Songs and Hymns for Epiphany 6B (February 15 2015)

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2 Kings 5:1-14  
Naaman’s healing; he wished it needed something special but really it was very simple. 

• TiS 638 / NCH175 / CH717 / A&M518 / GtG793 / PH380 / UMH265 / LBW380 / ELW675 / PH380 / CP291 / CP(E) 346 / W&R638 / Cha503 / Lau430 O Christ the healer we have comeBeautiful words and simple to sing. Good to sing during intercessions. I like the tune INVERCARRY best. Lyrics and sound sample (of an alternative tune)
• TiS 182 / AoV2-010 / NCH11 / CH134 / VU268 / GtG760 / SFFS 2047 / HPP13 / CP395 Bring many names beautiful and good (Wren) This is a beautiful song, but it's very long (especially if sung too slowly). Try singing one verse unison, then one women, one men, then all together again, to keep people interested in what they are singing. Lyrics.
• AoV2-006 / The tide has turned Deeper River / There's a river running deep within the silence of our souls (Digby Hannah). An excellent song of restoration for tired desert-like souls. Lyrics.
• TiS 414 / CH616 / UMH192 / VU582 / A&M265 / HPP134 / PH433 / GC550 / CP(E) 198 / Cha257 There's a Spirit in the Air (Wren) A good song of getting the business of following Christ done. Speaking out, caring for others, being changed. A joyful tune (it looks less so in TiS, but think of it in 6/8 instead of 6/4). Just think how brave Naaman's servant girl must have been. Seven verses – you might want to have women sing a verse and men sing another to keep people going. The TiS suggestion to use INVERCARRY is (in my opinion) not necessary; it’s easier to the set tune. Lyrics and tune sample.
• MV157 I am a child of God (Harding) A simple song with powerful words. Very easy to learn. I would just sing the first verse this week, as a round. It's important to remember that God speaks through children. Good for kids.
• AoV2-085 / Iona (T1AU) / MV115 / A&M328 / SP129 Behold behold I Make All Things New (Bell) A nice hopeful upbeat short song. Highly recommended. Sound sample (scroll down) Good for kids.
• AHB 167 Your arm O Lord in days of old (Plumptre) A much older style of hymn, but would still be fine to sing "to hands that work and eyes that see give wisdom's heavenly lore, that whole and sick, and weak and strong may praise you evermore." 

Psalm 30
God heals. Turns mourning into dancing. Anger is but for a moment; Weeping may linger, but joy comes in the morning.

• Emergent Psalter: You have turned my lament into dancing (Everett) I really like this simple refrain - the chords really make it work. Sheet music (refrain only) 
• PH181 / GtG805 Come Sing to God O Living Saints (Anderson / ELLACOMBE) Good, simple, inclusive, humble and realistic words based specifically on this Psalm. Sung to a well known hymn tune (I sing the mighty power of God). Many congregations choose to sing only the first and last verses; the middle two are much more challenging. Lyrics for 1st & last verse (search for “come sing”). 
• Iona (There is one among us) Lord you can turn all mourning into dancing An excellent simple refrain from John Bell “Lord you can turn all mourning into dancing, evenings of grief to mornings of great joy”
• TiS 647 / AoV2-012 / ATN 25 Comfort, comfort all my people (Robin Mann) Easy to sing, beautiful lyrics. Chorus is “Comfort, comfort all my people, with the comfort of my word. Speak ye tender to my people, all your sins are taken away”. Note that most sources only list 2 verses, but there are two additional (more challenging) verses you may wish to consider using; they were written for the Christmas Bowl in 1988. Thanks to Simon for alerting me to them. Lyrics (including additional verses), mp3 sample.
• ATE 253 He turned my mourning into dancing This is not at all inclusive, but if you change the lyrics to make it addressed to God “You turned my morning into dancing”, it’s much much better.
• Online Resource / Tune In You in all our worries / All will finish well “In this world where injustice reigns, you are in the midst of pain”. Excellent words of reassurance in a difficult world. Sound sample, lyrics and songbook available here.
• NCH085 / SFFS 2082 / Cha623 / ZSS105 Woke Up This Morning (African-American Spiritual) A great Spiritual. If you don't have one of these sources, you can just make it up from this video.... This could be a good Sunday to make use of those choir stalls; could even get the kids to write their own lyrics... Surreal version here.  Good for kids. 
• TiS 181 / AoV2-032 / GC(II)497 / G(3)577 / CP589 Come O God of all the earth / Sing Out Earth and Skies (Haugen) A very joyful song for cantor and congregation, or small group and congregation; this is a big favourite in our church. Sheet music, lyrics and sound sample.
• CH683 / VU420 / A&M491 / GC(II)469 / G(3)546 / GtG295 / CP598 / W&R553 / SP156 / URW132 / Lau426 Go to the world Go into all the earth (Dunstan) Great words of sending out. Can be sung to a couple of different tunes. SINE NOMINE is the easiest and best known. Sound sample. Sheet music sample.
• NCH433 / CH727 / UMH707 / VU703 / HPP474 / GtG250 / W&R515 / Cha638 In the bulb there is a flower (Sleeth) A simple song of hope symbolised in nature. Particularly good for those churches in colder Northern Hemisphere who have a while to go before Spring. Lyrics.
• VU166 / SFFS 2210 Joy Comes with the Dawn (Light) Lovely words. The verses are very straightforward; it might be helpful to teach the chorus because there's a couple of jumps. Lyric slide show!
• AoVK-125 / ATW 489 Turn our sadness upside down (Leigh Newton) Good for kids, and adults too. Simple tune, but not so simple that it’s boring. Lyrics (search in the page for "sadness"). Good for kids.
• URW255 You have turned our sadness into a joyful song (Eslinger) A simple and joyful refrain with a read Psalm.
• PfAS030B I will praise you O Lord (Bell) A lovely simple Psalm response - this one will work well sung as a response to the Psalm, or sung on its own where appropriate in the service. Works in Spanish too, and is Good for kids. 
• PfAS030C All with joyful expectation (Morgan)  Good celebratory words of resurrection and hope of new life. The tune YISRAEL V'ORAITA is very similar to LEONI, but has a significant change in the last line. Be aware!
• PfAS030D Though weeping and deepest sorrow (Monteiro) The chorus is super-cool, with a driving rhythm (and a part for a triangle!). The verses will be best sung by a soloist, I think.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Run the race to win it, even if it hurts   

• Tune In: A grain of wheat (Sheree Anderson) Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it won't form roots and grow. A boppy song with deeply meaningful lyrics. Reference recording, lyrics and songbook. Good for kids. 
• AoV2-033 / VU647 Travel on travel on (Sydney Carter). I think this old folk song would work well to pick up the theme of "pressing on". Lyrics and chords here.
• NCH497 / SFFS 2208 / GtG741 / PH354 / G(II)508 / GC707 / GC(II)684 G(3)780 / CP513 / ZSS141 Guide my feet while I run this race An excellent civil rights song. Would work well as a meditative prayer for guidance or as an uplifting call to action at the end of the service.You could also make up your own lyrics. Lyrics. Good for kids.
• Worldmaking.net O Author of Faith yet at work in our hearts (Bruxvoort-Colligan) New words to an old tune “O Jesus our Christ, lead the way for our faith to give perseverance for running the race. You’ve gone on ahead for to stake out a claim. We trust in the journey and look for your footsteps. O Jesus our Christ, lead the way for our faith!” Lyrics and sound sample here.
• TiS 666 / AoV2-113 / AoVK-126 / ATOK 409 / NCH526 / Iona (Common Ground, Freedom is Coming) / CH516 / VU646/647 / WoV650 / ELW866 / A&M483 / SFFS 2235 / HPP153 / GtG853 / G(II)357 / GC513 / GC(II)516 / G(3)594 / Cha442 / SP235 / Srce737 We are marching in the light of God / Siyahamba / Caminando (South African) A very popular chorus, with possible alternate verses, depending on your source. Sometimes people get anxious about the word "marching", but remember that this song comes from apartheid-era South Africa, where people were protesting so that they could vote in their own country. And the marching is toi-toing, much less militaristic than what you may imagine. Good for kids.
• UMH438 / VU416 / A&M476 / CP467 / CP(E) 430 / W&R718 / Lau861 Forth in thy name O Lord I go (Wesley) A nice old minstrelly tune, and timeless words about committing all our works to God. I'm listing a lot of old hymns this week! Lyrics. 
• TiS 607 / AoV2-126 / ATN 95 / CH528 / VU684 / StJ / A&M725 / SFFS 2171 / HPP406 / GtG753 / G(II)524 / GC726 / GC(II)721 / G(3)828 / CP(E)519/ W&R587 / Srce 462 / Lau898 Make me a channel of your peace (Temple). Lovely. Nice if you can just start a capella...  Youtube video of Sinead O'Connor singing it and lyrics and MIDI file. 
• NCH437 We shall not give up the fight (South African) A great song for congregations standing with those in a struggle for freedom. Be sure to put the song in historical context so it doesn't seem to militaristic. That should be all of our congregations really. I like the version by this choir in France!Good for kids.

Mark 1:40-45
Jesus heals a leper and unwittingly becomes famous

• Iona (HSNW) Sitting next to no-one / The Saviour (Bell / SAVIOUR) The verses to this are not easy, but the chorus is. If it’s not familiar you may like to have a soloist or small group sing the verses, and the congregation join the chorus. Verse 2 is particularly appropriate: “No-one going near him, most folk turn and walk away; eaten by diseases, he grows weaker every day; just a social leper, seeking someone in the street; one of life’s untouchables who no-one wants to meet”
• Iona (Love From Below / common ground) / CH718 / VU613 / A&M522 / GtG797 / G(II)401 / GC575 / GC(II)558 / G(3)657 / CP292 / CP(E) 348 / W&R628 / SP140 / URW146 / Lau433 We Cannot Measure How You Heal (Bell) Really very excellent words to a very familiar celtic air. Easy to sing; be careful not to get too fast; it's tempting but the words need a slower tune. Sheet music sample. Sound sample.
• Iona (Heaven Shall Not Wait)When our Lord walked the earth (Bell / PERSONENT HODIE) Familiar and easy tune, excellent words. Chorus is “God became our neighbour, granting with his favour, Power to speak and heal, grace to know what’s real, wisdom, insight and faith, love and understanding.”
• Tune In Come O God and visit us sick we pray / Your abundant life (Brown) A joyful song "Lead us into your abundant life". This has been sung frequently by the musicians at BUC, but not by the congregation! Lyrics and sound sample.
• Seeds of Faith Jesus’ hands are Healing Hands (Bruxvoort-Colligan). A simple and fun kid’s song. "Jesus hands are healing hands, full of love and grace”.Lyrics, sound sample and songbook available here. Good for little kids. 
• TiS 638 / NCH175 / CH717 / A&M518 / GtG793 / PH380 / UMH265 / LBW380 / ELW675 / PH380 / CP291 / CP(E) 346 / W&R638 / Cha503 / Lau430 O Christ the healer we have comeBeautiful words and simple to sing. Good to sing during intercessions. I like the tune INVERCARRY best. Lyrics and sound sample (of an alternative tune)
• TiS 670 / SiS569 / AoVK-138 / ATE 258 / CH692 / Srce385 Jesus put this song into our hearts (Graham Kendrick) A fun Yiddish tune that gets even more fun if you get faster and faster as you go. Try teaching your congregation a simple side to side “dance” step. If you teach them and make it clear that it’s okay, you’ll be surprised how many people dance to God. Good for kids. Lyrics.
• StF253 Love inspired the anger (Andrew Pratt) Excellent words about the transforming power of a loving anger, and a very simple tune.
• ATAR618 Just like Jesus (Robin Mann) A fun song for kids, pointing out the things Jesus did that were not really very acceptable, like touching a leper. Verse 4 will need to either be explained or omitted - the song works just fine without it. Good for kids.

 What suggestions do you have? Please add a comment below!