Above:  Diocesan Confirmation, Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta, Georgia, April 29, 2012

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/TheEpiscopalDioceseOfAtlantaConfirmationAtTheCathedralOfStPhilip#5736972087680723042)

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904), National Council of Congregational Churches in the United States

Words by William Henry Burleigh (1812-1871), a Connecticut-born poet, journalist, abolitionist, and feminist

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1.  Lead us, O Father, in the paths of peace;

Without thy guiding hand we go astray,

And doubts appall, and sorrows still increase;

Lead us through Christ, the true and living Way.

2.  Lead us, O Father, in the paths of truth;

Unhelped by thee, in error’s maze we grope,

While passion strains and folly dims our youth,

And age comes on uncheered by faith and hope.

3.  Lead us, O Father, in the paths of right;

Blindly we stumble when we walk alone,

Involved in shadows of a mortal night;

Only with thee we journey safely on.

4.  Lead us, O Father, to thy heavenly rest,

However rough and steep the path may be,

Through joy or sorrow, as thou deemest best,

Until our lives are perfected in thee.

Above:  Light and Shadows

Image Source = intothewoods29

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Light_on_Leaves,_Muir_Forest.JPG)

Hymn Source = Pilgrim Hymnal (1958), of the United Church of Christ

Words by Frances M. Owen (1842-1883), about whom I can find no other information

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1.  Lighten the darkness of our life’s long night,

Through which we blindly stumble to the day.

Shadows mislead us; Father, send thy light

To set our footsteps in the homeward way.

2.  Lighten the darkness of our self-conceit,

The subtle darkness that we love so well,

Which shrouds the path of wisdom from our feet,

And lulls our spirits with its baneful spell.

3.  Lighten our darkness when we bow the knee

To all the gods we ignorantly make

And worship, dreaming that we worship thee,

Till clearer light our slumbering souls awake.

4.  Lighten our darkness when we fail at last,

And in the midnight lay us down to die;

We trust to find thee when the night is past,

And daylight breaks across the morning sky.

Above:  Dedication of All Saints’ Chapel, St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia, October 31, 2010

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = Pilgrim Hymnal (1958), of the United Church of Christ

Words (1920) by George W. Briggs (1875-1959), a priest of The Church of England

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1.  For the brave of every race,

All who served and fell on sleep,

Whose forgotten resting place

Rolling years have buried deep,

Brotherhood and sisterhood

Of earth’s age-long chivalry,

Source and giver of all good,

Lord, we praise, we worship thee.

2.  Prince and peasant, bond and free,

Warriors wielding freedom’s sword,

Bold adventurers on the sea,

Faithful stewards of the word,

Toilers in the mine and mill,

Toilers at the furnace blaze,

Long forgotten, living still,

All thy servants tell thy praise.

3.  Valiantly o’er sea and land

Trod they the untrodden way,

True and faithful to command,

Swift and fearless to obey;

Strong in heart and hand and brain,

Strong, yet batting for the weak,

Recked they not of their own gain,

Their own safety scorned to seek.

4.  Evermore their life abides

Who have lived t do thy will;

High above the restless tides

Stands their city on the hill;

Lord and light of every age,

By thy same sure counsel led,

Heirs of their great heritage,

In their footsteps we will trod.

Above:  Dedication of All Saints’ Chapel, St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia, October 31, 2010

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = Pilgrim Hymnal (1958), of the United Church of Christ

Words (1912) by William George Tarrant (1853-1928), an English Unitarian minister; text based on Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 44:1-7

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1.  Now praise we great and famous men,

The fathers named in story;

And praise the Lord, who now as then

Reveals in man his glory.

2.  Praise we the brave and strong,

Who graced their generation,

Who helped the right, and fought the wrong,

And made our folk a nation.

3.  Praise we the great of heart and mind,

The singers sweetly gifted,

Whose music like a mighty wind

The souls of men uplifted.

4.  Praise we the peaceful men of skill,

Who builded homes of beauty,

And, rich in art, made richer still

The brotherhood of duty.

Above:  Episcopal Church of the Common Ground, Atlanta, Georgia, February 22, 2012

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/ChurchOfTheCommonGroundMorningPrayer#5711981715117232258)

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904), National Council of Congregational Churches in the United States

Words (1892) by Lucy Larcom (1826-1893), a Massachusetts-born poet

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Before Morning Prayer, February 22, 2012

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/ChurchOfTheCommonGroundMorningPrayer#5711981555708393522)

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1.  Draw thou my soul, O Christ,

Closer to thine;

Breathe into every wish

Thy will divine;

Raised my low self above,

Won by thy deathless love,

Ever, O Christ, through mine

Let thy life shine.

2.  Lead forth my soul, O Christ,

One with thine own,

Joyful to follow thee

Through paths unknown;

In thee my strength renew;

Give me thy work to do;

Through me thy truth be shown,

Thy love made known.

3.  Not for myself alone

May my prayer be;

Lift thou thy world, O Christ,

Closer to thee;

Cleanse it from guilt and wrong;

Teach it salvation’s song,

Till earth, as heaven, fulfill

God’s holy will.

Above:  Members of the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, Atlanta, Georgia, Volunteering at the Peachtree Pine Men’s Shelter, Atlanta

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/ChurchOfTheEpiphanyAtPeachtreePineShelter#5734725694034815746)

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1931/1935), U.S. Congregationalist

Words by Thomas Benson Pollock (1836-1896); he studied medicine yet choose the priesthood over a career as an M.D.; he, a high-church priest in The Church of England, spent most of his life working among the poor in Birmingham; he also composed at least twelve hymns and translated at least three more

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1.  Jesus, with thy Church abide;

Be her savior, lord, and guide,

While on earth her faith is tried.

We beseech thee, hear us.

2.  May she guide the poor and blind,

Seek the lost until she find,

And the brokenhearted bind.

We beseech thee, hear us.

3.  May her scattered children be

From reproach of evil free,

Blameless witnesses for thee.

We beseech thee, hear us.

4.  May she one in doctrine be,

One in truth and charity,

Winning all to faith in thee.

We beseech thee, hear us.

5.  May she holy triumphs win,

Overthrow the hosts of sin,

Gather all the nations in.

We beseech thee, hear us.

Above:  Episcopal Church of the Common Ground, Atlanta, Georgia, Pentecost Sunday, May 28, 2012

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = The Hymnbook (1955), Presbyterian and Reformed

Words (1919) by the Reverend Calvin Weiss Laufer (1874-1938), a minister of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (1869-1958 version) and Assistant Editor of its 1933 Hymnal  (I have a copy.)

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1.  We thank thee, Lord, thy paths of service lead

To blazoned heights and down the slopes of need;

They reach thy throne, encompass land and sea,

And he who journeys in them walks with thee.

2.  We’ve sought and found thee in the secret place

And marveled at the radiance of thy face;

But often in some far-off Galilee

Beheld thee fairer yet while serving thee.

3.  We’ve felt thy touch in sorrow’s darkened way

Abound with love and solace for the day;

And, ‘neath the burdens there, thy sovereignty

Has held our hearts enthralled while serving thee.

4.  We’ve seen thy glory like a mantle spread

O’er hill and dale in saffron flame and red;

But in the eyes of men, redeemed and free,

A splendor greater yet while serving thee.

Above:  Wedding Rings

Image Source = Jeff Belmonte from Cuiaba, Brazil

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wedding_rings.jpg)

Hymn Source = Pilgrim Hymnal (1958), of the United Church of Christ

Words (1883), by Dorothy Frances Gurney (1858-1932), wife a priest of The Church of England; both converted to Roman Catholicism in 1919

http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2014/01/10/feast-of-dorothy-frances-blomfield-gurney-june-14/

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1.  O perfect Love, all human thought transcending,

Lowly we kneel in prayer before thy throne,

That theirs be the love which knows no ending,

Whom thou forevermore dost join in one.

2.  O perfect Life, be thou their full assurance

Of tender charity and steadfast faith,

Of patient hope, and quiet, brave endurance,

With childlike trust that fears nor pain nor death.

3.  Grant them the joy which brightens earthly sorrow;

Grant them the peace which calms all earthly strife,

And to life’s day the glorious unknown morrow

That dawns upon eternal love and death.

Above:  St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Good Friday, April 6, 2012

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/GoodFridayLiturgyStPaulS#5731036241979569762)

Hymn Source = Pilgrim Hymnal (1958), of the United Church of Christ

Words (published in 1904) by Ada R. Greenaway (1861-1937)

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1.  O word of pity, for our pardon pleading,

Breathed in the hour of loneliness and pain;

O voice, which, through the ages interceding,

Calls us to fellowship with God again;

2.  O word of comfort, through the silence stealing,

As the dread act of sacrifice began;

O infinite compassion, still revealing

The infinite forgiveness won for man;

O word of hope, to raise us nearer heaven,

When courage fails us, and when faith is dim;

The souls for whom Christ prays to Christ are given,

To find their pardon and their joy in him.

4.  O Intercessor, who art ever living

To plead for dying souls that they may live,

Teach us to know our sin which needs forgiving,

Teach us to know the love which can forgive.

Above:  St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, Dunwoody, Georgia, May 27, 2012

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/BishopWhitmoreVisitsStPatrickSDunwoodyForPentecost#5747364087208522866)

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904), National Council of Congregational Churches in the United States

Words (1867) by Edward Rowland Sill (1841-1887), a poet

A biography of Sill:  http://gstrecker.iweb.bsu.edu/sill.htm

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1.  Send down thy truth, O God,

Too long the shadows frown!

Too long the darkened way we’ve trod:

Thy truth, O Lord, send down!

2.  Send down thy Spirit free

Till wilderness and town

One temple for thy worship be:

Thy Spirit, O send down!

3.  Send down thy love, thy life,

Our lesser lives to crown,

And cleanse them of their hate and strife:

Thy living love send down!

4.  Send down thy peace, O Lord,

Earth’s bitter voices drown

In one deep ocean of accord:

Thy peace, O God, send down!