MUSIC RESOURCES FOR YEAR C

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Eighth Sunday after Pentecost) – July 18. The Gospel reading, Luke 10:38-42, tells of Jesus’ visit in the home of Mary and Martha.  This incident is retold in our hymn, “When Jesus Was in Bethany,” included in our collection, The Song Lingers On (Zimbel).

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost) – August 8. The Epistle for this day is Hebrew 1-3, 8-16, which emphasizes faith.  An ensemble of children or youth could sing the hymn or anthem version of “Faith Is Believing” (Abingdon), adding maracas to its calypso rhythm.  A more serious option for the congregation would be “Faith Is Patience in the Night,” #2211 in The Faith We Sing (Abingdon) and Sing the Faith (Geneva Press).

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 22) – October 3.  (World Communion Sunday)  Our hymn, “How Can We Sing Our Love for God” (MCDONALD) is based on Psalm 137:1-4 and Lamentations 3:21-23, portions of two of the readings for this Sunday.  The hymn, commissioned by St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Hickory, NC, won honorable mention in the psalm setting (text and tune) category of the Sacred Song and Hymn Search in 2005 to inaugurate the new Fred Bock Institute of Music at the Brehm Center at Fuller University in Pasadena, CA. (To obtain a copy with one-time reproduction rights, write: marynk@hymnsetc.com.)  “Circle the Table,” a hymn we wrote for World Communion Sunday, is available in an anthem setting from Abingdon, and also is found in three other sources:  Voices Found (Church Publishing), Worship Boldly (Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 2005), and FaithSongs: Songs and Activities for Children Grades 2-6 (Abingdon, 2003). 

Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost—Proper 26) – October 24.   We have retold the story of Zacchaeus in the Gospel reading in music several ways. 
• A song for young children, “Zacchaeus,” included in our Sing the Stories of Jesus: Twenty-Five Songs for the Youngest Children (Augsburg Fortress), rejoices in the change in Zacchaeus after Jesus befriends him. 
• Choristers Guild published our children’s anthem, “Zacchaeus,” (CGA1073) for unison/two-part voices and piano.
• An unpublished hymn, “When Jesus Came to Jericho,” which may be sung to John’s tune LENOIR-RHYNE or KINGSFOLD, can be obtained from us with one-time reproduction rights. 
• If you want to combine music and drama, take a look at a scene from our musical, “Called to Be Friends.”  Disciples Thomas and Matthew introduce the story that is acted out by Zacchaeus, the Citizens of Jericho, and Jesus in  a chorus called “Nobody Likes Zacchaeus,” a solo by Zacchaeus (“Look Around My Humble Home”), and a chorus reprising the first, “Everyone Likes Zacchaeus.”  Contact us for a copy of this scene with one-time reproduction rights.

Thanksgiving Eve/Day – November 24/25.  If your church participates in an ecumenical community service of thanksgiving, consider using our alternate text for “Now Thank We All Our God.”  Alternate stanzas for the original third stanza allow people of all faiths, not just Christians, to sing this classic hymn.  It was printed, with a hymn study, in the August/September 2009 issue of The Chorister.  For a copy with one-time reproducible rights, contact us.

Second Sunday of Advent – December 5.  The reading from the Hebrew scriptures is one of three passages from Isaiah on which our hymn, “The Holy One of Israel,” is based.  The refrain was inspired by Psalm 122, so the hymn is also appropriate on the first Sunday in Advent.  It is included in our collection, Come Away with Me (Abingdon), and in a reproducible form in Something Old, Something New: Hymns to Explore, Things to Do—The Christian Year ( by Bailey, Horman, and Gifford, Abingdon 2000).   It is also available as an anthem (Abingdon 0687044375) for SATB, Keyboard, and Optional Handbells.

Christmas Eve/Day – December 24/25. 
“One Holy Night in Bethlehem:
“The Cold Night Is Quiet”

First Sunday after Christmas

Spirit-Child Jesus
Though Shepherds Heard the Angels, the Wise Men Saw A Star