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Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: O Living Bread from Heaven | AURELIA

We continued this week in the lectionary hearing Jesus speak more in metaphor about being the bread of life. As is often in his parables, these stories have multiple meanings beyond just what they appear. As Rev. Anne said in her sermon on Sunday, this week was about “provision for the future with grace upon grace upon grace.” It is this kind of grace that this hymn text is directly about. The tune we sing here, Aurelia, is familiar to us. It is that tune that we most often sing to the hymn “The Church’s One Foundation.” As is so often the case with these different text and tune pairings, familiar music allows us to sing new text with clarity and vision to the message of the text. Hopefully this week’s pairing allows you to pray deeper about Jesus as the bread of life. As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.

Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: My God, Thy Table Now is Spread | ROCKINGHAM

Written by Philip Doddridge and Isaac Watts, this text encompasses much from both the lessons and the Sermon this past Sunday. In the Gospel from last week, we heard the “I am the bread of life” parable. With Christ as the bread of life, we are drawn to the table to fed in love and send forth to share the bread of love with the world. The tune, ROCKINGHAM is a well-loved hymn tune. In addition to this text, we often sing this tune to another Isaac Watts tune: “When I survey the Wondrous Cross.” As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.

Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: O Love of God, How Strong and True | DE TAR

Written by Horatius Bonar, the text of this hymn beautifully encapsulates much of the lessons from Sunday as well as Rev. Anne’s sermon. The text explores the mysteries of God that are beyond our understanding such that we are only left with faith as we see these mysteries play out in our lives. We sang a different tune to this text on Sunday. De Tar, written by Calvin Hampton, represents a uniquely American contribution to hymnody. Yes, he was an Episcopalian, but this tune has transcended our denomination and this tune has wide support from across the broader church. Hampton was a leading musician in New York city throughout his life. From 1963-1983, he was Organist and Choirmaster at Calvary Episcopal Church in Gramercy Park, NYC. His untimely death in 1984 at the age of 45, due to complications of AIDS, brought awareness of the disease in much of the Episcopal Church. Hampton’s life may have been short, but we continue to be recipients of much of his musical output as the church continues to sing his music. As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.

Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: Thine Arm, O Lord | ST. MATTHEW

While taken from our hymnal, The Hymnal 1982, this tune and text are not commonly sung in the Episcopal Church, though are more common in the Church of England. In The New English Hymnal, this tune appears two times. Written by William Croft, this tune is quintessentially English. Croft was a well-respected 18th century musician having succeeded Jeremiah Clarke and John Blow as Organist at Westminster Abbey. Edward H. Plumptre was an Oxford educated priest and biblical scholar. While this text is not as familiar as “Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart,” it is full of imagery describing a healing and loving God that Rev. Gethin Wied spoke of in his Sermon on Sunday. Check our web page for the full sermon. The second verse refers to a town that we don’t often talk about in hymnody. Gennesaret was a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.

Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: Have no Fear, Little Flock | LITTLE FLOCK

The latter half of the 20th century saw many changes in the church, including in music. Spurred by linguistic changes, cultural changes and in part by the decisions of Vatican II, music in the church experienced an explosion of new hymnody. This hymn, written in 1971, is an example of that explosion in hymnody. While this hymn by Heinz Werner Zimmerman with additional text by Marjorie Jilson has only appeared in 9 hymnals, it’s lighthearted tune pairs well with the text to set an atmosphere of that alleviates fear. Rather than speak volumes of theology, this hymn invites us to relax, set fear aside, and to trust the Good Shepherd to carry us through. To put this little hymn in fuller context, be sure to listen to Rev. Dr. Michelle Baker-Wright’s sermon from Sunday. As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.

Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: There’s a Sweet, Sweet Spirit | SWEET SWEET SPIRIT

This hymn formed a significant portion of Susanne Wright-Nava’s sermon from this past weekend. That sermon can be found on our webpage: www.sjcsp.org. Doris Akers is the author and composer of this well beloved Gospel hymn. She is one of the best known Gospel hymn writers of her generation. Born in Missouri, she spent 25 years of her life here in Los Angeles and was director of the Sky Pilot Choir. This spiritual was written in 1962 during her time in Los Angeles. As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.

Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: Father, We Thank Thee Who Hast Planted | RENDEZ À DIEU

This week’s hymn meditation picks up on the Gospel’s themes this week of being planted to grow. Jesus tells the parable of the seed that’s planted and grows despite the person doing the planting not fully understanding how the seed grows into a plant. Such is our life lived through faith and trust in Jesus. We are seeds that have been planted and are constantly growing in our faith and life. From seed scattered and grown to feed us in holy communion to the seeds that are daily growth, we, like all of nature around us, are God’s own. As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.

Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: In Christ There Is No East or West | McKEE

This simple and short hymn meditation this week gets to the core of this week’s Gospel message: no matter who, what or where you are, you are a part of God’s beloved family through Jesus Christ. Sometimes the lectionary fits beautifully into our common life. We celebrated our graduates this past Sunday and this overarching Gospel theme is a reminder to all our graduates that no matter where you are, you are a part of the St. James' family and God’s broader family. The author of this text, John Oxenham was an English poet, novelist, journalist and hymn writer. The name used for this text, however, is a pen name for William Arthur Dunkerley. In addition to his writing, he was a Deacon and later in life entered politics, serving as mayor of Worthington in Sussex, England. As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.