This joyful sending song was composed by Pastor Chad McKenna at a Music That Makes Community workshop in Chicago. The text is based on the Canticle of Simeon from Luke 2 and invites us to name the ways we have experienced God's salvation with all our senses.
The piece can be taught phrase by phrase using call and echo patterns. Notice the third line changes for each verse. Some leaders sing that alone, then invite the group to respond affirmatively with the final phrase. A more advanced technique is calling out the upcoming text (singing or speaking several beats ahead), essentially feeding the group the new words while they sing.
"Send now your servants, send now your servants,
Send now your servants, Lord.
Our eyes have seen salvation here.
Send now your servants, Lord."
Additional verses:
"Our tongues have tasted salvation here...
Our ears have heard salvation here...
God has given salvation here..."
Chad has given faith communities permission to sing and share the song without copyright restrictions.
You can find sheet music for Send Now Your Servants here.
This is a gorgeous setting of an Orthodox funeral liturgy, written by Daniel Schwandt at our MMC Composers' Gathering in Brattleboro, VT in 2013.
Here's an audio recording of Dan teaching the song in Vermont right after he wrote it.
Here's the sheet music for this song.
Here's a work of art inspired by this song by Rachel Kroh.
This paperless song composed by Dale Zola is based on a poem from the "school" of Rumi. While often attributed to him, it appears in manuscripts of other Persian writers of the late 13th century.
This haunting, minor-key tune is well-suited for Lent and times of spiritual pilgrimage, or a prayer for welcome and hospitality. Be sure to give the community lots of time to learn the phrases and internalize the challenging melodic shapes.
"Come, come, whoever you are,
worshipper, wanderer, lover of leaving.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Though you have broken your vows a thousand times,
Come, come again, come!"
Sheet music can be found in Singing In Community, our latest songbook published by Augsburg Fortress.
Here is a link to Ana Hernandez's blog entry about this song. And here is a video of her teaching the song at a Music That Makes Community Workshop in Ottawa, Canada.