Parson Paul on the Hymns

Welcome this is Parson Paul on the hymns. I am a retired United Methodist pastor with a great love of church music in general and the hymns in particular. I hope to help busy church professionals, church musicians and just regular people in the pew to have a great appreciation and understanding of the music of the church. I believe the hymns speak into our lives as well today as in the day when they were first written which may have been hundreds of years ago. Please feel free to share this blog or podcast with others you think might enjoy and drop us a line with suggestions or any comments. Be sure and check out the links and notes I have placed at the end of this blog and in the show notes of the podcast for full videos today’s hymn selection and others I found interesting. Today’s hymn is the spiritual “Go Tell it on the Mountain”.   The earliest recording, I could find is by the great Mahalia Jackson listen to this great singer in this   week’s selection. htt...

Welcome this is Parson Paul on the hymns. I am a retired United Methodist pastor with a great love of church music in general and the hymns in particular. I hope to help busy church professionals, church musicians and just regular people in the pew to have a great appreciation and understanding of the music of the church. Today I want to share a couple of hymns our first hymn is “Joy to the World” UM 246. This version is by Pentatonix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xo64Q2ucQ8 Wikipedia says, The words of the hymn are by English writer  Isaac Watts , based on  Psalm 98 , 96:11–12 and  Genesis  3:17–18. It was first published in 1719 in Watts' collection  The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and worship . Watts writes of heaven and earth rejoicing at the coming of the king. An interlude that depends more on Watts' interpretation than the psalm text, stanza three speaks of Christ's blessing...

Welcome this is Parson Paul on the hymns. I am a retired United Methodist pastor with a great love of church music in general and the hymns in particular. I hope to help busy church professionals, church musicians and the people in the pew to have a great appreciation and understanding of the music of the church. Today I want to share a couple of hymns our first hymn is “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” UM 240. I believe the hymns can speak into our lives as well today as in the day when they were first written. Please feel free to share this blog or podcast with others you think might enjoy and drop us a line with suggestions or any comments. Be sure and check out the links and notes I have placed at the end of this blog and in the show notes of the podcast for full videos today’s hymn selection and others I found interesting. I read from a recent article in Christianity Today entitled “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” “When Charles Wesley wrote this carol in 1739, he had no ide...

“Good Christian Friends, Rejoice” (Isa, Matt) B96, C164, E107 (PD), EL288, F177, G132, L55, N129, P28, UM224, VU35, W391 This is Parson Paul on the Hymns. If this is your first time or you’ve tuned in before, welcome. Today’s hymn is Good Christian Friends Rejoice, UM 224. 1.      Today’s first example comes from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington DC.   And the Dominican Friars. Give a listen to this a Capella recording. Again, welcome this is Parson Paul. I am Paul Lathum a retired United Methodist Pastor. My bachelor’s degree is in Sacred Music. I want to help busy church professionals, church musicians and people in general to have a greater appreciation and understanding of the hymns and church music today. I want to help give you some background on the hymns and how they came to us as well as share some great music. I believe the hymns can speak into our lives as well today as in the day when they were first written. Please fee...