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Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

b. 1961 Scripture: Deuteronomy 15:11 Author of "When Mary Poured a Rich Perfume" in Songs of Grace Carolyn Winfrey Gillette has been a pastor in rural, small town, suburban, and city churches; she has also served as a hospice chaplain, a hospital chaplain, and a school bus aide helping children with special needs. She and her husband Bruce are pastors of the First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego, NY. Carolyn is a gifted hymn writer who has written over 400 hymns. These hymns have been sung by congregations throughout the United States and around the world — from the Washington National Cathedral to St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland to St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa to small town churches and small household congregations; they have also been sung at national church and international ecumenical meetings. She has written four books: "I Sing to My Savior: New Hymns from the Stories in Luke's Gospel", "God's World is Changing: New Hymns for Advent and Christmas", "Gifts of Love: New Hymns for Today's Worship" (Geneva Press) and "Songs of Grace: New Hymns for God and Neighbo"r (Upper Room Books). Her hymns have been published in over 20 books. Two of her hymns have been published by the Choristers Guild as anthems. Carolyn was commissioned to write the lead article for the special issue on "Singing Our Lives" for Baylor University's "Christian Reflectio"n journal. Her hymns have also been in "Call to Worship" journal, "The Chorister" (cover story), "Reformed Worship," "The Presbyterian Outlook" and posted on thousands of web sites. All of her hymns can be found on her website with indices to scriptural references, topics, tunes, and the three-year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary: http://www.carolynshymns.com The World Council of Churches, National Council of Churches, Church World Service and Churches Uniting in Christ have asked her to write hymns. Habitat for Humanity International used a hymn by Carolyn for their 30th anniversary celebration. Family Promise (Interfaith Hospitality Network) did a music video of her hymn for their ministry with homeless families. The Humane Society of the United States did a music video contest of her hymn for their Blessing of the Animals service. The Presbyterian Church (USA) 216th General Assembly presented her with the "Ecumenical and Interreligious Service Recognition." Sojourners did a short video about her hymn writing. A Canadian scholar wrote her biography for the "Cambridge Dictionary for Hymnology." Feature stories about Carolyn's hymns addressing concerns facing the Church, nation and world, were done by The New Yorker, The Christian Century, America, National Public Radio, national PBS-TV, and newspapers (Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post, New Jersey Courier Post, Delaware News Journal, and others). Carolyn is a graduate of Lebanon Valley College and Princeton Theological Seminary. She finds joy in parish ministry, hymn writing, and most of all in her family as a wife, mother (and foster mother), grandmother, sister, and human parent to a rescue dog, "Annie." Carolyn sees her hymn writing as a partnership and is very grateful for prayers for her hymn writing, suggestions for hymns, gifts for hymn use and commissions, and invitations to speak at conferences, workshops, and church gatherings (in person and online). She hopes her hymns nurture people in their discipleship and support churches in their worship and service in the world. Sing to the Lord a new song! Copied from "About the Author" in "I Sing to My Savior: New Hymns from the Stories in Luke's Gospel." Email from Bruce Gillette

William Crosswell

1804 - 1851 Person Name: Rev. William Croswell (1804-1851) Scripture: Deuteronomy 15:11 Author of "The Poor always with you" in Many Voices; or, Carmina Sanctorum, Evangelistic Edition with Tunes Crosswell, William, D.D., was born at Hudson, N.Y., Nov. 7, 1804; graduated at Yale College, 1822; entered for a time upon law studies, but eventually he entered Hartford College as a Theological Student, and then took Holy Orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1829. In 1829 he became Rector of Christ Church, Boston; in 1840, of St. Peter's, Auburn, New York; and in 1844, of the Church of the Advent, Boston. Died suddenly at Boston, Nov. 9, 1851. Whilst at Hartford he assisted, during 1827-28, in editing The Watchman, and contributed to it many of his poetical pieces. His Memoir was written by his father, the Rev. Dr. Crosswell, of New Haven; and his Poems, collected by his father, were edited, with a short Memoir, by Dr. (now Bishop) Coxe, and published at Boston in 1800. Of his hymns the folowing are in common use:— 1. Lord, go with us, and we go. Journeying. This in Hymns for the Church and Home, 1860, No. 212, is a portion of his "Traveller's Hymn," first published in 1833. Concerning it Dr. Coxe says, "When on a journey with him, I reminded him of his 'Traveller's Hymn,' which I had seen but could not remember; and he told me, if I recollect aright, that it was a sort of Impromptu, which bubbled up when he was going with Dr. Wainwright from Boston to New York to attend the General Convention" (Memoir, p. xlii.); and in his notes, p. 282, he indirectly fixes the date of composition as 1832. Orig. text in 2 stanzas of 8 lines, in Poems, p. 255. 2. Lord, lead the way the Saviour went. For Sisters of Mercy. Written in 1831 for the Howard Benevolent Society of Boston. Dr. Coxe has entitled it "Hymn forSisters of Mercy," and says he "ventured to give it a name suited to the present state of the Church, in which Deaconesses and Sisters of Mercy are among other realizations of the poet's ardent hopes. Perhaps we owe them to his faithful prayers." (Notes to the Poems, p. 283.) It is generally accepted as the best American hymn for benevolent occasions. Original text, Poems, p. 256. 3. Now gird your patient loins again. Advent. This hymn for Advent is in 3 stanzas of 4 lines. Poems, p. 209; Hymns for Church and Home, No. 55. 4. 0 Saviour, leave us not alone. Lent. This is from his hymn for Lent beginning, "Thou who, for forty days and nights," in 4 stanzas of 4 double lines. In its abbreviated form it is found in Hymns for Church and Home, No. 85. Original in Poems, p. 219, in 4 stanzas of 4 double lines. 5. We come not with a costly store. Epiphany. For the Epiphany, from his Poems, p. 215, and based upon the Gospel of the day, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines. 6. And now the solemn rite is past. Ordination. This is composed of stanzas vii., viii. of his poem, "The Ordinal," in Poems, pp. 69-71, slightly altered. "The Ordinal" was written in 1828, and describes minutely his own ordination at his father's church, at New Haven, and the feel¬ings inspired, by the solemnity. It was printed in The Watchman, 1828. (Poems, Preface, p. xxvii.) The portion given as "And now the solemn rite is past" was included in Hall's Mitre, 1836. Dr. Crosswell also translated the "Veni, Creator Spiritus" as "Creator, Spirit, come and bless us." His hymns are mostly unknown to the English collections. [Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================= Crosswell, W., p. 269, ii. On the title-page of his Poems, 1861, this author is given as W. Croswell, and the best authorities are in favour of this spelling of the name. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

Rory Cooney

b. 1952 Person Name: Rory Cooney, b. 1952 Scripture: Deuteronomy 15 Author of "The Trumpet in the Morning" in Gather Comprehensive, Second Edition

B. F. White

1800 - 1879 Person Name: B. F. White, 1800-1879 Scripture: Deuteronomy 15 Composer of "MORNING TRUMPET" in Gather Comprehensive, Second Edition Benjamin F. White (b. Spartanburg, SC, 1800; d. Atlanta, GA, 1879), was coeditor of The Sacred Harp (1844). He came from a family of fourteen children and was largely self-taught. Eventually White became a popular singing-school teacher and editor of the weekly Harris County newspaper. Bert Polman

Graham Kendrick

b. 1950 Person Name: Graham Kendrick, b. 1950 Scripture: Deuteronomy 15:7 Author of "God of the poor" in Singing the Faith Graham Kendrick (b. England, August 2, 1950), the son of a Baptist minister in Northamptonshire, is one of the most prolific Christian singer-songwriters in the United Kingdom. He’s written music for over thirty years, and to date has released thirty-eight albums. He is best known for his songs “Shine, Jesus, Shine,” “Knowing You,” and “The Servant King.” Kendrick has received honorary doctorates in divinity from Brunel University and Wycliffe College. In 1987 he helped co-found the March for Jesus, which today is a global phenomenon in which Christians take their faith to the streets in a celebration of Christ. In 1995 Kendrick received a Dove Award for his international work, and he remains an active advocate for Compassion International, which is a Christian child sponsorship organization dedicated to the long-term development of children living in poverty around the world, and also is a contributor to CompassionArt, an organization with the aim of generating income from works of art to assist in the relief of suffering around the planet. Laura de Jong

Fred Pratt Green

1903 - 2000 Person Name: Fred Pratt Green (1903-) Scripture: Deuteronomy 15:7-11 Author of "For the Fruit of All Creation" in Common Praise (1998) The name of the Rev. F. Pratt Green is one of the best-known of the contemporary school of hymnwriters in the British Isles. His name and writings appear in practically every new hymnal and "hymn supplement" wherever English is spoken and sung. And now they are appearing in American hymnals, poetry magazines, and anthologies. Mr. Green was born in Liverpool, England, in 1903. Ordained in the British Methodist ministry, he has been pastor and district superintendent in Brighton and York, and now served in Norwich. There he continued to write new hymns "that fill the gap between the hymns of the first part of this century and the 'far-out' compositions that have crowded into some churches in the last decade or more." --Seven New Hymns of Hope , 1971. Used by permission.

Georgia Elma Harkness

1891 - 1974 Person Name: Georgia Harkness Scripture: Deuteronomy 15:7-8 Author of "God of the Fertile Fields" in Voices Together Georgia Elma Harkness (1891-1974), first woman to teach theology in an American seminary, was once a household name, but few today know who she is–and all of her writings are out of print. We need to recover the work of this neglected theologian for the life of the church today. Born 21 April 1891, Harkness was the youngest of four children born to Joseph Warren Harkness and Lillie Merrill Harkness. She was born in Harkness, NY, a town in the Adirondacks named for her grandfather. A Methodist, she was personally converted in a revival as a teenager, and sensed a calling to serve the church. Her family was upper middle class and progressive, thereby giving her opportunities for education beyond what was available to most girls and women of her era. Avoiding the women’s colleges, she earned a B.A. (philosophy) from Cornell University in 1912. In a later age, Harkness would probably have gone straight to a seminary and training for the ministry, but seminaries did not admit women as regular, degree-seeking, students and ordained women were very rare. Harkness intended to volunteer for overseas mission work after her graduation from Cornell, but family problems prevented this. She taught high school for six (6) years, but was restless. She wanted to do more to serve the church and she wanted to pursue studies in theology. So, she went to Boston University (related to the Methodists). Denied entrance because of her sex to BU’s School of Theology, she matriculated in the Department of Religion of the Graduate School and earned a Ph.D. in philosophy of religion in 1923 with a dissertation entitled, ”The Relations Between Philosophy of Religion and Ethics in the Thought of Thomas Hill Green.” (Green (1836-1882), was a liberal British Idealist philosopher and social reformer who died 10 years before Harkness’ birth. ) For the next 15 years, Harkness taught courses in religion and philosophy at Elmira College in Elmira, NY–at the time a women’s college, but now co-educational. During summers and sabbatical leaves, Harkness continued her theological education by attending Harvard Divinity School, Yale Divinity School, and Union Theological Seminary (NY) always with the status of “special” (non-degree) student. In 1926, she was ordained by the Methodist Church (later part of the United Methodist Church), but, along with all other women, she was not admitted to any Conference (and, thus, could not function as a minister) until 1956. From 1937 to 1940, Harkness was Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Mount Holyoke College in Massachussetts and from 1940-1949, she was Professor of Applied Theology at Garrett Biblical Institute near Chicago, IL. Garrett Biblical Institute, now known as Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, is a post-baccalaureate Methodist theological seminary whose main mission is the preparation of divinity students for ordained ministry. Harkness was the first woman hired to teach theology at any seminary in the U.S. Today, the Chair of Applied Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary is known as the Georgia Harkness Chair of Applied Theology. Harkness ended her active teaching ministry at The Pacific School of Religion, an ecumenical seminary related to the United Church of Christ outside of San Francisco,CA. She was Professor of Applied Theology at PSR from 1949 until her retirement in 1960. Her early interests in global missions and in global and ecumenical Christianity never left Harkness. Unable to be a missionary herself, Harkness did support work for Methodist global missions, including writing materials for them, especially the Methodist Board of World Peace and and the Board of Social and Economic Relations. After World War II, Harkness also did much to support the global ecumenical work of the World Council of Churches, serving on both the Faith and Order and Church and World Commissions. Her hymn, “The Hope of the World,” was chosen by the Hymn Society of America (now the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada) for the Second global meeting of the World Council of Churches which was held in Evanston, IL in 1954 and had as it’s theme, “Christ, the Hope of the World.” Harkness had previously played key roles in the Life and Work conference at Oxford (1937), and at the first assembly of the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam, 1948. In the 1957-1958 school year, Harkness served as Visiting Professor at both the International Christian University in Japan and the ecumenical Union Theological Seminary, Manila, the Philippines. This pioneer for women in ministry and early feminist theologian usually was irenic and balanced in her approach to such matters. Living in a very patriarchal and sexist era, she knew the dangers of appearing to male-dominated structures as “shrill,” or “strident,” in her advocacy of equality, and so was quick to praise opening or partial steps even while continuing to push for full gender equality in home, church, and society. Typical of Harkness’ approach on these matters, she advocated equal ordination and ministry for decades, but when the 1956 Methodist meeting in Minneapolis opened the door for full pastoral ministry for women, Harkness let younger female colleagues take the lead in advocating for the motion on the floor. However, her caution did not mean timidity, for at the World Council of Churches in 1948, Harkness openly confronted Karl Barth himself on his theology of female subordination! Though Barth’s influence intimidated many, Harkness refuted him point-by-point in open debate and the great man’s startled reaction showed that he was completely unused to confronting strong, independent women! (A year later, when someone mentioned the event to him, Barth replied, “Remember me not of that woman!”) Harkness wrote over 30 books in her lifetime. She dealt with numerous theological subjects: Christian ethics, social concern in global contexts, equality of the sexes, racial equality and integration (though she was not an active participant in the Civil Rights struggle, she openly supported its goals and there was much personal correspondence between Harkness and African America leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Howard Thurman), the nature of the church, a study from her own Wesleyan Methodist perspective of Calvin’s ethics, prayer and the life of devotion, mysticism, the Holy Spirit, eschatology (partially anticipating themes later made more prominent by Wolfhart Pannenberg and Jürgen Moltmann), the relation of religion to philosophy and to science, secularism (which she saw as more of a challenge than a reason to celebrate, contrasting with the early work of Harvey Cox), and apologetics. Concerned to be understood by a wide audience, Harkness wrote with clarity and a refusal to cloak her thought in academic obscurantism (which led her critics to charge her with a lack of depth or profundity), but always a wide awareness of the history of Christian thought and of current trends on the global scene. She characterized her theological perspective as that of a “chastened liberalism.” She had been raised in the optimism of the late 19th C., been educated in the traditions of Idealism and Borden Parker Bowne’s “Boston Personalism,” as well as the Social Gospel. Even after World War I and into the Great Depression, Harkness could declare her faith in human moral progress, her strong pacifism, and rejoice that belief in Original Sin was disappearing. “The faster it goes, the better,” she remarked to The Christian Century. Yet she interacted with the rise of Neoorthodoxy in the perspectives of Barth, Brunner, Suzanne de Dietrich, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Paul Tillich. On the eve of the Second World War, Harkness called on liberal Protestantism to recall the meaning of the cross and the power of the resurrection. Not surrendering her pacifism, she stated that although she remained committed to liberalism, “it was a chastened and deepened liberalism.” Human moral progress was possible, but did not follow an evolutionary certainty, and was dependant always on the grace of God. She still considered traditional formulations of original sin to be problematic, but recognized anew the power of sin in both individuals and social structures. Harkness’ books are entirely out of print and the influence she once had is largely eclipsed, even among contemporary feminist theologians. Yet the Chair of Applied Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary is named for her and so is a scholarship for women ministry students over 30 at Pacific School of Religion. The church historian Rosemary Skinner Keller wrote a secondary study of Harkness, Georgia Harkness: For Such a Time as This (Abingdon Press, 1992) and in the Doctrine volume of his 3-part Systematic Theology, James Wm. McClendon lists Harkness (along with Walter Rauschenbusch, E.Y. Mullins, D.C. MacIntosh, W.T. Conner, and Dale Moody) as among the guiding forerunners of his approach. Rebekah Miles, Professor of Ethics at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology, has just edited a reader of Harkness’ early essays, Georgia Harkness: The Remaking of a Liberal Theologian (Westminster/John Knox Press, 2010). Miles had previously written a biographical and theological sketch of Harkness as a chapter in Makers of Christian Theology in America, ed., Mark Toulouse and James Duke (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1997). --pilgrimpathways.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/

Felice Giardini

1716 - 1796 Person Name: Felice de Giardini Scripture: Deuteronomy 15:7-8 Composer of "ITALIAN HYMN" in Voices Together Felice Giardini, born in Italy. When young, he studied singing, harpsichord, and violin. He became a composer and violin virtuoso. By age 12 he was playing in theatre orchestras. His most instructive lesson: While playing a solo passage during an opera, he decided to show off his skills by improvising several bravura variations that the composer, Jommelli, had not written . Although the audience applauded loudly, Jomelli, who happened to be there, went up and slapped Giardini in the face. He learned a lesson from that. He toured Europe as a violinist, considered one of the greatest musical artists of his time. He served as orchestra leader and director of the Italian Opera in London, giving concerts. He tried to run a theatre in Naples, but encountered adversity. He went to Russia, but had little fortune there, where he died. John Perry

John Barnard

b. 1948 Person Name: John Barnard (b. 1948) Scripture: Deuteronomy 15:7 Arranger of "[Beauty for brokenness, hope for despair]" in Ancient and Modern

George Bradford Caird

1917 - 1984 Person Name: George B. Caird, 1917-1984 Scripture: Deuteronomy 15:7-11 Author of "Almighty Father, who for us thy son didst give" in Common Praise George Bradford Caird (17 July 1917 – 21 April 1984), D.Phil., D.D., FBA, was a British churchman, theologian, humanitarian, and biblical scholar. At the time of his death he was Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford. Born in London, England to parents from Dundee, Scotland, George Caird's early years were spent in Birmingham, England, where his father was a construction engineer, and where he attended King Edward's School. His university education began at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he received the B.A. in 1939, First-Class Honours in both parts of the Classical Tripos, with distinction in Greek and Latin verse. A lifelong Congregationalist, he then left Cambridge to study theology at Mansfield College, Oxford, and acquired the Oxford M.A., First-Class Honours, in 1943. In 1944 he was granted the Oxford D.Phil. for his thesis "The New Testament Conception of Doxa (Glory)". After serving three years as a pastor in Highgate, London, in 1946 Caird and his young bride, Viola Mary Newport, known to all as "Mollie," pulled up stakes and left for Canada. Virtually fluent in ancient Hebrew, there he was quickly made Professor of Old Testament at St. Stephen's College, Edmonton, Alberta, and later (simultaneously) Professor of New Testament at McGill University and Principal of the United Theological College of Montreal. In 1959 Caird returned to Oxford and the Congregationalist stronghold of Mansfield College, where he was first Senior Tutor (under John Marsh) and later Principal (1970–1977). Because he was non-Church of England, and because Mansfield was still a Permanent Private Hall and had not yet achieved status as a constituent College of the University (see Colleges of the University of Oxford) during this period (1969–1977), Caird was barred from holding an official university lectureship. However, as a compensation he was granted the honorary position of Reader (academic rank) in Biblical Studies, a status somewhere between Senior Lecturer and Professor. And whenever he lectured on the New Testament at Mansfield, students from all over the university came and filled the large lecture hall to capacity. According to Henry Chadwick, "He lectured as he preached, almost always without a note . . . with nothing before him but a Greek New Testament, usually upside down, for he knew the text by heart". In 1975-1976 Caird took on almost full-time administration, serving as Moderator of the United Reformed Church, and during his tenure he visited South Africa. His work in the fields of Old and New Testament (he remains one of the few modern biblical interpreters to have held chairs in both) led to four honorary doctorates (including the Oxford D.D.), election to the British Academy (and the granting of its Burkitt Medal for Biblical Studies), and appointment to be the Dean Ireland's Professor and Professorial Fellow at The Queen's College, Oxford. In 1980 he won the Collins Religious Book Award for his work The Language and Imagery of the Bible. His final years involved biblical translation as a member of the translation panel of The Revised English Bible, as previously he had been a translator of The New English Bible's Apocrypha. He also co-edited (with Henry Chadwick ) Oxford's The Journal of Theological Studies from 1977-1984. In his lifetime he wrote nearly sixty articles, over a hundred book reviews, and six books. Following his resignation as Principal of Mansfield and his taking up of the Dean Ireland's chair, the Cairds left Oxford and moved into the sixteenth century thatched-roof "Brook Cottage" at Letcombe Regis, next to Wantage, Oxfordshire, seventeen miles southwest of Oxford. There they converted the cottage's back storeroom into "the Dusty" - a study for Caird to write in during his imminent retirement; it was there that he was working on his seventh major work, New Testament Theology, when he was felled by a heart attack on Easter Eve, 1984. His funeral was held in Mansfield College Chapel on 28 April, with Principal Donald Sykes delivering the eulogy; a memorial celebration was later conducted (13 October) in Great St. Mary's Church, Oxford, with his close friend Henry Chadwick delivering the address. A Festschrift was at the time in the works, which was subsequently converted into a memorial volume, The Glory of Christ in the New Testament: Studies in Christology in Memory of George Bradford Caird, edited by two of his students, Lincoln Hurst (L. D. Hurst) and Tom Wright (N. T. Wright), and published by Oxford University Press in late 1987. Shortly after his death, some quick decisions needed to be made, particularly that involving his half-completed New Testament Theology; accordingly, Hurst was appointed Caird's Literary Executor. In addition, his children (see below) set up a foundation, The G. B. Caird Memorial Trust, the proceeds from which might enable (successfully, as it turned out) a new senior position to be set up in his name at Mansfield College: the G. B. Caird Fellow in New Testament Theology. It is currently occupied by Dr. John Muddiman. Caird's academic legacy is also seen in that during the course of his career he taught numerous people who went on to garner serious scholarly attention. These include Marcus Borg, Colin Gunton, Lincoln Hurst, David P. Moessner, John Muddiman, Allison Trites, Francis Watson, and N. T. Wright. According to British Old Testament scholar James Barr, Caird was sometimes "practically adored" by students. While to some Caird could appear austere, even intimidating, "he was in fact full of fun and humour". In his leisure time he enjoyed (most famously) bird-watching, croquet, snooker, music, theatre, reading mysteries, ping pong, chess, and all forms of puzzles — especially the crossword and jigsaw variety. Music in particular occupied his time: it "was important to him, and he wrote several hymns, some of which were included within standard hymnals such as Congregational Praise and Hymns Ancient and Modern". He and Mollie had four children: James, Margaret (Meg) Laing, John, and George (Geordie). To Caird the home was never just a house: it was a bastion of the family - a center of games, poetry, music, and other cultural activity, where he was, according to Henry Chadwick, "sublimely happy . . . it was a microcosm of vigorous debate and breathtaking wit, sparkling with his wife and his three sons and his daughter, whose gifts were a source of deep joy for him. From Mollie he caught his love for bird-watching, and from his children he loved to learn about architecture [James], drama [John], music [Geordie], and medieval philology [Meg]". Also, "no picture of George would be right which omitted his intense affection for his grandchildren." --en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ (excerpts)