If you missed the Halloween or Nasty Women concerts, they are available on demand at www.countrysideucc.org/concerts
Fantasia in G Minor BWV 542 – J.S. Bach
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Come, thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious measure sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of thy redeeming love.
Here I raise to thee an altar; hither by thy help I’ve come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it from thy courts above.
Lead On, O Cloud of Presence – text by Ruth C. Duck
An excerpt from an essay by Dr. C. Michael Hawn:
“I recall the first time that I sang this hymn. Knowing well Ernest W. Shurtleff’s hymn, “Lead on, O King Eternal” (1887), I was delighted to recall its images as I sang Ruth Duck’s creative paraphrase with current and inclusive theology.
Dr. Duck has been a hymn writer since the early 1970s, writing about 170 hymns, metrical psalms and canticles. She describes the origins of this hymn:
“‘Lead on, O Cloud of Presence’ emerged while I was trying to adapt ‘Lead on, O King Eternal’ for Because We Are One People (1974). Both texts used the Exodus imagery (Numbers 9:15-23). The old hymn uses triumphalist military language, while the new hymn grows out of liberation movements. The cloud and fiery pillar are symbols of God’s presence, guiding people in uncertain times as they journey toward freedom.”
The author lived in Memphis, Tenn., from 1964-1969. She notes that she “was deeply influenced by Dr. [Martin Luther] King’s presence and death there. ‘Lead On’ undoubtedly grows out of that experience. So much has been accomplished toward racial justice and reconciliation and so much more needs to be done. The journey is truly our home!”
Among other themes in her hymns, Dr. Duck explores alternative language for God. She offers the theological root of this exploration: “I bring several central concerns to writing hymn texts. One is to develop new language that includes all people, moving beyond exclusively masculine images and pronouns. My first hymn texts [including ‘Lead on, O Cloud of Presence’] emerged from attempts to revise hymns that had much masculine imagery. At the same time, I am committed to using language that rings true to my own experience. Thus, I avoid language that is only experimental; a hymn text must express genuine faith experience.”
Lead on, O cloud of Presence, the exodus is come,
in wilderness and desert our tribe shall make its home.
Our slavery left behind us, new hopes within us grow.
We seek the land of promise where milk and honey flow.
Lead on, O fiery Pillar, we follow yet with fears,
but we shall come rejoicing though joy be born of tears.
We are not lost, though wandering, for by your light we come,
and we are still God’s people. The journey is our home.
Lead on O God of freedom, and guide us on our way,
and help us trust the promise through struggle and delay.
We pray our sons and daughters may journey to that land
where justice dwells with mercy, and love is law’s demand.