we look forward

To days to come, when we shall see

Our Christ alone at one great table 

To serve God’s children, loved and free.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, September 2021, toward World Communion Sunday

MUSIC: Tune ST. CLEMENT, Clement Cottewill Scholefield, 1874.

 

 

Not much to say besides the aim for something that points somehow to why World Communion Sunday might matter.

We welcome you, O Christ

We welcome you, O Christ our Lord;

            We lift our praise in one accord.

We give you thanks in everything;

            We honor you as now we sing.

 

Yet your own word has called us out;

            The very welcome that we shout

Is called in question – doubt, indeed – 

            By how we turn from those in need.

 

The hungry stranger at our door,

            The one who scrubs our dirty floor,

The migrant, homeless; yes, our call

            Is always to receive them all.

 

While we your church have argued loud

            For power, for strength, for status proud,

You welcome these whom we’ve reviled

            As once you welcomed one small child.

 

Recall us to true welcome, Lord, 

            That all in you may be restored

To health and hope in everything,

            And we true praise to you might bring.

 

 

Text: Charles Spence Freeman, September 2021, after Mark 9:30-37.

Music: Suggested tune ROCKINGHAM, Second Supplement to Psalmody in Miniature, 1783; harm. Edward Miller, 1790.

Still fighting through the dry spell, turning to the week's scripture reading became the next step. A simple reading of the Mark passage will make clear this is no paraphrase, but a response from a world seemingly more distant from Jesus's call to welcome than ever. Those represented in the third stanza are but a small sample of those to whom our welcome must extend, if we are truly seeking to follow what Jesus teaches here.

Jesus, you loved us first

Jesus, you loved us first, and love us still; 

Lead us to live within your holy will. 

Guide us to live with care, and yet with hope to dare,

In all things everywhere, your love fulfill.

 

Teach us to live within your wisdom true,

Not choosing foolishly in what we do.

Making the most of time, led by your grace sublime, 

May we in all things rhyme our lives to you.

 

Let songs of praise resound, our voices ring;

Let melodies abound in everything.

Lead us in holy psalm, loud praise or healing balm;

In conflict or in calm, lead us to sing.

 

Place in us grateful hearts; teach us to say

All of our gratitude in every way.

To You our Lord on high our praises multiply;

Let thanks be our reply here, now, today.

 

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, August 2021 (after Ephesians 5:15-20)

MUSIC: Tune SOMETHING FOR JESUS, 6.4.6.4.6.6.6.4., Robert Lowry, 1871.

 

 

One thing I’ve adopted when nothing works for an extended time is to take up a tune from my past (one that doesn’t appear much in the hymnals most present in my experience nowadays) and create a text for it. This quiet Robert Lowry tune somehow cooperated with the Ephesians reading for the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost of this year, though this text is far from a close paraphrase.