Jesus Christ is the light of the world (echo)
The light no darkness can overcome (echo)
Stay with us Lord for it is evening (echo)
And the day is almost over (echo)
Let your light scatter the darkness (echo)
And shine on your people here (echo)
Song form: echo
Composer Name: Benjamin Leese
Lyricist Name: ancient text
Year Composed: 2008
Place of Origin: York Springs, Pennsylvania
Biblical Reference: John 8:12
Copyright Holder Name: Benjamin Leese
Terms of Use: share and share alike
Here's a video of Jesus Chris is the Light of the World:
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.
We Are Coming, Lord, to the Table is joyous communion song from Sierra Leone transcribed by Greg Scheer, a composer, author, and speaker with roots in the Reformed Church. It was carried to MMC by Paul Vasile, who learned it at a Calvin Institute of Worship symposium at the Chandler School of Theology in Atlanta, GA.
Because each section of the song repeats, it's easiest to teach the community through call and echo. In the second section, the word changes from "bread" to "wine" on the repeat, so it can be helpful to call it out a few beats ahead. Once learned, harmony can be invited. Drums and other rhythm instruments can also be added, but be sure they support the group's learning.
"We are coming, Lord to the table.
(We are coming, Lord to the table)
With the gift of bread we are coming, Lord.
(With the gift of wine we are coming, Lord.)
Oh, we are coming, Lord.
(Oh, we are coming, Lord.)
We are coming, Lord to the table.
(We are coming, Lord to the table)
To receive the bread, we are coming, Lord.
To receive the wine, we are coming, Lord.
Oh, we are coming, Lord.
(Oh, we are coming, Lord.)"
Copyright for the song is held by Greg Scheer. A CCLI license is required to print or project the music or lyrics.
Find sheet music in the collection Global Songs for Worship published by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and Faith Alive Christian Resources.
Here's a short audio recording as well as a video of a group singing the piece with keyboard, drumming, and shakers.
Ruth Cunningham wrote this setting of a Celtic blessing, a variation or simplification of the beloved St. Patrick's Breastplate, and it was brought to the MMC community by Ana Hernandez. The song works beautifully as a blessing, prayer song, or as a gentle Passing of Peace. Gestures, as modeled in the video below, can also help a community experience this prayer with their bodies.
The focus of the song can shift easily from 'me' to 'you' to 'us,' slowly widening the circle of intention. It can also be treated like a zipper/pocket song, with variations offered alongside or instead of 'Christ.'
"Christ be with me, Christ before me,
Christ to the right of me, Christ behind me,
Christ to the left of me, Christ above me,
Christ below me, Christ within me."
Alternative text:
Love be with me...
Peace be with me...
Teaching note from Donald Schell: When I'm leading this song, I sing a minor scale (1,2,3,4,5) to myself and drop down one note (7 below 1) to find the starting note. I begin with people standing and ask them to "do what I do and sing what I sing" and I encourage large gestures - big arm motions, stepping forward, moving whole body and from center. The gestures help people learn the song including the sequence of directions'
I usually begin with singing the whole "Christ be with you" and have people echo phrase by phrase (overlapping slightly). Usually I'll do a second iteration (choosing to substitute 'me' or 'us' for 'you') still singing call and echo, phrase by phrase. Just ahead of beginning the third iteration (shifting pronoun again), I say, "sing with me" and the shift from call and echo to simple melody in unison.
Sheet music can be found in Singing In Community, our latest songbook published by Augsburg Fortress.
Here is a video of Donald leading the song:
Here's a recording of Ruth Cunningham with her singing partner Ana Hernandez:
This new musical setting of a Shaker text is by organist and composer Daniel Schwandt. It was written at a Music that Makes Community Composers Retreat in Brattleboro, VT in 2013. It has been used in many different contexts: as a call to prayer, for Ash Wednesday and during the Lenten season, for services of healing and reconciliation, and even at funerals or graveside services.
The melody has strong call and echo features, and some leaders teach the song this way. Others line it out line by line, adding simple movements to help the group better remember the text.
"Lay me low, where the Lord can find me.
Lay me low, where the Lord can *own me.
Lay me low, where the Lord can bless me.
Lay me low, oh, lay me low."
*MMC leaders frequently substitute 'hold' for 'own.' We find the original word carries baggage painful to many, especially communities of color with direct connection to the American history of chattel slavery. We honor the Shaker tradition from which the song emerges while also seeking to name and heal painful legacies of oppression.
Sheet music can be found in Singing In Community, published by Augsburg Fortress. Here's an audio recording Dan teaching the song for the very first time.
Below is a teaching video made by Paul Vasile. Notice he substitutes the word 'God' for 'the Lord' to invite a more broadly inclusive spirit. You could also substitute the word 'Love.'
This eucharistic response was written by John Bell as part of the St. Bride setting, a set of paperless service responses incorporating call and echo learning to encourage community participation.
The echo comes quickly in several moments and it can feel as if the assembly is 'interrupting' the leader. Practice the response quickly before worship and encourage the community to trust your gestures, even if they seem to be too soon. The overlapping parts generate terrific energy and the confidence of the community will grow as you sing it over several weeks.
And when the first beat of the measure is a rest ("are full of your glory" and the second "Hosanna in the highest"), consider a stomp or clap to remind the assembly of the silence.
The response 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.
"Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, (Holy, Holy, Holy Lord)
God of power and might, (God of power and might)
heaven and earth are full (heaven and earth are full)
are full of your glory. (are full of your glory)
Blessed is the one who comes (Blessed is the one who comes)
in the name of the Lord! (in the name of the Lord!)
Hosanna in the highest! (Hosanna in the highest!)
Hosanna in the highest! (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.
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 is a song from South Africa, from a community of people living with HIV/AIDS. It is available in written form as an arrangement by John Bell in We Walk His Way from Wild Goose Publications.
Here's a video of Patrick Evans leading God Welcomes All at MMC in San Francisco in 2011:
Here's a video of Emily Scott teaching God Welcomes All at MMC in Houston in 2011: