narrow-minded has left a new comment on your post "Comments on Contemptible Worship - CoWo For Short":
"There is a difference between offending someone through the preaching of law and gospel and making the experience of Lutheran worship unpleasant by forcing someone to experience hymn singing for the first time at a wedding." (Please note the use of the word "experience" twice in this sentence) Please respond, Joel, as to what would be an appropriate time to introduce someone to the "experience" of Lutheran hymnody. Would it be on Friendship Sunday, where we omit the Lord's Supper to avoid causing offense?
"There are wedding songs not found in our hymnal that do a really good job of proclaiming a correct understanding of Christian marriage." Could you provide some examples, Joel, of appropriate wedding hymns not found in a Lutheran hymnal?
Here are some marriage hymns found in my obsolete TLH that will each be posted separately:
"Lord, Who at Cana's Wedding-Feast"
by St. 1, 3, Adelaide Thrupp, 19th century
St. 2, Godfrey Thring, 1823-1903
1. Lord, who at Cana's wedding-feast
Didst as a guest appear,
Thou dearer far than earthly guest,
Voucesafe Thy presence here.
For holy Thou indeed dost prove
The marriage-vow to be,
Proclaiming it a type of love
Between the Church and Thee.
2. This holy vow that man can make,
The golden thread in life,
The bond that none may dare to break,
That bindeth man and wife,
Which, blest by Thee, whate'er betides,
No evil shall destroy,
Through care-worn days each care divides,
And doubles every joy.
3. On those who now before Thee kneel,
O Lord, Thy blessing pour,
That each may wake the other's zeal
To love Thee more and more.
Oh, grant them here in peace to live,
In purity and love,
And, this world leaving, to receive
A crown of life above.
Hymn #620
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: John 2: 1-11
Author: St. 1, 3, Adelaide Thrupp, 1853
St. 2, Gogfrey Thring, 1882
Composer: Gottfried W. Fink, 1842
Tune: "Bethlehem"
"O Father, All Creating"
by John Ellerton, 1826-1893
1. O Father, all creating,
Whose wisdom, love, and power
First bound two lives together
In Eden's primal hour,
Today to these Thy children
Thine earliest gifts renew,--
A home by Thee made happy,
A love by Thee kept true.
2. O Savior, Guest most bounteous
Of old in Galilee,
Voucesafe today Thy presence
With these who call on Thee.
Their store of earthly gladness
Transform to heavenly wine
And teach them, in the testing,
To know the gift is Thine.
3. O Spirit of the Father,
Breathe on them from above,
So mighty in Thy pureness,
So tender in Thy love,
That, guarded by Thy presence,
From sin and strife kept free,
Their lives may own Thy guidance,
Their hearts be ruled by Thee.
4. Except Thou build it, Father,
The house is built in vain;
Except Thou, Savior, bless it,
The joy will turn to pain.
But naught can break the marriage
Of hearts in Thee made one,
And love Thy Spirit hallows
Is endless love begun. Amen.
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narrow-minded has left a new comment on your post "Comments on Contemptible Worship - CoWo For Short":
"O Father, All Creating"
by John Ellerton, 1826-1893
1. O Father, all creating,
Whose wisdom, love, and power
First bound two lives together
In Eden's primal hour,
Today to these Thy children
Thine earliest gifts renew,--
A home by Thee made happy,
A love by Thee kept true.
2. O Savior, Guest most bounteous
Of old in Galilee,
Voucesafe today Thy presence
With these who call on Thee.
Their store of earthly gladness
Transform to heavenly wine
And teach them, in the testing,
To know the gift is Thine.
3. O Spirit of the Father,
Breathe on them from above,
So mighty in Thy pureness,
So tender in Thy love,
That, guarded by Thy presence,
From sin and strife kept free,
Their lives may own Thy guidance,
Their hearts be ruled by Thee.
4. Except Thou build it, Father,
The house is built in vain;
Except Thou, Savior, bless it,
The joy will turn to pain.
But naught can break the marriage
Of hearts in Thee made one,
And love Thy Spirit hallows
Is endless love begun. Amen.
Hymn #621
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Ps. 127: 1
Author: John Ellerton, 1876
Tune: "Eden"
1st Published in: Sacred Hymns and Tunes
Town: Boston, 1880
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narrow-minded has left a new comment on your post "Comments on Contemptible Worship - CoWo For Short":
"The Voice that Breathed o'er Eden"
by John Keble, 1792-1866
1. The voice that breathed o'er Eden,
That earliest wedding-day,
The primal marriage blessing,--
It hath not passed away.
Still in the pure espousal
Of Christian man and maid
The Triune God is with us,
The threefold grace is said.
2. Be present, loving Father,
To give away this bride
As Thou gav'st Eve to Adam,
A helpmeet at his side.
Be present, Son of Mary,
To join their loving hands
As Thou didst bind two natures
In Thine eternal bands.
3. Be present, Holiest Spirit,
To bless them as they kneel,
As Thou for Christ, the Bridegroom,
The heavenly Spouse dost seal.
Oh, spread Thy pure wing o'er them,
Let no ill power find place
When onward to Thine altar
Their hallowed path they trace.
4. To cast their crowns before Thee
In humble sacrifice,
Till to the home of gladness
With Christ's own Bride they rise.
To Father, Son, and Spirit,
Eternal One and Three,
As was and is forever,
All praise and glory be.
Hymn #622
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Eccl. 4:12
Author: John Keble, 1857, ab., alt.
Tune: "Eden"
1st Published in: Sacred Hymns and Tunes
Town: Boston, 1880
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GJ - Many hymns are appropriate for a wedding. The graphics were done for some Gerhardt hymns, so I posted them.
