Sunday, February 14, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Black History Month: Let It Shine!
Please join in singing this Sunday School classic.
This little Light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
This little Light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
This little Light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!
Everywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine!
God gave the Light to me, I'm gonna let it shine!
This little Light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
This little Light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
This little Light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!
Everywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine!
God gave the Light to me, I'm gonna let it shine!
This little Light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Black History Month: John Henry Newton, Part V
I gave a presentation at my church where I portrayed John Henry Newton, the slave ship captain turned Anglican priest and abolitionist who wrote Amazing Grace. Here is Part 4.
No one is really sure of the origins of this tune. Some believe it is of Scottish heritage. Given my background in slave trading, though, I like to think that this tune came to the US on the slave ships and was hummed in the cotton fields until someone caught wind of it decided to publish it.
Wikipedia notes that the text and tune for Amazing Grace has become “Emblematic of the African-American Spiritual.” Emblematic. An emblem is a symbol that represents something. The tiger is an emblem of St. Paul School. The cross is an emblem of Jesus’ suffering and death. Amazing Grace is an emblem of the African-American Spiritual.
It seems my little song lived on well past my life and has been embraced across cultural boundaries and continents. When people here it, it calls to mind the great spirituals of the past. And great gospel singers since then have placed their own twist on it. Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston are just a few.
Gospel singer Wintley Phipps says the tune was written on the “slave scale.” The slave scale is the five-note scale that is comprised of the black keys on the piano. He notes that it is reminiscent of a West African sorrow chant. This gels with my theory that the slaves may have sung the tune in the cotton fields. Wintley notes that any credible source lists me as the author of the text, but “Unknown” is always listed next to the tune. He says, “I tell the Lord that when I get to heaven, I want to meet Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, but boy I sure want to meet that slave called Unknown.”
We are going to sing my song with its familiar tune later in the service. When we do, remember how the Holy Spirit drew me to repentance over my days in the slave trade industry and how a little tune that may have West African roots has inspired generations and cultures throughout the world. It brings new meaning to the verse,
Thank you and God bless.
No one is really sure of the origins of this tune. Some believe it is of Scottish heritage. Given my background in slave trading, though, I like to think that this tune came to the US on the slave ships and was hummed in the cotton fields until someone caught wind of it decided to publish it.
Wikipedia notes that the text and tune for Amazing Grace has become “Emblematic of the African-American Spiritual.” Emblematic. An emblem is a symbol that represents something. The tiger is an emblem of St. Paul School. The cross is an emblem of Jesus’ suffering and death. Amazing Grace is an emblem of the African-American Spiritual.
It seems my little song lived on well past my life and has been embraced across cultural boundaries and continents. When people here it, it calls to mind the great spirituals of the past. And great gospel singers since then have placed their own twist on it. Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston are just a few.
Gospel singer Wintley Phipps says the tune was written on the “slave scale.” The slave scale is the five-note scale that is comprised of the black keys on the piano. He notes that it is reminiscent of a West African sorrow chant. This gels with my theory that the slaves may have sung the tune in the cotton fields. Wintley notes that any credible source lists me as the author of the text, but “Unknown” is always listed next to the tune. He says, “I tell the Lord that when I get to heaven, I want to meet Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, but boy I sure want to meet that slave called Unknown.”
We are going to sing my song with its familiar tune later in the service. When we do, remember how the Holy Spirit drew me to repentance over my days in the slave trade industry and how a little tune that may have West African roots has inspired generations and cultures throughout the world. It brings new meaning to the verse,
When we’ve been there 10,000 years,
bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.
Thank you and God bless.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Black History Month: John Henry Newton, Part IV
I gave a presentation at my church where I portrayed John Henry Newton, the slave ship captain turned Anglican priest and abolitionist who wrote Amazing Grace. Here is Part 4.
But here in the United States I am not known so much for preaching, or pastoral care, or my work as an abolitionist. I am known as the author of hymns. Some of them are in your hymnal.
Do you know any of these? Perhaps so, and perhaps not. But perhaps you know my most famous hymn, Amazing Grace. I wrote it as an illustration for a New Year’s sermon. My sermon is long gone, but the hymn has endured. First published in 1779, the hymn really didn’t catch on right away. In England it was hardly ever sung.
In the United States, though, the Second Great Awakening was going on, and my hymn was sung at revivals in the early 1800’s. In 1779, we only published the words. As many as 20 tunes were associated with my hymn. It was not until 1839 that it became associated with the tune “New Britain” here in America. This is the tune that you sing with my hymn today. The tune has been adapted for use in tent meetings, formal church settings, country music concerts, etc. It has been sung a capella, and with accompaniment. It has been arranged for bagpipes, guitar, piano, organ, string quartet, gospel choir … you name it, it’s been done!
But here in the United States I am not known so much for preaching, or pastoral care, or my work as an abolitionist. I am known as the author of hymns. Some of them are in your hymnal.
- How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds
- Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken
- Come, My Soul, with Ev'ry Care
- On What Has Now Been Sewn
Do you know any of these? Perhaps so, and perhaps not. But perhaps you know my most famous hymn, Amazing Grace. I wrote it as an illustration for a New Year’s sermon. My sermon is long gone, but the hymn has endured. First published in 1779, the hymn really didn’t catch on right away. In England it was hardly ever sung.
In the United States, though, the Second Great Awakening was going on, and my hymn was sung at revivals in the early 1800’s. In 1779, we only published the words. As many as 20 tunes were associated with my hymn. It was not until 1839 that it became associated with the tune “New Britain” here in America. This is the tune that you sing with my hymn today. The tune has been adapted for use in tent meetings, formal church settings, country music concerts, etc. It has been sung a capella, and with accompaniment. It has been arranged for bagpipes, guitar, piano, organ, string quartet, gospel choir … you name it, it’s been done!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Black History Month: John Henry Newton, Part III
I gave a presentation at my church where I portrayed John Henry Newton, the slave ship captain turned Anglican priest and abolitionist who wrote Amazing Grace. Here is Part 3.
I spent 16 years at my first call. Pastoral care and preaching were my specialties. The church had to add on to its structure in order to accommodate those who came to hear me preach.
From there I accepted a call to a parish in London. It was there where I met William Wilberforce. William was a young Member of Parliament and a recent convert to evangelical Christianity. Politics being what they are, William sensed a conflict between his newfound faith and his vocation. I encouraged him to remain in his vocation and serve God right where he was.
It was through William Wilberforce that I began to reconsider my attitude towards slavery and the slave trade industry. You see, I was 25 when I had my conversion experience, but it was not until I was 63 that I published a pamphlet that detailed the horrors of the slave trade industry and repented of my actions so many years ago. The Holy Spirit worked both an initial conversion as well as a continuing renewal throughout my life.
From that time on, I worked with my friend William Wilberforce to abolish slavery in England. Slavery wasn’t just a means to get cheap labor, it was an industry. And undoing an industry is challenging to say the least.
William and I persevered, though. Remember, he was a Member of Parliament. He used his influence there and forged partnerships with many people across England’s many political parties. In 1807 Parliament passed what it called, “An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.” Today’s history books call it the Slave Trade Act of 1807. That was in March. I passed away in December of that year at the age of 82.
I spent 16 years at my first call. Pastoral care and preaching were my specialties. The church had to add on to its structure in order to accommodate those who came to hear me preach.
From there I accepted a call to a parish in London. It was there where I met William Wilberforce. William was a young Member of Parliament and a recent convert to evangelical Christianity. Politics being what they are, William sensed a conflict between his newfound faith and his vocation. I encouraged him to remain in his vocation and serve God right where he was.
It was through William Wilberforce that I began to reconsider my attitude towards slavery and the slave trade industry. You see, I was 25 when I had my conversion experience, but it was not until I was 63 that I published a pamphlet that detailed the horrors of the slave trade industry and repented of my actions so many years ago. The Holy Spirit worked both an initial conversion as well as a continuing renewal throughout my life.
From that time on, I worked with my friend William Wilberforce to abolish slavery in England. Slavery wasn’t just a means to get cheap labor, it was an industry. And undoing an industry is challenging to say the least.
William and I persevered, though. Remember, he was a Member of Parliament. He used his influence there and forged partnerships with many people across England’s many political parties. In 1807 Parliament passed what it called, “An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.” Today’s history books call it the Slave Trade Act of 1807. That was in March. I passed away in December of that year at the age of 82.
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