To that end, I would love to enlist the talents of lyricists and poets across the church to update hymns in Community of Christ Sings so that they better convey the identity, mission, message, and beliefs of the church's path forward.
One that I'd love to have new lyrics for is CCS #350, "We Are a Family of Faith." This is a very fun song, sort of an anthem of the church and its name, that we've enjoyed singing, especially in intergenerational contexts. However, its theology seems pretty literal and does not convey the kind of message we'd like to teach children. I love the line "we have a mission that's clear" --- I'd like to see that immediately pull into a focus on the Mission Initiatives. Instead, it implies that our clear mission is "to praise our Savior's name," which is something Evangelical Christians might sing. I would also prefer to avoid the primary definition of the church as being a family "of faith." Faith is an important component of the church, but I'd rather have something else missional up front, if possible.
I'm marking up the lyrics I'd like to see changed, and will appreciate any help creating new lyrics that are more missional. (Obviously, as many more lyrics as are necessary can be changed, but these are the ones that I'd like to see eliminated.)
We are a family
We lift each other up.
We leave no one behind,
and if the least of us should stumble,
we all feel the pain:
Community of Christ is our name.
We are a family
we have a mission that’s clear:
We help build Zion here.
And we seek peace between the nations,
love between us all;
Community of Christ is our call.
We are a family
and we look forward to the day
and all the saints of every nation
Community of Christ evermore!
We are a family of faith;
We lift each other up.
We leave no one behind,
and if the least of us should stumble,
we all feel the pain:
Community of Christ is our name.
I do like the fact that we have a number of modern songs in the hymnal, but unfortunately, the content of these hymns tends to be pop Evangelical "praise" which, I think, at best can be described as meaningless/contentless, but more realistically borders on idolatry. An example is #252 "Blessed Be Your Name." This praise song has an interesting melody, but no content. It would be wonderful again if the lyrics were replaced with something that had meaning, so that the hymn could actually be used and sung. I'm marking the lyrics that should be replaced:
This is something that isn't in my immediate wheelhouse of talents. If you are a poet or lyricist, your work on improving our hymns will be very appreciated. We'll use updated hymns in Toronto congregation and create online and other resources crediting lyricists. We very much appreciate your help!
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