Worship Resources
WORSHIP & MUSIC RESOURCES
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Eli Wilson, Jr., Guest Lectionary Liturgist
Church Music Consultant, Eli Wilson Ministries, Orlando, FL
Worship Planning Notes
During this time of rejoicing over what God has done for and through your church, consider using two questions as a launching pad for your celebration: (1) given your church’s history of accomplishments and your projected goals for the future, what is the community in which your church exists saying about the service of your church to the community; and (2) how is your church working to serve the present age and beyond.
Consider the following suggestions for your Church Anniversary celebration:
- Use an intergenerational choir for some of your music during your Church’s Anniversary.
- Use the Media Ministry to develop a video or slide presentation of your church’s conception, birth, and work over the years. There are members in your congregation who may not be fully aware of how your church began, its mission, its goals, and what it has accomplished.
If your church has a website, consider putting the video or slideshow on the site for those who may not be in attendance on the Sunday during which your Church Anniversary is held. It will also be a good way to help non-members learn about your church.
- Have the youth and young adults create a 5–8-minute drama presentation to highlight a major future initiative of the church. For instance, if your church wants to begin an after-school program, dramatize what will go into the planning for this and how it could look at completion.
- Have the Dance Ministry create a dance routine depicting a specific time period in the church’s history along with the appropriate music and costuming.
1. Litany and Responsive Reading
| Church Anniversary Litany | |
| Leader: | Dear Lord, thank you for drawing us, as a congregation, to you to become part of your church. |
| People: | Thank you for our ancestors and those who listened to your voice and were obedient to your call to organize this congregation for your purpose. |
| Leader: | Help us to teach our young your ways and their history, so they will know who you are and who they can be. |
| People: | Inspire us with a vision for the future and use that vision to direct the path of this congregation. |
| Leader: | Help us to lean not on our own understanding but to lean on every promise of your Word. |
| People: | Grant us the authority to conquer all divisiveness, and fill us with a desire to love one another. |
| Leader: | Lord, please hide us in your bosom and protect us from all evil and from the wiles of those spirits that seek to destroy the peace you have given us. |
| People: | May your spirit continue to infuse our church with courage, hope, and grace. |
| Leader: | Teach us to know your voice and give us the courage to obey it. |
| People: | Lord, please continue to provide your Church with a light for the world. |
Responsive Reading |
|
| Leader: | God, we’ve gathered in this place to acknowledge that we did not choose You, but You chose us, and appointed us, to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. |
| People: | We praise You for choosing us and calling us out of darkness into Your wonderful light. |
| Leader: | You have searched us and You know us, yet You continue to love and use us. |
| People: | Wash away all our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin. |
| Leader: | As we reflect upon the work You have done through us, help us never forget the message, mission, and work to which you have called us. |
| People: | You are the vine and we are the branches; apart from You, we have no work of our own. |
| Leader: | As we move forward in this ministry, we recommit ourselves to the principles of Your Word—to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul. |
| People: | To love our neighbor as we love ourselves. |
| Leader: | To feed the hungry and to clothe the naked. |
| People: | To work for justice on behalf of those whose voices are not heard. |
| All: | For this is how our God is glorified, that we bear much fruit, showing ourselves to be His disciples. Amen. |
2. Anthems
(a) A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. Arr. by Gordon Young
(b) Blessed Assurance. By Fanny Crosby. Arr. by Phoebe Knapp and Joel Raney. This selection is for children and adult voices.
3. Hymns
(a) Give of Your Best to The Master. By Howard B. Grose. Tune by Charlotte A. Bernard
(b) The Church’s One Foundation. By Samuel J. Stone. Tune by Samuel S. Wesley
(c) Am I a Soldier of the Cross. By Isaac Watts. Tune by Thomas A. Arne
(d) Renew Thy Church, Her Ministries Restore. By Kenneth L. Cober. Tune by J. T. White
(e) A Charge to Keep I Have. Meter Hymn. By Charles Wesley
4. Spirituals and Meter Hymns
(a) Ain’t Got Time to Die. Arr. by Hall Johnson
(b) Got a Mind to Do Right. Arr. by David Morrow
5. Liturgical Dance or Mime Music
(a) Order My Steps. By Glenn E. Burleigh
(b) Never Would Have Made It. By Marvin Sapp
6. Offertory Song or Instrumental
(a) God’s Been Good to Me. By Walter E. L. Scrutchings
(b) O Taste and See. By Percy Gray, Jr.
(c) Count Your Blessings. By Johnson Oatman, Jr.
7. Song or Instrumental for the Period of Prayer
(a) Spirit of The Living God. By Daniel Iverson
(b) O Lord, Fix Me. By Eli Wilson, Jr.
8. Songs for a Praise Team
(a) We Sing Hallelujah. By Cammie and Kenneth Knight
(b) Celebrate. By Claude Jones
(c) Glorify the Lord. By Dale Williams
9. Children’s Songs
(a) In Everything That I Do. By Raymond Wise
(b) Let My Life Bring Praise to You Lord. By Raymond Wise
10. A Song for Soloists
Renew Me, Lord. By Gale Jones Murphy
11. Traditional or Contemporary Gospel Songs
(a) All I Wanna Do Is Bless Your Name. By Donald Alford
(b) I Will Serve Him. By Chester D. T. Baldwin
(c) Work the Work. By Marcus Herring, Rodney J. Harris, and Steven Ford
12. Invitational Songs
(a) Why Wait for Tomorrow. By Claude Jones
(b) He’s Calling You. By Donnie McClurkin
13. Benediction Songs
(a) Prepare Us, Lord. By Eli Wilson, Jr.
(b) I Need You to Survive. By David Frazier
(c) Take the Name of Jesus with You. By Lydia Baxter. Tune by William H. Doane
Cites and Additional Information for Music and Material Listed
1. Litany or Responsive Reading
Church Anniversary Litany by Ralph Wheeler. Used with permission.
Responsive Reading by Eli Wilson, Jr.
2. Anthems
(a) A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. Arr. by Gordon Young
Location:
Choir Loft Choral Series
Theodore Presser Company
588 North Gulph Road
King of Prussia, PA 19406
Phone: 610-592-1222
Online location: www.presser.com
(b) Blessed Assurance. By Fanny Crosby. Arr. by Phoebe Knapp and Joel Raney. This selection is for children and adult voices.
Location:
Hope Publishing Company
380 S Main Place
Carol Stream, IL 60188
Phone: 1-800-323-1049
Online location: www.jwpepper.com
3. Hymns
(a) Give of Your Best to The Master. By Howard B. Grose. Tune by Charlotte A. Bernard
Location:
African American Heritage Hymnal. Chicago, IL: GIA Publications, 2001. #465
The New National Baptist Hymnal 21st Century Edition. Nashville, TN: Triad Publications, 2001. #446
(b) The Church’s One Foundation. By Samuel J. Stone. Tune by Samuel S. Wesley
Location:
African American Heritage Hymnal. #337
The New National Baptist Hymnal 21st Century Edition. #297
The United Methodist Hymnal: Book of United Methodist Worship. Nashville, TN: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989. #545
(c) Am I a Soldier of The Cross. By Isaac Watts. Tune by Thomas A. Arne
Location:
African American Heritage Hymnal. #482
The New National Baptist Hymnal 21st Century Edition. #259
The United Methodist Hymnal. #511
(d) Renew Thy Church, Her Ministries Restore. By Kenneth L. Cober. Tune by J. T. White
Location:
African American Heritage Hymnal. #343
The United Methodist Hymnal. #311
(e) A Charge to Keep I Have. Meter Hymn. By Charles Wesley
Location:
African American Heritage Hymnal. #467
4. Spirituals
(a) Ain’t Got Time to Die. Arr. by Hall Johnson
Location:
The Hall Choral Series, a cappella
Hall Leonard Music Publishing
P.O. Box 13819
Milwaukee, WI 13819
Product #50305670-H
Online location: www.halleonard.com
(b) Got a Mind to Do Right. Arr. by David Morrow
Location:
Sheet Music Plus
1300 64th Street
Emeryville, CA 94608
Online location: www.sheetmusicplus.com
5. Liturgical Dance or Mime Music
(a) Order My Steps. By Glenn Burleigh
Location:
The Gospel Music Workshop of America Women of Worship. It’s Our Time. Atlanta GA: Atlanta International Recording, 1994.
NTIME Music Company
4913 Albemarle Road #103
Charlotte, NC 28205
Phone: 704-531-8961
Online location: www.ntimemusic.com
(b) Never Would Have Made It. By Marvin Sapp
Location:
Thirsty. New York, NY: Verity, 2007.
6. Offertory Song or Instrumental
(a) God’s Been Good to Me. By Walter E. L. Scrutchings
Location:
Scrutchings Music
481 Morley Avenue
Akron, OH 44320
Phone: 330-836-8016
(b) O Taste and See. By Percy Gray, Jr.
Location:
Chicago Mass Choir. Project Praise Live in Atlanta. Nashville, TN: New Haven Records, 2005.
(c) Count Your Blessings. By Johnson Oatman, Jr.
Location:
African American Heritage Hymnal. #533
7. Song or Instrumental for the Period of Prayer
(a) Spirit of the Living God. By Daniel Iverson
Location:
African American Heritage Hymnal. #320
Boyer, Horace Clarence. Lift Every Voice and Sing II: An African American Hymnal. New York, NY: Church Pub., 1993. #115.
The New National Baptist Hymnal 21st Century Edition. #133
The United Methodist Hymnal. #393
(b) O Lord, Fix Me. By Eli Wilson, Jr.
Location:
James Abbington, Ed. New Wine in Old Wineskins: A Contemporary Congregational Song Supplement, Vol. 1. Chicago, IL: GIA Publications, 2007.
Eli Wilson Ministries
P.O. Box 680712
Orlando, FL 32868-0712
Online location: www.eliwilson.com
8. Songs for a Praise Team
(a) We Sing Hallelujah. By Cammie and Kenneth Knight
Location:
Live from Faithful Central: Zion Rejoice. New York, NY: Integrity Media, 2005.
(b) Celebrate. By Claude Jones
Location:
Longview Heights S.D.A. Sanctuary Choir. No Weapon. Memphis, TN: (Indie), 2006.
(c) Glorify the Lord. By Dale Williams
Location:
Rudolph McKissick and The Word and Worship Mass Choir. Because You Are Worthy. Orlando, FL: Meridian Music Group, 2002.
9. Children’s Songs
(a) In Everything That I Do. By Raymond Wise
Location:
The Raise Kids in Praise. Columbia, OH: Raise Productions, 2004.
(b) Let My Life Bring Praise to You Lord. By Raymond Wise
Location:
The Raise Kids in Praise. Columbia, OH: Raise Productions, 2004.
10. A Song for Soloists
Renew Me, Lord. By Gale Jones Murphy
Location:
You Are Not Forgotten. Apopka, FL: Liv4God Productions, 2007.
E-mail: Mamamurphy1@hotmail.com
11. Traditional and Contemporary Gospel Songs
(a) All I Wanna Do Is Bless Your Name. By Donald Alford
Location:
Apostle Donald Alford and The Gathering of Worshippers. It’s All About You. New York, NY: Word Entertainment, 2005.
NTIME Music Company
Phone: 704-531-8961
Online location: www.ntimemusic.com
(b) I Will Serve Him. By Chester D. T. Baldwin
Location:
Chester D.T. Baldwin and The Music Ministry Mass Choir. Sing It On Sunday Morning 1. Austin, TX: (Indie) Just Do It Records, 2000.
NTIME Music Company
Phone: 704-531-8961
Online location: www.ntimemusic.com
(c) Work the Work. By Marcus Herring, Rodney J. Harris, and Steven Ford
Location:
Dallas Fort Worth Mass Choir. I’d Rather Have Jesus. Nashville, TN: Light Records, 1998.
12. Invitational Songs
(a) Why Wait for Tomorrow. By Claude Jones
Location:
Longview Heights S.D.A. Sanctuary Choir. Live From Memphis. Memphis, TN: (Indie) 2003.
Online location: Lvhsanctuarychoir.org
(b) He’s Calling You. By Donnie McClurkin
Location:
Donnie McClurkin . . . Again. New York, NY: Verity, 2003.
13. Benediction Songs
(a) Prepare Us, Lord. By Eli Wilson, Jr.
Location:
Zion Still Sings for Every Generation. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2007. #217
Eli Wilson Ministries
Phone: 321-279-3849
Online location: www.eliwilson.com
(b) I Need You to Survive. By David Frazier
Location:
Hezekiah Walker and The Love Fellowship Choir. Family Affair II. New York, NY: Verity, 2002.
Zion Still Sings. #219
(c) Take the Name of Jesus with You. By Lydia Baxter. Tune by William H. Doane
Location:
African American Heritage Hymnal. #297