Hello Lockdown My Old Friend…. Dear Friends, Now all the nations of the UK are in various forms of lockdown I thought it might be useful to remind you that, even in these difficult times, we will still be sending out a daily reading, reflection and prayer early each morning AND, every Sunday, we will still […]
URC Daily Devotion Tuesday 5th January – See in Yonder Manger Low
Tuesday 5th January – See in Yonder Manger Low Originally a much longer hymn the first verse has alternate opening lines. The last verse, deemed too Catholic for Protestant hymnals runs: Virgin Mother, Mary blest, By the joys that fill thy breast, Pray for us, that we may prove, Worthy of the Saviour’s love. Colossians […]
URC Daily Devotion Monday 4th January – O Come All Ye Faithful
Monday 4th January – O Come All Ye Faithful The earliest version of this hymn, in Latin, is in a book by John Francis Wade but there is note in it attributing it to an earlier author. The English version sung is by the Catholic priest Fr Frederick Oakelely and dates to 1841. The hymn […]
URC Daily Devotions Sunday Worship – 3rd January 2021
URC Daily Devotions Sunday Service – 3rd January 2021 Epiphany- The Magi Opening Music Arrival of the Queen of Sheba Introduction The story of the wise men who came to visit the infant Christ is one of the most popular in the Christmas cycle of readings. We don’t know much about these mysterious visitors – they appear […]
URC Daily Devotion Sunday 3rd January 2021 – Who Would Think That What Was Needed
Sunday 3rd January 2021 – Who Would Think That What Was Needed John Bell and Graham Maule’s Christmas carol is a moving reflection on how God surprises us. It is often sung to Scarlet Ribbons rather than the tune White Rosettes for which it was written. Isaiah 11: 1-9 A shoot shall come out from […]
URC Daily Devotion Saturday 2nd January – Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
Saturday 2nd January – Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day Published in 1833 this song has its origins in the medieval mystery plays where the actor playing Christ would sing the verses and the audience would sing the chorus. It was not uncommon to have the baby Jesus singing all 12 verses foretelling his life, […]
URC Daily Devotion Friday 1st January 2021 – What Child Is This?
Friday 1st January 2021 – What Child Is This? Born in Bristol, Dix spend most of his life selling marine insurance in Glasgow writing hymns in his spare time. He wrote this hymn for the late medieval tune Greensleeves contrasting cute images of the nativity with the horror of what is to come. St Matthew […]
URC Daily Devotion Thursday 31st December 2020
Thursday 31st December – Joy to the World Isaac Watts’ great paraphrase of Psalm 98 has been voted, evidently, the most popular Christmas hymn in North America. It’s more of an Advent, rather than Christmas hymn and could be used at any time of the year (though it would be a brave minister or worship […]
URC Daily Devotion Wednesday 30th December 2020
Wednesday 30th December – In the Bleak Mid Winter Christina Rossetti was the daughter of an Italian refugee. She was raised as a High Church Anglican and broke off her engagement when her fiance converted to Catholicism. She wrote this hymn as a poem and it didn’t appear in a hymnbook until 1906 – after […]
URC Daily Devotion Tuesday 29th December 2020
Tuesday 29th December – It Came upon the Midnight Clear This carol by Edward Sears is a firm favourite across the denominations despite the Unitarianism of the writer. In the hymn Sears laments the world at war not hearing the message the angels brought. In the UK it is usually sung to Arthur Sullivan’s tune […]