Altar Guild is an ongoing musical collective, which attempts to connect so-called "congregational" worship to the liturgical tradition. The songs we play arise from reflection not only upon what God has done for us but upon what we have said back to God in the Psalter and in the traditions of common prayer. They are not "settings" of liturgy so much as expansions, prayers and meditations that start from the traditions and fill them with new content. I have included a few songs below from AG's first album, currently in progress, entitled Shadow Valley.
No Secrets (based on the Collect for Purity – Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, etc...).
In this shadow valley we live in,
where world and flesh and hell prevail,
We call on your inspiration.
We call on love that never fails.
We stood too close to your fire.
We see the stones laid aside.
We know you know our desires.
We know there's nowhere to hide.
To you, O God, all hearts are open:
No secrets hidden from your gaze.
Renew our minds to find you lovely,
To offer your name its rightful praise.
If we could fly to the heavens,
If we could flee into the ground,
Nowhere is safe from your inspection,
No one too lost to be found.
To you, O God, all hearts are open:
No secrets hidden from your gaze.
Renew our minds to find you lovely,
To offer your name its rightful praise.
We hid from you in the garden,
Told you to leave us alone,
Afraid to stand in your prsence,
But you love as much as you know.
To you, O God, all hearts are open:
No secrets hidden from your gaze.
Renew our minds to find you lovely,
To offer your name its rightful praise.
(Lyrics)
In this shadow valley we live in,
where world and flesh and hell prevail,
We call on your inspiration.
We call on love that never fails.
We stood too close to your fire.
We see the stones laid aside.
We know you know our desires.
We know there's nowhere to hide.
To you, O God, all hearts are open:
No secrets hidden from your gaze.
Renew our minds to find you lovely,
To offer your name its rightful praise.
If we could fly to the heavens,
If we could flee into the ground,
Nowhere is safe from your inspection,
No one too lost to be found.
To you, O God, all hearts are open:
No secrets hidden from your gaze.
Renew our minds to find you lovely,
To offer your name its rightful praise.
We hid from you in the garden,
Told you to leave us alone,
Afraid to stand in your prsence,
But you love as much as you know.
To you, O God, all hearts are open:
No secrets hidden from your gaze.
Renew our minds to find you lovely,
To offer your name its rightful praise.
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Come By Here (based on the Ash Wednesday Litany and the Confession of Sin). I wrote this back in Summer 2015 in my frustration with the brokenness of the world and with my own part in it. And as often as not, the Church seems more like bad news than good. At the same time, it is the Church's language that I borrow here to voice this lament. The allusion to Ps. 94:17 ("They say, 'he does not see; the God of Israel takes no notice.'") expresses both shame at my own hardheartedness and hope that the Lord will in fact come at last, to judge and save.
(Lyrics)
O God, you hate nothing that you have made,
But we hate much of it.
You come to those who call on you for aid,
But we're impenitent.
Give us the flesh to feel what we have been,
Or take away our breath.
To live without release from all these sins
Is a fortune worse than death.
Let mercy come, let justice cry.
Our hearts are hard, our souls run dry,
So come by here long awaited Lord,
Rebuke our fear and our broken word.
We've turned our eyes, and we've stopped our ears,
So sure that you would never come by here.
By all that we have done and left undone
O Father, we have sinned.
Brought murder to your prophets and your sons,
Stilled voices on the wind.
O God, you hate nothing that you have made,
But we hate much of it.
You come to those who call on you for aid,
But we're impenitent.
Let mercy come and justice swell,
Desert us not Emmanuel,
But come by here, long awaited Lord.
Rebuke our fear and our broken word.
We've turned our eyes, and we've stopped our ears,
So sure that you would never come by here.
We're sure that you would never come by here.
Click here to download if your browser does not support the player.
Doxology (arr. William Glass; lead vocals: Amanda Crawford; bgv: Ana & William Glass). The idea here is that the Doxology's lyrics fold in on each other from verse to verse via the inversion of the lines, allowing for a flow of praise back and forth, from heaven to earth and back.
(Lyrics)
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Him above, you heavenly host,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Praise Him above, you heavenly host,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Amen, Amen. Amen, Amen.
Praise Him above, you heavenly host,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Amen, Amen. Amen, Amen.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Praise Him above, you heavenly host.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Praise Him above, you heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him above, you heavenly host,
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Click here to download if your browser does not support the player.
Hymn (Hallelujah): in some Anglican liturgies, there is a hymn before the reading of the Gospel, sometimes called a "gradual" hymn and sometimes called the Alleluia. This song is written as an Alleluia, meant to be sung before a Gospel is read. It alludes to two gospel traditions – the via dolorosa in Matthew 27:24ff and the washing of Peter's feet in John 13 – as a kind of synopsis of the gospel tradition prior to the reading itself, to both thank the Lord for what He has done and prepare the heart for what will be received when the words and deeds of Jesus are proclaimed.
(Lyrics)
That your feet should ever falter
On a path once laid for me,
That the chains should loose my shoulders,
And my sin your burden be,
O, what boundless heights of justice,
O, what depths of endless grace,
That the law, which stood against us,
Condemned you in our place.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
That my feet should find your cleansing,
And your hands remove my stains,
When I offered you my freedom,
You would only take my chains.
You would only take my chains.
You would only take my chains.
Click here to download if your browser does not support the player.
