Song of the Week: “Thanks Be to God”

done

Thanks Be to God – Lead Sheet for Voice and Guitar

I lead music in three of the four chapel services we have weekly at our school: lower elementary, upper elementary and middle school (the high school, for better or for worse, is pretty much doing it on their own).

In our liturgically-starved environment, I like to bring little moments of reverence and consistency into the worship setting, and it’s surprisingly easy and well-received.

At my first-ever Anglican church experience (Church of the Resurrection, near Chicago) my then-girlfriend/now-wife, Anne led children’s church. It was an odd, yet rich and beautiful experience for me to see. One of the things I learned was how the kids were led into and out of the reading of God’s Word, with a little song – “This is the word of the Lord, thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks be to God” (before) and “Thanks be to God for the reading of His Word; thank You, God, thank You, God” (after).

For the youngest group at our school, I began using that exact tune (which I’ll post sometime, because it’s really sweet and easy for the kiddos to learn!), but for the upper elementary, I wanted something a little less sing-songy, so I created the simple tune you hear on the video above.

It’s the first of several liturgical songs I’ll post in the coming weeks. I hope you can use them or – better – be inspired to sing these ancient words with your own tune!

In His Peace,
Tom

All-school Prayer and Praise at Highlands School, La Paz

The Passion on Powerpoint

Hi. I know it’s Easter, but I wanted to share a few things I did with the high schoolers in Chapel on Good Friday. Take a little trip back to the cross with me.

As the kids came in, a silent (bilingual) presentation of Christ’s passion was playing on the screen. After that, and some singing, and then our campus pastor’s own brief testimony about what the cross means to him, I shared what the Scripture says about the cross. The above presentation is simple, and goes through the last words of Jesus on the cross. Feel free to click on it, open it, save it, edit it and use it now or next Good Friday.