Bay Shore Church - Sermons and News from Bay Shore Community Congregational Church in Belmont Shore, California.

I am consistently amazed at the stories about hymns, and the story for “How Firm A Foundation” (Chalice Hymnal No. 618) is no exception. General Curtis Guild, Jr., wrote in The Sunday School Times how this hymn was sung on a famous Christmas morning. “The Seventh Army Corps was encamped on the hills above Havana, Cuba, on Christmas Eve of 1898—a beautiful tropical night. Suddenly a sentinel from the camp of the Forty- ninth Iowa called, Number ten; twelve o’clock, and all’s well! A strong voice raised the chorus, and manly voices joined in until the whole regiment was singing. Then the Sixth Missouri added its voices, and the Fourth Virginia, and all the rest, ’til there, on the long ridges above the great city whence Spanish tyranny once went forth to enslave the New World, a whole American army corps was singing: ‘Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed; for I am thy God, and will still give thee aid; I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.’ The Northern soldier knew the hymn as one he had learned beside his mother’s knee. To the Southern soldier it was that and something more—it was the favorite hymn of General Robert E. Lee, and was sung at that great commander’s funeral. Protestant and Catholic, South and North, singing together on Christmas day in the morning—that’s an American army!”

May our worship together guide us to a closer communion with God.

Alicia Adams

- Be Thou My Vision
(Chalice Hymnal No. 595) is a haunting melody to some, an enchanting tune to others, and disconcerting harmonies to others.  But this eighth century poem has a rich history.  It is reported that St. Patrick, born A.D. 373,  (the only missionary honored with a global holiday and the color green) was taken as a slave from his torched home at the age of 16.  He was taken from River Clyde (now called Scotland) to Ireland, and gave his life to God.  He wrote: “The Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief in order that I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God”.  Patrick ultimately escaped, returned home, and then after a vision returned to Ireland as an evangelist.  He became one of the most fruitful preachers of the time, starting about 200 churches and baptizing 100,000 converts.  As a result of his ministry the Irish church flourished and in the eighth century, an unknown poet wrote a prayer asking God to be his Vision, his Wisdom, and his Best Thought by day or night.  An arrangement of this hymn will be played for the offertory. 

May we find vision and direction from our worship together. 

Alicia  Adams

July 20th – In the 1700s evangelism swept across America, England and Wales with large crowds gathering to hear inspiring preaching. William Williams, born to a wealthy farmer in Wales, received a university degree in medicine. However, while attending an outdoor service, standing on a gravestone, and listening to a sermon given by Howell Harris, he was converted and changed his profession to the ministry of the soul. His journals reveal that he traveled over 95,000 miles as an itinerant minister. On one occasion he preached to an estimated 80,000 and he recorded “God strengthened me to speak so loud that most could hear.” Williams was also a composer of over 800 hymns. Perhaps “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” (Chalice Hymnal, No. 622 ) is best known. While on his death bed, President James Garfield’s wife sang to him this hymn and the President said “Glorious, Bliss, isn’t it?”. The hymn was sung at the funeral of England’s Princess Diana. The hymn text, a pilgrim’s prayer, is based on the Bible story of the exodus experience.

May our worship together bring us to a closer relationship with God and each other.

Alicia Adams

The prelude will be an arrangement of the hymn tune “St. Anne” which is certainly a favorite of many – “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” (Chalice Hymnal No. 67). Isaac Watts wrote the text based on Psalm 90, and it was published in 1719. The hymn has been called the “second national anthem of the British Commonwealth”; was played on the radio by the BBC as soon as World War II was declared; and was sung during the funeral service for Winston Churchill. The tune was written by William Croft in 1708. From 1700-1712, Croft was organist at St. Anne, Soho, London, and thus, the name of the hymn tune: “St. Anne”. George Handel used the tune in an anthem entitled, “O Praise the Lord”; and, J. S. Bach’s Fugue in E-flat major BWV 552 is often called the “St. Anne”, due to the similarity of its subject to the first line of the hymn tune. May our worship together bring us to a closer relationship with God and each other.

Alicia Adams

The prelude and postlude will be arrangements of the hymn tune “Ellacombe” which first appeared in its present form in 1868, in the Appendix to Hymns Ancient and Modern. However, the tune is an adaptation of an older tune written in 1784. The tune has ten different sets of text, and the text providing my inspiration is “I Sing the Mighty Power of God”. The offertory will be an arrangement of the hymn “When In Our Music God Is Glorified” (Chalice Hymnal, No. 7). The hymn tune was written in 1904 for the text “For All The Saints”. In 1971 Fred Pratt Green, a Methodist minister in England, wrote the words that express the connection between music and worship. The second verse is my prayer: How often, making music, we have found a new dimension in the world of sound, as worship moved us to a more profound “Allelulia!”

The postlude will be an arrangement of the hymn tune “Llanfair” written in 1817 by Robert Williams (1781-1821). Although blind, Williams was able to utilize his musical gift writing this lasting hymn tune. By profession Williams was a basket maker on the island of Anglesey in North Wales. His legacy continues as poets have taken this hymn tune and written many different words: “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today”; “Praise the Lord, His Glories Show”; and, “Let the Whole Creation Cry” (Chalice Hymnal No. 21). Responses to a hymn tune are as individual as each of us, for we have each experienced the moving nature of music in our worship.

William Croft (England.1678-1727) was born into a wealthy and ancient family at the Manor House, Nether Ettington in Warwickshire. As a boy he sang at the Chapel Royal. In 1700, Croft became a ‘Gentleman’ organist at Chapel Royal sharing the position with the composer Jeremiah Clarke (known for his “Trumpet Tune” to which numerous brides walk down the isle). In 1708, Croft became organist at Westminster Abbey and in 1713 received a Doctor of Music degree from Oxford University. In 1726, Croft was one of four founders of the Academy of Vocal Music (now know as the Academy of Ancient Music). The postlude will be an arrangement of the hymn tune “Hanover” which Croft wrote and it was first published in 1708. Now three centuries later we rejoice in the music that was composed so long ago.

The postlude will be an arrangement of the hymn tune Old Hundredth written by Louis Bourgeois (born in France around 1510). The words were written at a time when the Church of England required that only Scripture, especially the Psalms, could be sung. It was considered sinful and blasphemous to use words for hymns other than Scripture. In 1674, Thomas Ken, a priest in the Church of England, wrote the text for this hymn for the boys at Winchester College with strict instructions that the hymn be sung privately in their rooms. Over the next three and one quarter centuries, this hymn and text, commonly known as the Doxology, has become the most frequently sung hymn in Protestant churches. It has been said that the Doxology has done more to teach
the doctrine of the Trinity than all the theological books ever written.

May God’s presence be with us as we worship together.

-Alicia Adams

The offertory will be a piano arrangement of the gospel hymn “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” (Chalice Hymnal No. 557). The origin of this spiritual is unknown, but it is believed to be over 100 years old. In 1940 the tune and words resurfaced and in a year swept the country. As we prepare for communion the words of this hymn are especially fitting: “Just a closer walk with thee, grant it, Jesus, is my plea, daily walking close to thee: let it be, dear Lord, let it be”.

May God’s presence be with us as we worship together.

May 25th – Bay Shore is fortunate to have among its musical instruments a seven foot harpsichord with two sets of eight foot strings and a buff stop (a rank of felt dampers that can be placed lightly against the strings). The instrument will be used for the prelude and during the service to accompany Megan O’Toole. The music for the prelude will demonstrate the three distinct sounds of this harpsichord: a single eight foot string for the first movement of the piece; a single eight foot string with the buff stop for the slow movement; and, the two eight foot strings sounding together for the last movement. We are grateful to Carl Duckworth and Ron Gagliano for their talents in building this exceptional instrument dedicated to God’s glory and given for the advancement of Bay Shore’s music ministry.

May our worship together in word and song nourish God’s love within each of us.