While I did not expect to find too many kyries in more contemporary praise and worship styles, I was pleasantly surprised to find two that our community has embraced. After about five years of doing this, I realized I needed to start expanding our kyrie canon. The tune I like to use was composed by Daniel Schwandt and is taught here by Music That Makes Community’s Executive Director Paul Vasile.ĭuring the season of Lent, our community often uses a sung kyrie during our time of confession. When I introduce this song, I often give this disclaimer to help place it into a healthier spiritual context. Rather than seeing this as asking God to do us harm or kick our legs out from under us, singing this song during Lent can be a prayer to slow down, to embrace the rhythms of nature and live closer to the earth where God is always at work when we take the time to notice. This traditional Shaker hymn’s message may at first appear counterintuitive or even unnecessarily negative: For those like me who find the original tune difficult for a congregation to sing, there are two excellent alternatives written by Indelible Grace’s Chris Miner (video left) and composer Ben Brody (PDF right). Yet, as we begin this season of repentance and introspection, I believe it is important to be reminded that we do so accompanied by a God whose love will not let us go, whose light will follow us wherever we go, whose joy will seek us even in our pain, and whose cross will lift up our heads. I know calling this George Matheson hymn a “buried treasure” might be a stretch, but the more obscure hymn tune has often left this beautiful text unsung. So, as we enter the season of Lent this year, I want to give you some of my Lenten buried treasures that you might find helpful as we begin our journey to the cross and empty tomb. Yet, there is also something pastoral about helping people encounter newness even in seasons of change, reminding them that adaptation and adjustment are also part of a healthy spirituality. There is nothing wrong with using the familiar classics in fact, I would argue that especially in these times of social and political upheaval, we should be using well-known songs that help ground our congregations when they do not have the support of an embodied congregation around them. It’s exciting to enter a familiar story and have a solid frame around which to build the service, but it can also feel like you used up all your creative ideas and favorite songs last year-or maybe those were even leftovers from the year before! It can seem easier to simply trot out the tried and true war horses that you know will get the job done than find new songs. If you’re a worship leader or planner, entering into a new season of the Church Year may find you feeling exhilaration and exhaustion. Blogger David Bjorlin is a worship pastor at Resurrection Covenant Church (Chicago), a lecturer in worship at North Park Theological Seminary (Chicago), and a published hymnwriter.
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