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

I was visiting the States this past Fall, bopping about in my local, Charlotte, NC Cokesbury Bookstore (my favorite Christian bookstore, by the way), and I found this little treasure, which I later bought for my daughter Avery as a Christmas gift.  It’s called Come, Worship with Me by Ruth Boling It features a church full of adorable little mice, and the central character/narrator is a young mouse taking us to “come worship” with him, through all the special days of the Church year.

As we go through the Calendar, the young fellow draws us into the joy and the solemnity, the deep meaning and the simple lessons of each step through the year, and through the story of Jesus it tells.

After each page-long, beautifully illustrated “joural page”, describing ritual, song, and significance, the little mouse ends with a simple, sentence-long message: “God is near,” “Sometimes we can see God,” “We need God,” “God is alive.”  Each child-friendly summary wraps the special services of the Christian year into an easy-to-remember package that my 4-year-old (and her 36-year-old Daddy!) can chew on until the next special day.

Allow me to end with a bit of a tanget: Last night, as Avery stared at the picture of the little mouse receiving the dark gray, ashen cross on his forehead, she began urging me to do that to myself, and then to her!  As I had some ashes, after demonstrating on my own forehead, I knelt before her on the couch, and I told her, “Avery, remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return, but you will rise to life.”  She smiled and nodded, and then made me do it to her Mommy.

This morning, last night’s family service of Ash Wednesday (with its harsh reality/promise of dust and resurrection) fresh in her mind, she asked me, “Will Abby the cat rise?”

Our cat’s not even dead!  So, at first I wasn’t sure what on earth she was talking about.  I had to ask her to clarify.

“With us.  At the, um, the…”

“Resurrection?”

“Yeah, will Abby rise?”

Okay, that led to a great little discussion about animals in the new heaven and new earth, what we know and don’t know about animals, lions laying with lambs etc. etc.  But the point is, she went to bed knowing she was dust and yet somehow much more than dust.  Then, walking to school, she had eternity on the brain.  Amen.

Okay, so we’re doing our Saturday morning prayer time.  Avery says, “I have a song.”  Okeedokee, I think.  This oughta be good (as it usually is; though adopted, she has my songwriting gene).

“This is my Father’s world, so sing to Him a prayer.  The trees and bees, but we don’t know bees, so sing hallelula.  This is my Father’s work, so to tell Him all your problems.  The bees they sing, but we don’t know bees, so sing your song to the Lord.” (and of course, “Lord” is pronounced with a “w”).

And on, and on, and on.  Apparently, my theology had been devoid of the non-knowledge of bees all this time!  Thank you, daughter.