From our member, Revd Douglas Constable, a text for the Season:

ADVENT 3 : Matthew 11.2-11
Music : WOLVERCOTE

‘God’s kingdom at the borders, with judgement at the gate,
salvation poised and ready: no need for further wait;
unchaining those in bondage, releasing all tied down … ‘
the prophet from his prison cries ‘Soon the Christ will come’.

The Lord appears reluctant love’s judgement to begin,
though devils still, defiant, oppress the world with sin:
So: ‘Jesus, will you save us? or must we wait some more?’
the prophet in his prison cries out in anguish sore.

Behold, blind persons seeing! Behold, lame rise and walk!
Outcasts affirmed in being! Deaf-mutes both hear and talk!
The poor receive God’s blessing! Dead souls awake from rest,
vast mercies all confessing, for Christ is in our midst!

Let every voice cry ‘Glory!’, rejoice that God, with love,
breathes in each person’s story, their fears far to remove.
See, friends: like mist dispersing, hell’s vapours turned to flight,
where faith, hope, love advancing shine forth in heavenly light.

No greater child of spirit-clay than prophet-prisoner, John,
for he prepared the royal way, baptised God’s well-loved Son…
Messiah, whose mercy judges all, you lay the Saviour’s trail,
where cell by cell Christ mends, makes whole; bears all by cross and nail.

Doug Constable © December 2019 ... See MoreSee Less

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The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland

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Latest from Stainer & Bell: stainer.co.uk/stainer-bell-announcement/ - we wish you well Carol and Keith Wakefield and of course our well wishes go to Antony Kearns and team for the future. ... See MoreSee Less

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1 month ago

Comments on a much- loved hymn and hymnwriter, referred to in the current Secretary's Newsletter... ... See MoreSee Less

The Midweek Hymn: Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken | The Conservative Woman

www.conservativewoman.co.uk

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The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland

1 month ago

The Secretary's Newsletter is now available on the website for everyone to read: hymnsocietygbi.org.uk/2019/11/secretarys-newsletter-82-autumn-2019/
For members there's the latest bumper Bulletin plus the Minutes of the AGM and the Annual Report available to read. ... See MoreSee Less

Secretary’s Newsletter 82 Autumn 2019

hymnsocietygbi.org.uk

The Secretary’s Newsletter: No.82: Autumn 2019 From the Secretary: Revd Robert A. Canham Windrush Braithwaite KESWICK CA12 5SZ Phone: 017687 78054 Email: Please see our Contact page The Hymn Society Website: www.hymnsocietygbi.org.uk Core Hymnody: At...

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The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland

2 months ago

BOOK LAUNCH - SAVE THE DATE!

If you happen to be anywhere near Belfast, N Ireland, on 22nd November, feel free to pop into the Cathedral in Donegall Street for 7.30pm. And tell your friends who may not be on Facebook!

The Official Launch of "Echoes of a Distant Music, a Biography of Ronnie Lee (1929-1992)" by John Crothers, with a Foreword specially contributed by Yan Pascal Tortelier, will take place in St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, on Friday 22nd November at 7.30pm.

The Cathedral is a place which Ronnie Lee especially loved and where he was a parishioner in the latter part of his life. Many still alive today will not have forgotten his Funeral Service which took place there: it was an occasion which arguably brought together a greater number of musicians from Northern Ireland and beyond than any other, before or since.

The two choirs, Grosvenor (conducted by Edward Craig) and Renaissance (conducted by Ian Mills), both of which perpetuate Ronnie's memory, will be singing some of the works associated with the legendary Belfast conductor. Some of the recordings he made with his singers will be played, and there will be an opportunity to have copies of the book dedicated during refreshments.

Ronnie Lee was unique, in that he blazed a trail for the choral directors who would come after him. The fact that he was a personal friend of, and admired by, such musicians as David Willcocks, John Rutter and Yan Pascal Tortelier, speaks for itself.

He was not someone who had the advantage of coming from a musical family or benefiting from a middle-class upbringing. Indeed, his less-than-perfect vision, left-handedness and lack of self-confidence were potential disadvantages which he overcame by sheer will-power, convinced that his destiny lay in passing on to others the sounds of glorious music which he himself could hear. He mastered piano, organ, clarinet and trombone, and astonished accomplished performers on these instruments. His life's work took him to St Matthew's Parish Church, St Bartholomew's Parish Church and Grosvenor High School, where his singers covered themselves with glory, both at national and international level. His recordings on the Chandos label with the Ulster Orchestra have become the stuff of legend.

The book traces the life and character of this remarkable, yet intensely private man, with his successes and (rare) failures. The affection and loyalty he engendered in his singers are still evident today. Over eighty contributors give revealing glimpses into his dealings with them and others, allowing the reader to walk alongside Ronnie Lee and understand more about what made him 'tick'. The final chapters examine his love for the music of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, which inspired so much of his own work, and, by describing his techniques of rehearsal, seek to understand how he achieved what he did.

At his death, Gramophone magazine described him as "Northern Ireland's most famous choral conductor". Today, the story of his life deserves to be retold, so that future generations can appreciate something of "what we had in Ronnie Lee" (Canon Charles Kenny, Funeral Address). ... See MoreSee Less

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The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland

2 months ago

A post, courtesy of our sister Society in the US and Canada: ... See MoreSee Less

Why Churches Should Ditch Projector Screens And Bring Back Hymnals

thefederalist.com

Christians need to understand that relying on screens and other technology is not leading to better worship, it’s ruining it.

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