What is your favorite song in the ELBW?

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mgettel-gilmartin's picture
Submitted by mgettel-gilmartin on Mon, 09/05/2011 - 8:26pm

Because my congregation is more than half Catholic, we tend to use the Gather songbook more than the ELBW. I'd love for us to do more ELBW music.

I'm curious: what is your favorite song in the ELBW? (I'm especially curious to hear about songs that were not in the former green hymnal.)

Thanks!

Gary Schulstad's picture

"You are Holy" / "The Lord Now Sends Us Forth"

Submitted by Gary Schulstad on Tue, 09/06/2011 - 6:05am.

Per Harling's "You Are Holy" is especially uplifting when a congregation sings the different parts as marked.  For me, this song roots a worship service in both profound joy and mystery. 

Another favoriteis 538 "The Lord Now Sends Us Forth".  The line "The angels are not sent into our world of pain to do what we were meant to do in Jesus' name" is a strong, simple statement of faith set to a beautiful melody.

I am not alone in appreciating these songs either.  We sing each of these often in our Sunday worship.   

Wanda Black's picture

My favorites.

Submitted by Wanda Black on Tue, 09/06/2011 - 9:51am.

Two of my newer favorites are # 641, "All Are Welcome" and # 817 "You Have Come Down To the Lakeshore".

I love the words and the idea of the message of "All Are Welcome", that there should be no barriers to anyone being accepted in our churches. It always makes me think of Romans 8: 38-39: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." If nothing can separate me from the love of God, there should be no barriers to separate anyone else from God's love.

The wonderful message that I hear when singing "You Have Come Down To the Lakeshore" is that Christ comes to us in our workplaces and uses what we have to further God's work. We don't have to be "wise" or "wealthy",  we don't have to have a lot of treasure or WMD. Jesus takes our hand and helps us to do what needs to be done.

It is really difficult for me to "pick my favorite". I would have to list almost all of the Index of First Lines and Titles.

One last note, my alltime favorite from all of the Lutheran Hymnals that I have known in my 65 years of being a Lutheran is # 796, "How Firm A Foundation"

God bless you.