Once again the blogosphere is interesting... I'm in the process of trying to put together our community chapel service for next Tuesday (yes, this should have been done a week ago, but I'm way behind already). A song we sang at liturgy several Sundays ago keeps returning to me, and it fits (I think!) with the text I'm working with. The song, entitled "All Are Welcome" by Marty Haugen, has some beautiful words in it, and rather than trying to type them all out for my meditation this weekend from the hymnal, I thought I'd surf the web for a few minutes to see if someone else had already typed them out. Of course, several people have. And in the process, I found some fairly vitriolic rants against the song (at Victor Lam's blog, as well as at the Carite Dei blog), as well as an interesting use of it paired with a children's drawing in a sermon in a church in Edinburgh. You can find the words at the Edinburgh site, below the picture. The rants made me wonder to what extent the music (that is, the melody) had been part of their reaction, because the words are only part of the song. Not all hymns are poetry by themselves, and these melodies (like much of Haugen's stuff) are fairly flowing and contemporary.
Posted by hessma at September 18, 2003 04:09 PMLike you, I was googling for the words to "all are welcome" when I came across your post and the screeds you referenced.
I think the level of their vitriol is interesting, to say the least. It's one thing to not like a hymn, this hymn strikes a deep chord in them.
Hmmm. I think it must be right on target. I LIKE it.
Remember, it was only the false prophets who were welcomed, and those most certain of themselves in scripture were consistently obstacles to the gospel.
Bob Chell
Posted by: Bob Chell at October 17, 2003 02:44 PMTo be truthful, this is the song of the same title I was searching for. I trust it will be equally offensive. I like it too—especially the words.
Bob Chell
http://www.dakotaroadmusic.com/AllAreWelcome.mp3
Posted by: Bob Chell at October 17, 2003 02:54 PMFollow your dreams, you can reach your goals.
Posted by: felicia at May 12, 2006 04:40 AMI am searching (in vain, thus far) for the history of "Gather Us In." We are focusing on one hymn per month and I have searched everywhere online that I can think of for some background information on how this hymn "came to be." Any help out there? Rev. Terrye Williams
Note: pleases send to my email address.
Posted by: Terrye Williams at June 18, 2006 07:16 AM