Written by John Bell as part of the St. Bride setting, this paperless response incorporates call and echo learning to encourage community participation. The melody rises and falls gently, inviting a quiet, focused energy. When learned well, the piece can be sung as a canon in as many as four parts (with groups entering each measure).
It could sung a cappella or accompanied by a drone instrument (a shruti box or a soft unison or open fifth on the organ) to support the community's voice.
"Lamb of God you take away the sin of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God you take away the sin of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God you take away the sin of the world,
grant us your peace."
Teaching note from Paul Vasile: Practice the response before worship and encourage the community to trust your gestures, even if they seem to be too soon. The overlapping parts generate energy and the confidence of the community will grow in time.
Copyright for the piece is held by GIA Publications, Inc. so you'll need a OneLicense membership to print the text or music.
Sheet music can be found in Singing In Community, our latest songbook published by Augsburg Fortress. The setting is also published in Come All You People, Singing the Faith, and the Iona Abbey Music Book.
This call and echo Sanctus was composed for the Iona Community in Scotland. It can be sung unaccompanied or with a drone instrument (like a shruti box).
The echo comes quite quickly and there is slightly overlap between the leader and the assembly, so be ready to cue them with a clear, inviting gesture.
"Holy, holy,
Holy Lord of pow'r and might.
Heaven, earth,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
All glory to your name.
Blessed, blessed,
Is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Blessed, blessed,
Is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!"
Copyright for the piece is held by GIA Publications, Inc. so you'll need a OneLicense membership to print the text or music.
You can find more information and purchase sheet music on Hymnary. The piece is also published in The Faith We Sing.
This South African traditional song from the singing of the Mooiplaas congregation was transcribed and arranged by John Bell of the Iona Community.
To lead it, sing through it once or twice, perhaps reinforcing the shape of the melody with your hand. It's easy enough that folks will start singing with you quickly. Encourage harmony and add the leader part once the group is confident.
Swahili:
"Woza nomthwalo wakho,
Woza nomthwalo wakho,
Woza nomthwalo wakho,
Uyes’akasozathi hayi.
English singing translation:
"Come, bring your burdens to God,
come, bring your burdens to God,
Come, bring your burdens to God
for Jesus will never say no."
Copyright for the piece is held by GIA Publications, Inc. so you'll need a OneLicense membership to print the text or music.
Find sheet music for the song here. It can also be found in We Walk His Way.
Here's a recording of the song from The Iona Community:
Based on Ephesians 3:20, this tender prayer song by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan invites space for prayer requests to be spoken aloud or sung by the community.
After the refrain is taught and begins to deepen, you can transition to an instrumental vamp (or drone, if sung unaccompanied) during which a leader can invite petitions. When the group is ready to move on, the leader sing the phrase, 'Hear, oh, hear our prayer' to signal a return to the refrain, or 'Amen' to conclude.
"More than we can ask,
More than we can ask,
More than we can ask or imagine.
Hear, oh, hear our prayer. Amen."
Richard's music is licensed via CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Be sure report use of the piece if you print the text or music for your community.
Sheet music is available for purchase on Richard's website. The song is also published in the songbook Sing Prayer and Praise.
This Eucharistic response by psalmist and singer-songwriter Richard Bruxvoort Colligan invites the community to partake in the bread and wine. It's a straightforward melody that can be taught phrase by phrase through call and echo patterns.
"The gifts of God for the people of God,
Come now for all is prepared.
The gifts of God for the people of God,
The Gospel is among us.
Richard's music is licensed via CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Be sure report use of the piece if you plan to print the text or music for your community.
You can hear a recording of The Gifts of God on Richard's website.
Here is a video of the song.
Peace, Salaam, Shalom was written by Emma's Revolution (activists and singers Pat Humphries and Sandy Opatow) after September 11, 2001 and it quickly became an anthem of the peace movement. It sets the word 'peace' in English, Arabic, and Hebrew, offering a powerful interfaith message that has been shared at protests, religious services, and in other community contexts.
"We were moving from NYC to the Washington DC area over September 11th, 2001. When the only response from the government and the corporate media was “war and retribution,” we wrote “Peace, Salaam, Shalom” and sang it at an impromptu peace march in DC that week. Less than a month later, we led the song at the first peace rally in NYC after 9/11, where over 10,000 people sang with us for the three hour march, all the way from Union Square to Times Square."
Emma's Revolution asks groups, organizations, schools, churches, etc., that use their music to pay a one-time, sliding scale fee of $75-150 for use of the song in perpetuity. See their website for more information.
Sheet music can be found in Singing In Community, our latest songbook published by Augsburg Fortress. You can also purchase a lead sheet from their website.
Here is a recording of the song by Emma's Revolution:
Here's a clip of AnnaMarie Hoos teaching it at our MMC Leader's Retreat at Holy Cross Monastery in September 2015:
Psalm 141 is commonly used during Vespers or Evening Prayer. This setting by psalmist and singer-songwriter Richard Bruxvoort Colligan invites the community to sing a refrain which alternates with solo verses.
Use call and echo patterns to teach the refrain phrase by phrase. Weave them together when the community is ready and proceed right into the psalm setting without breaking the flow.
Refrain:
Our breath is incense, sweet smell rising.
Our hands are open, lifted up in the evening.
Verse 1:
I call out to you Come and hear me
Give ear to my voice, my God, and quickly. Refrain
Verse 2
Watch the door of my mouth for integrity
Guard my lips and keep my heart from turning. Refrain
Verse 3
Let the elders guide and correct my way
Keep my words and actions true I pray. Refrain
Verse 4
Watch the farmer's plow turn the blessed earth
Bones of death and signs of rising birth. Refrain
Verse 5
You are the earth, I am a seed
Hide me, grow me, love and never leave me. Refrain
Richard's music is licensed via CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Be sure report use of the piece if you print the text or music for your community.
Sheet music and a recording are available on Richard's website.
This blessing song by Ruth Cunningham sets a translation of a Celtic chant from the Céile Dé order. It's extraordinarily versatile and can be sung as a simple melody (Part I alone), a two-part canon, and as a layered song when Parts II and III are added.
The song has been used for blessing and sending, on Earth Day and for earth-honoring services, and on labyrinth walks and pilgrimages. It can help to have a drone instrument (a shruti box or a soft unison or open fifth on the organ) accompanying.
Part I:
"God bless every step that I am taking,
and bless the earth beneath my feet."
Parts II and II:
"God bless every step,
God bless the earth."
Sheet music can be found in Singing In Community, our latest songbook published by Augsburg Fortress, or in Music By Heart.
Fear Not the Pain was composed by Rachel Kroh at a Music that Makes Community Composers' Retreat in 2013. The text is from Rainer Maria Rilke's Sonnets to Orpheus.
The song can be used in many different contexts: at the bedsides of the dying, a mantra for individuals struggling with chronic pain, in interfaith worship gatherings, as well as in liturgies centered around themes of healing, justice, and reconciliation.
"Fear not the pain,
let its weight fall back into the earth.
For heavy are the mountains, heavy are the seas."
Sheet music can be found in Singing In Community, our latest songbook published by Augsburg Fortress.
Here's an audio recording of Fear Not the Pain made in Brattleboro in 2013 as well as the melody transcribed by Marilyn Haskel.
Here's a a four-part arrangement of the song by Peter Amidon. If you enjoy it, you might want to see some of Peter's other arrangements in 55 Anthems for the Small Church Choir.