They are looking to expand their repertoire of hymns to be used in Saturday services. Be warned though, DO NOT submit a song that has feelings to them! God forbid if anyone showed any emotion in church!
This was one of the weirdest reasons HWA eventually dumped so-called Protestant hymns from the old gray hymnal. They had too much feeling.
Most COG leaders are a little too dense to remember that all the hymns they sing were songs written by David and others about the feelings in their hearts. feelings of joy, of lament, of doubt, and so much more.
It is much more comforting to sings songs about bashing babies and people's heads against the rocks, armies marching into war, men dominating women, or something supposedly written by Moses. Please do NOT write any syrupy things about grace, justification, or mercy. Those are things that so-called Christians sing about and that is just plain nasty!
Hymns for Living Church of God Services
One way we honor God is by praising Him in song. In the Scriptures, we have the benefit of the words of many songs composed by David and his musicians, as well as Moses and others. We have also been blessed with a recent legacy of a musical version of these songs, primarily through the work of Mr. Dwight Armstrong. More recent additions to our compilation of hymns were made by others during the latter years of Mr. Herbert Armstrong’s life. We sing many of these hymns every week in our congregations around the world.
With our recent reliance on streaming technology, including our musical praise of God, it seems appropriate to revisit our recorded versions of our hymns, and consider updating the audio using the most recent recording technology. As part of this effort, Mr. Weston has approved including additional hymns that have been written by talented musicians in the Living Church of God. As we read in Psalm 98:1, it gives glory to God to “sing to the Lord a new song!”
If you would like to submit a hymn for possible inclusion in our updated collection, please bear the following guidelines in mind.
- Submitted hymns should be based closely upon scriptural passages.
- Much “Christian music” today expresses religious feeling but does not reflect the words of the Bible.
- Submissions should be in the traditional format that we use for congregational singing, typically with two to four verses in a four-stanza framework.
- A song written for congregational singing is arranged differently than a song performed for special music. For example, some of the songs in our current hymnal were initially written for special music and later modified for congregational hymns.
- Melodies should be clear, simple and singable, able to be quickly learned and easily remembered.
- Lyrics should be well-formed and pleasing to the ear, maintaining the clear, powerful style of the written word of God.
- Complete arrangement of a hymn is not required for consideration.
- Complete compositions are certainly acceptable. However, simply submitting lyrics and melody together would be adequate for initial consideration.
If you are interested, stay tuned for upcoming announcements for more information on submitting a composition.—Jonathan McNair
24 comments:
Let’s keep our services in line with a Protestant format without the Protestant feeling.
All this classical conditioning to create decent and orderly automatons. That’s what all the COG wants. Just enough free will to want to believe the party line. 1984 and the Orwellian Church of God
They can take Dwight Armstrong's crap and toss it in the same trash bin as the unsingable songs from Ross Jutsum and Mark Graham.
The best song I ever sang was Hallelujah as I walked out of the church for the last time.
I'll Fly Away
Rock of Ages
Nothing But The Blood
There's just a few that should be in the new hymnal with all of Dwight's shit cast out!
eh, sounds like he wants substance, not the mindless emotional stuff used by the new age protestant "praise churches"....no biggie.
Would love to hear "Spirit In The Sky" by Norman Greenbaum played at a COG!
https://youtu.be/swIcX57vYDI?t=9
Why Jonathan McNair? Isn't Marcus McCullough in charge of music for LCG? Has there been another HQ purge?
My favorite song in the old hymnal was the prodigal son - great melody and subject.
Guess it was too much forgiveness to be a good WCG song.
On my spiritual journey from COG to agnostic, I attended 2 messianic groups.
They both had a long song service to start the meeting. But it was put on by really talented singers and the audience got to listen instead. Their services were enjoyable and uplifting.
There was just a single message of about 30 to 40 minutes, with frequent guest speakers from other, non-affiliated groups.
I stopped going because I lost the belief that the Bible is the infallible word of God.
The ACOG's have dark, ugly songs like the Soviets had soul crushing art for monuments.
Maybe an insider can tell us what happened to Marcus McCullough - truly passionate and excellent at his craft.
I am guessing he has been gone for a while - why else would their special music as special events be so terrible?
Maybe the Rolling Stones could write something, wouldn't that stir things up a bit.
In "A Temple of the Holy Ghost, Southern writer Flannery O'Connor has a Catholic girl remark on how the Protestant boys who visit her sing hymns that sound the same as their love songs. You think about it, she's right; not only are Protestant religious songs sung in English instead of the special devotional language of Latin, but they also use the same musical idiom, and many of them express devotion to Jesus in the same romantic imagery.
Consider this well-known example:
I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses
And He walks with me and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am his own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
Though a non-worshipper myself, I can see the appeal of this kind of devotional music. But it still seems a little weird.
Church request: Please don't submit hymns filled with feeling but lacking strong scriptural ties.
This article: wHy dO ThEsE ACOG hAtE fEeLInGs?!?
You might think this is what they are asking. You might "know" this is what they mean. But it isn't what they published.
Anonymous 8:40 PM said, "They can take Dwight Armstrong's crap and toss it in the same trash bin as the unsingable songs from Ross Jutsum and Mark Graham."
MY COMMENT - Perhaps it is just me harking back to an earlier, simpler time in my life when we were all of one accord and brethren in the Radio/Worldwide Church of God, but I find several of Dwight Armstrong songs to be quite beautifully composed. These include "Praise ye the Lord", "Blessed and happy is the man", and "Lord teach me that I might know of the way".
I will even go as far as to say Dwight Armstrong through his music was a better minister of God than his brother Herbert Armstrong - particularly when one considers the preponderance of evidence of Herbert's sexual molestation of daughter Dorothy.
But I also stray off the Armstrong plantation with my like of modern Christian music such as Matt Redman, "Blessed be thy name" which would definitely be "Banned by HWA" and Lake of Fire eternal damnation material.
Richard
Feeeeelngs Wo wo would feelings-nothing more than feelings
Amazing Grace vs How Lovely Are the Dwellings--No contest!
But only the ministers could sing the line: "Never been a sinner,I never sinned
What is LCG doing wasting time and money on a hymnal at a time like this? Weston is fiddling while the world burns. I never saw Weston as self-important, but maybe he feels he has to put his stamp on LCG and a revised hymnal is one way to do it.
I remember the first WCG service I attended. As I approached the rented hall, a member told me to grab a song book and find a seat. I picked up a purple hymnal, sat down and read HWA's into to the new improved version of the church hymnal. When I left the service, I was humming one of the Dwight Armstrong tunes; I think it was Not many wise men now are called.
Some years later, an old-timer was telling some of us about problems with some of the "Protestant" hymns in the past: Battle Hymn of the Republic, Onward Christian Soldiers, etc. One week songs were banned from services, another week they were permitted again.
When overseas, I found some churches altered verses of America the Beautiful - substituting their own country's name, or Israel, Ephraim, etc.
"Song book"? What was this, a church service or a singalong?
Church of Rock 'n Roll ala Spiritual
DBP
Hoss
I think those were only sung on holydays and never was tbe german anthem substituded.
Salute my friend.
Nck
Marcus McCullough got the boot and was kicked out. He was pretty harmless too.
Marcus McCullough got the boot and was kicked out. He was pretty harmless too.
The boot? What for? Everyone knew that McCullough had repented of his one big obvious sin, unlike McNair who unrepentantly lies and covets.
They used the biblical example of "suspending". You know, where they tell you that you can't come back unless you repent and confess to them, or beg for forgiveness. Can anyone explain where in the Bible where this "suspension" and confession to man are listed? Maybe this is just an example of how a cult handles things.
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