OYH: Episode 4 – Pilgrim’s Progress – Episode Highlights & Insights of I’m a Pilgrim (feat. Jonathan Coo)

[00:07:35] Welcome to Open Your Hymnals, exploring the purpose and value of hymns so we can sing with spirit and understanding. I'm your host, Irene Bennett. so welcome to the final episode on the hymn, I'm a pilgrim.

[00:08:35] And it's been such a joy and pleasure sharing this hymn with you in the past three weeks. And I hope that you have gained or regained an interest in hymns through this podcast. For this episode, I'd like to take the time to review the things we have been discussing to kind of cement the knowledge we've learned and also to just distill things into something that is easy to remember.

[00:09:00] And so, for the first episode, we learned that Mary Dana Schindler wrote I'm a Pilgrim, two years after her husband and her son died. Mary suffered from malaria while on a trip and her husband and her three year old son contracted it as well. Mary recovered from the serious illness, but unfortunately her husband and her son did not.

[00:09:26] And so, there she was, in a place where she did not know anybody, far from her family and friends and then half the closest people to her died in her arms. Yet, in spite of this tragedy, she showed tremendous resilience amidst her grief. She clung to God and knew that there was no other way around this happenstance but to continue to trust in Him.

[00:09:52] She wrote several books after this and many of which gained a lot of popularity.

[00:10:00] While most of her writings dealt with grief, sadness, longing, and affliction, she did not get depressed. Instead, she lifted her eyes upward and looked to heaven for hope. Understanding that life on earth is but a pilgrimage.

[00:10:17] And so if you are interested in learning more about Mary and her experiences, we talked about that in episode one. Now, in episode two, we took our magnifying glasses and looked at the text of “I’m a Pilgrim” closer. It gave us a glimpse of what life is like as a traveler longing for the heavenly and not the earthly home.

[00:10:42] Do you remember the early Adventists or the Millerites? Well, these are the group of people who were following the messages of William Miller, a man whom the Lord chose to be the one to share his studies on Daniel 8:14 during the early 1800s.

[00:11:00] His interpretation of Christ's coming soon led many people to different reactions.

[00:11:06] And while there were many people who accepted it and felt the urgency to reconcile their lives with God, there were also those who mocked the message, mocked the man that preached it, and mocked the people who were trying their best to follow it. And so, the remnant, the faithful few who closely studied their Bibles and knew for a fact that Jesus is truly coming soon, felt ostracized and jeered at for their beliefs.

[00:11:36] And they knew the life of pilgrimage and they longed to go home. And so it was not really a surprise that Mary Schindler's words gravitated with them. Last, um, in this episode as well, we had the privilege of interviewing Davin Bennett from Flying by Faith. And he shared with us the story, the inspiring story

[00:12:00] of James White, who encouraged himself after a hard day's work, yet receiving less than what he deserved.

[00:12:08] How do you encourage yourself when you have worked so hard and you were not compensated enough? Well, for James White, it was by singing this song, I'm a Pilgrim, as he walked towards his way home from work, reminding himself that he is a traveler. A stranger and a pilgrim on earth. We did not really talk about the story about James White, but we would like to share it now regarding James White, who is also another Adventist pioneer.

[00:12:41] He recalled a time when, after giving a series of messages, a song was sung by a certain Brother Gurney, who is often referred to in SDA history as the Singing Blacksmith. The song made such an impact that after the meeting, One of the attendees, who was a Negro slave, actually, pledged almost all of his money just to procure a copy of the song, “I'm a Pilgrim”.

[00:13:08] And seeing only that there was, seeing that there was only one sheet of music, Brother Gurney just wrote the man a copy and gave it to him for free. In that episode, we were reminded that as Christians, our lives are to be the life of pilgrims. In this world, but not of the world. And we are all on a journey, trying to make our way to our real home.

[00:13:35] Now, in the third episode, we analyzed the music of “I'm a Pilgrim”. We found out that it was based on a secular song, popular in the 1800s. This secular song did not have any vulgar text. So to speak, but rather it talks about a person's affection and devotion for someone who is separated from him. And this emotion of longing flows over to the music, lending it to be a suitable tune for Mary's text, which carried the same sentiments.

[00:14:09] We analyzed the musical structure of the song and learned that it used a very basic chord progression.

[00:15:07] Simple. 1 5 1 5 5 7 5 5 5 7 1. And so the melody, harmony, rhythm, form, and text, they all worked cohesively to form a song that was easy to remember, catchy, and most importantly, it spoke to the hearts of those who are on a pilgrim journey. Now, besides discussing the ins and outs of the hymn “I’m a Pilgrim”, we have also been talking about hymns in general.

[00:15:46] One of the points I brought in at the very beginning was that the hymns Represent our beliefs, whether we sing it individually or in a corporate setting, we declare by singing

[00:16:00] whatever hymn it is that we believe it to be true. Hence, the hymns are really a representation of a church's doctrine and dogma.

[00:16:10] And then in the same vein, it is important that we understand our beliefs so that we can have more appreciation of the hymns that we sing. We also briefly explore the origin of hymns. We normally have attributed the Psalms to be the source of musical songs in the Bible, but we also refer to Paul when he mentioned three different genres of music when he wrote to the churches of Ephesus and Colossus.

[00:16:41] Not only did he mention it, but he also described the functions of these genres. That is mainly to teach each other using songs to admonish, or actually in modern English, to admonish means to scold. So probably, most likely, it means that we, when we are correcting each other, we can use songs to do it, or in a musical tone.

[00:17:08] And so, also, by using songs, we make music not only with our lips or hands but with our hearts to the Lord. And so there is so much to unpack regarding this verse, but we will reserve that for another episode. We then continued our exploration by listening to an example of the earliest form of church music composed by Ambrose.

[00:17:33] Bishop of Milan. We learned that it was through his efforts that hymnody began to thrive. And most church music at this time was based on scriptures, sung in a way that was chanted and done in an improvisatory manner. But Ambrose introduced a form where words are paraphrased to match the musical structure.

[00:17:56] And so, music is not so improvisatory anymore, at least on the hymns spectrum, but written out and taught to the laity. And this way, the music was preserved better, and we are able to still have access to it. Over the years, Ambrose's work became the springboard for hymn writers like Martin Luther and Charles Wesley and I've read somewhere that hymns are a poor man's theology in that if nothing else was understood, the hymns provide a common man's summary of the message.

[00:18:36] And that while we may listen to the sermons at church, it was through the hymns that we can tangibly carry the message everywhere. And so we are really indebted to these writers and musicians for distilling theology into a song form, making doctrines practical for every believer. Now, in last week's episode, we also went for a quick tour of four of the many hymnals we have in the SDA Church. Uh, we looked at the 1849 hymnal that James White published. Then the unofficial, I call it unofficial because it was not really commanded by the General Conference for it to be made, but it was much loved by a lot of the Adventists. And this is the “Christ in Song” by F. E. Belden, the nephew of Ellen White.

[00:19:34] And we also took a little tour on the church hymnal last week. And I think this is the hymnal that is most Um, familiar to Adventist baby boomers because they can probably relate to it since it was published during their era. Now we saw that the layout of this hymnal was pretty much, um, continued by the current 1985 SDA hymnal because the layout was pretty much the same and I know that Adventist millennials can relate more to this hymnal because it was published and heavily promoted around this time. And I think one of the cool things that we did, last week was to really talk about the importance of organizing the song service with the help of the indexes, a savvy tool located at the back of our hymnals as well as on the Hymn page. The details on the Hymn page contains many important things that should we want to go deeper, the details can stand as the waymark on which direction we can go. And so, if you would like to know a little bit more on organizing your, um, song service, then you can watch Episode 3.

[00:20:56] Now, I'd like to take this time now to briefly go over some of the samples of arrangements of the Hymn, “I'm a Pilgrim”. And hopefully it can inspire our church musicians with some ideas for arranging or introducing a new hymn in their church. But first, let's listen to the original. We learned that “I'm a Pilgrim” is a result of the practice of contrafacta, wherein Mary Schindler creatively and judiciously fitted her lyrics to a popular song.

[00:21:29] The original tune of “I'm a Pilgrim” is from an Italian air entitled Buonanotte which literally means good night. It talks about longing and separation and bidding the person to have a peaceful sleep in spite of their long distance relationship. And so here is Buona Notte, an Italian air.

[00:23:05] And so that was the secular song that this hymn was based from. Now when Mary turned this lovely text into a hymn, the Millerites decided to include it in their hymnal. And J. B. Himes first adapted it, and the Millerites loved it. And James White included it in his hymnals. And basically it was in every Adventist hymnal that was produced ever since.

[00:23:29] The topic of pilgrimage, a weary traveler longing to get to his destination. This was something the early Adventists can very much relate to. And as a result, we still see this hymn in our current hymnal. And even though it is pretty much phased out from the many hymnals of other denominations, where it used to probably belong.

[00:23:53] What am I talking about? Well, here you see a graph, and this is from hymnary.org

[00:24:00] on the trending statistics of “I’m a Pilgrim”. Its most popular height, if you can see, was during the mid 18 hundreds and kind of phased out in the 1950’s. It resurged back up again in the 70’s and 90’s. But we don't see the 2000’s in this graph because much of the hymns today are either stuck in the 80’s and that by 80’s I mean 1980’s or new hymnals just don't include it anymore.

[00:24:31] And so either way, we are certainly privileged that we have the opportunity to learn this hymn even in the 21st century. The King's Herald. It's an example where we can live it up and make this hymn into something that we can use as a special music in our church. The rendition that we're about to hear is a very short example because they only used two stanzas and all throughout they employed all four voices.

[00:25:03] It's very simple, but with slight changes in harmony from, and it's very different, at least a little bit different from the harmony in the SDA hymnal. So this can be an idea for church members to kind of, um, emulate and living up singing “I'm a Pilgrim”.

[00:27:17] Okay. And so the next example that we're going to hear is this time a coral rendition and we will be listening to the Andrews University Singers. Conducted by Stephen Zorg and they actually did an album of many early Advent hymns called “What Heavenly Music”. Uh, if you would try to just quickly analyze it as you listen, you will notice that stanza one uses, uh, just unison, which is really simple and nice.

[00:27:52] They deliberately use dynamics and phrasing to highlight important words. And then we really gain an appreciation for the harmony when they come into the second stanza. Now, if, uh, you will notice that the third stanza on this recording is not really the same third stanza that is in the hymnal, rather, they use the fourth stanza, which is in a different, um, edition or publication. And so anyway, here's a tip for leading the song service, right? We can have the congregation sing in unison first in the first stanza, and then we can have the choir to sing the second stanza in four part harmony, and then we can all invite the congregation back to sing the third and final stanza.

[00:28:40] That way, there's a little bit of variation in the song service. And so here's the Andrews University Singers singing “I'm a Pilgrim”.

[00:31:22] Now, for those who are new with this music ministry, Hymns for Worship, I'd like to take this time to introduce a project where I have collaborated with composer and arranger Alejandro Consolacion II, and we recorded the first half of this album, Almost Home, Hymns on the Second Coming of Jesus at, uh, the Union Church in Makati.

[00:31:51] And the music engineer at the time that we had was Holland Buella. And he's also in the picture with, there with us. And then the second half of the [00:32:00] album was recorded at the Keeserberg, uh, piano studio of Sounds Cradle with Reginald Tan. Now we did this several years ago, pre pandemic. And I'm just really excited that I can finally introduce to you each song from this album through this podcast.

[00:32:17] We have been we have made the recording available many years ago. But, I never really took the time to launch it. And so, recently we also made the music sheet available to the public. And so I just want you to listen to it and maybe you can use this arrangement for meditational moments in the church service, like in a prelude or offertory or the silent moments in between the parts.

[00:32:48] And I really loved how it was arranged by AJ or Alejandro, where in the first stanza you're going to hear, you know a soft, really soft and meditative part and then as it grows into the second stanza, it was deeper and more defined harmonies using the lower parts of the piano. And then in the final third stanza, it was richer and more expansive, as if trying to portray the traveler's vision of his destination.

[00:33:22] And then it ends in a softer mode where the pilgrim realizes that he is still traveling. I mean, at least that's the picture that I got from it. And so, let's listen to this, “I'm a Pilgrim” arranged by Alejandro Consolacion and performed by yours truly.

[00:37:39] I did say that from the first episode that I'd like to make these things we've been talking about as practical as possible to people. And so I have invited someone special today to break down for us how we can make hymns still enjoyable and an enriching part of the worship, even in the 21st century.

[00:38:02] And so I'm delighted to welcome our distinguished guest, Jonathan Coo, a seasoned music professor who has left an indelible mark on the academic landscape in the Philippines. Jonathan's extensive career spans teaching at prominent institutions, Such as Santa Isabel College, Philippine Women's University, St. Paul University, Adventist University of the Philippines, and Ateneo de Manila University. Now, not just a teacher, but a tireless advocate. He actively champions music education through his involvement with MTMA, the Music Teachers National Alliance. His focus on bringing workshops and masterclasses to teachers beyond Manila reflects his commitment to inclusivity in the world of music education.

[00:38:56] Adding another note to his repertoire, Sir Jonathan has taken to the airwaves with a captivating radio show, Radio Katipunan 87. 9, exploring diverse music topics and we know him there as Prof. Batanes. Today, our conversation with Sir Coo is particularly special as we delve into the heart of the matter, the hymns in church, and as a renowned piano teacher and someone deeply entrenched in the musical fabric of our community, Sir Coo, or Jonathan, sheds his light on the importance of learning hymns, exploring their significance in both education and worship.

[00:39:40] So join us for these insights as we unravel the layers of Sir Jonathan Coo’s musical journey and explore the timeless relevance of hymns in our lives. All resources we mentioned in this interview, this was pre recorded, but we will be showing all the links in the show notes. So just enjoy, and I hope that you will learn something that you will be so excited about that you can't help but share it with others.

[00:40:17] So Jonathan, thank you so much for being with us here, even on such a short notice. Thank you also, Sister Irene. Thank you. Okay, so we'll just start up, um, start with, um, our first question here. Because We've been really talking about hymns in this past four weeks, and this is actually the fourth and final series for the hymn I'm a Pilgrim.

[00:40:45] And I'm a Pilgrim is actually this hymn that's like antiquated, a little bit boring for some. And actually hymns are generally considered to be, uh, boring and old and irrelevant by many. So, do you think hymns are still important for us today? Definitely. Um, well, here in the Philippines, every Filipino, uh, sings.

[00:41:12] And not only that, every Filipino is a member of a choir here, okay? And I, I also think there is a revival of, uh, choral singing in the whole world. So if you want to be good in choral singing as a chorister, it's important to learn hymns. Why? Because hymns are four part. And it's, it's also a good, uh, practice for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass to, to blend.

[00:41:45] So, uh, that's one important reason why hymns should always be included in worship and, and in study as well. That's true. Well, you sound like, um, you like hymns as well. Did you sing hymns a lot when you were growing up? Yes, not only sing, but play. Do you know that playing hymns is one of the secrets to being a good sight reader.

[00:42:14] So in the Seventh day Adventist Church, yeah, you know, um, I was, I was telling another denomination, uh, you know, I think it is only in the Seventh day Adventist Church that we have family worship in the morning and in the evening. And part of the practice well, almost every, everyone, uh, every family has a piano at home and, and they sing, uh, for worship, they sing hymns.

[00:42:46] So if, if a child is learning piano and the child learns hymns, the sight reading, uh, becomes faster. Why? Normally when we teach sight [00:43:00] reading, it is normally linear. Linear or horizontal, right? Note per note, but we realize that if we are looking at the score in chunks or in blocked chords, basically in, in, in the vertical way, then that's actually the hymns.

[00:43:20] So the more the, the piano student will, will improve, and when you sing hymns at home, it is also a way of ear training. Sometimes, naturally, our, our family will, somebody will sing second voice. Somebody will suddenly sing, uh, bass. So you have an instant choir again, again in your family worship. Wow. I, yeah, I've never really thought of it that way.

[00:43:50] It's like you just look at it as, okay, these are hymns and these are songs that my grandma used to sing or my parents used to sing, but the theo, not the theological, but the music theory impact of it. It's like, it's, it's there. It's unavoidable. And actually, it's not just for piano. I'm sorry. Um, for example, in, in, in the church, um, I notice now that a lot of churches have, have string ensembles, or they even call, call, call the, them orchestras.

[00:44:23] And most of the violin players, the cellists, the violists, are, are barely in the intermediate level. Most of them are, are beginners. But you know what? They can play hymns right away. Why? Well, if you, if you play hymns, the, the, the tenor or the alto line can, can be repetitive. So, which is, which is good for, for training.

[00:44:49] And, uh, again, when I say good for sight reading. So, so you have an instant orchestra as well. That's true. [00:45:00] Yeah. Well, um, I remember when I was, uh, learning four part chorale. And my teacher, back when I was in elementary, would tell me, Okay, this is, this is just how you play this and this. And in my mind, I was thinking, This is just like how you play hymns.

[00:45:18] This is so easy. Because I had to play hymns way before that, you know. So it's really interesting. So, just going back to the, mainly the Adventist church, the SDA church. Um, we have been blessed with so many hymns. Our, our background as an SDA movement, starting from the time where, you know, James White, Ellen White, and all these people back then, um, even though it was a very young movement, um, they really started out having a hymnal.

[00:45:53] They compiled hymnals and hymnal upon hymnal. The, actually, it's interesting because almost every two years they would put out a hymnal, but now, um, the latest and most current hymnal we have is back in 1985. It has been a long, long, long, long time. Um, do you think we need to put out a new hymnal or is it, is it, is it okay that we just have this 1985 hymnal and we're going to use it until Christ comes? Well, okay. Uh, I think we need a revised edition, not necessarily new songs. But, some of the reasons why, uh, people are having a hard time singing the hymns is because it has four flats, three flats. Okay. So if you are a violinist or if you're in the province and you, you play the guitar, if, if you, if you have an E flat major chord or G flat major chord, it's, it's, it's really difficult, right?

[00:46:57] So why don't we, um, publish a, Um, this hymns in, in easy, um, easy key signatures, B major, C major, um, A major, G major, even F major. Just, just those. And, and the vocal range, that's another thing. Um, some of the hymns are still too high. Although if you compare it to the church hymnal, they've lowered it, but it's still high.

[00:47:26] So we need to consider that. So, yeah. And then probably, um, if we have a, maybe not revised, or a special edition. For a special edition, we can focus on Adventist hymns. I mean, meaning Adventist musicians, Adventist, uh, authors, lyricists. So, instead of having 600 hymns, maybe we can have a shorter, uh, shorter number of hymns.

[00:48:00] Even just 100 hymns. But just in focusing. Focusing on, on our own, um, composers, lyricists, on, on our own, uh, Songs. Okay. And translating it to different languages. Yeah, translating through. Yeah, I noticed we have an English Filipino, English Tagalog version. But the problem is, the hymns that they chose are the old ones.

[00:48:32] They did not put the new ones. So, it defeats the purpose. That's true. Yeah, I was just talking about that last week in the last episode. I was saying that the hymnals and maybe it's not just the Philippine edition hymnal, but other, I've met other students when I was back in Andrews University and they had the same complaint.

[00:48:59] It's like, these are the old songs that we knew from before that they translated and it seemed like nobody wanted to really learn this. The new, newer, newer songs that are in the, in the hymnal. Way back in 2000. I'm sorry. Yeah, way back in 2000, in 2010, when I, I visited Scandinavia, I gave some concerts there.

[00:49:23] So I went to church in Oslo, in Norway, and they have this thick book. It's, it's very different from the SDA hymnal, but. Um, because I compared it and I ordered it. I just can't find it right now. I probably gave it to, donated it. But, uh, it's, it's a violet, a purple thick book with, but it's all in Norwegian.

[00:49:48] Yeah. It's all in Norwegian, but it's, it's, it's Seventh Day Adventist in, in Europe. So, uh, I don't know. I, I think some other countries also produce their own, their own books. A lot of those hymnals came out after 1985 because There's there's been some survey. I read it somewhere. I just forgot. Um, I'm going to try and find it, but they were saying that really the international SDA hymnal, which was the 95, 1985 version was really more of like, uh, uh, not Eurocentric, but more of the Western side of, never really had that consideration for other churches that are in, you know, like in the opposite side of the world and that is why, you know, but, but since we have the, the international, we, we try to really use it, um, all across the board, I think, you know, because we need to have one. but, um, so I remember when I had my own copy of this international hymnal.

[00:51:00] There's really a lot of good, good new songs there, right? From the musical standpoint of being in a church and having the, being a music leader, I think, how do we engage the congregation to learn this new hymns, especially now, like we've just been talking about it.

[00:51:23] We just talk about it maybe in the Philippine Church's perspective. We are using our Philippine Church hymnal as well. Nobody really has access to, not nobody, but only a few people have access to this international hymnal. So how do we learn those hymns? Yeah. Yeah. Actually, uh, when, when you were telling me that I, I was thinking how can we be creative in, in introducing, uh, well, I, I look back, I look back at, at my mother and, and AUP and PPH church in way back in 1985.

[00:52:01] When she introduced a lot of the songs, well, well, my mom, my mom was a classmate of James Bingham at Andrews, uh, your, your school. And, uh, um, we have, and we have been singing also, you know, songs of the Kings Herald, and we know that Wayne Hooper has a big influence, but, um, if we look at the musical side, Okay. Rhythm wise. Rhythm wise. There are some hymns that can be exciting. For example, “Sing a new song to the Lord”, diba? Pam, pam, pam, pam, pam, pam. So it's in a minor key, but it's, it's exciting! And then another one is “Redeemed! how I love to proclaim it” Redeemed, diba? by the blood of the Lamb. So, uh, it's, uh, it's parang, it's, it's balanced.

[00:52:58] It's not, it's not in a, in a dance like and very, you don't groove to it, but, but it's joyful. But for example, sing a new song is in a minor key. So I think those are some of the things that our church music ministers should consider. Well, not all hymns should be in a major key. Sometimes we have to consider what a minor key, sometimes we have to consider, sometimes it has to be slow and reflective, like “As water to the thirsty”? Yes. Yeah. And then, uh, some, some compositions. The, the compositions of Melvin West, Composition of, uh, I, I forgot the, the, the other name of the, the composer. But I think we, we do sing them a lot as well. Anyway, something. It's something like that. Yeah,

[00:54:00] yeah, yeah.

[00:54:01] This, um, I remember. A lot of the wordings of this hymn, hymns also, we can relate now because like the ancient hymns, some people would be complaining, oh, I don't really know that word. It's so ancient, right? But this newer hymns, they have a tone of modern, modern words, but still you can really feel that you're worshiping when you, when you, when you're singing them.

[00:54:27] Um, you know, a musician that I really admire, uh, for example, the way he introduced, um, new hymns or a new arrangement is Dr. Rodney Abriol, for example. Dr. Rodney Abriol is very particular with the text, the lyrics, right? But when it comes, he's also a composer. So his first album of arrangements, you can, you can really see that and hear that he is also [00:55:00] introducing new hymns.

[00:55:02] And then he is also reintroducing the old ones. Like, I think, “Oh, when, when shall I see Jesus”? That's right. Da da da, pa pum pum pum pum. De da de da da da. Diba that's an old hymn? Yeah. In the morning…something like that. But, but, uh, it's also the way we, well, the way we play it in church, the way we play it.

[00:55:32] Uh, sometimes we tend to be sentimental in a, uh, we think that it's a slow hymn, but, but there's actually a way of singing it in a, in a faster, in a faster version. So the way that you're describing it in the musical sense, right? But I'm just thinking, not a lot. How do we make it practical? Because not a lot of churches have a musician that can, you know, like, say, you know, you know, this is how we do it.

[00:56:07] This is a minor key and this should be this fast. You know, how do we, how do we make it practical? We create, uh, we create accompaniment recordings, minus ones. Yeah. The problem is, you know, we, we, we don't have, we don't have a, um, minus ones or yeah, accompaniment that's available. That's, that's a majestic or symphonic or, um, with the, with a brass ensemble or, you know, it's, it's just basically, um, exposure.

[00:56:48] That's true. I look at the, you know the, what they call the Jehovah's Witness. I went to their church service. They don't have a pianist. I mean, they lack musicians, but wow, they're singing their songs. It's like singing in an orchestra, singing in, it's, it's very majestic, glorious, like singing in a big choir.

[00:57:09] So it's, it's just a matter of exposing, uh, those who do not have musicians, the music that they listen to. It should not just be, I mean, I understand we all, uh, people love gospel music, right? We love all the, the, the, well, we're born into the heritage singers. We have, uh, Faith, what's that? Faith First and, and all of that.

[00:57:38] But they're the ones who make this easy. So why not, um, record? Like, for example, um, Sister Irene, you know, you could, you could also record, like, hymns. Actually, um, just in hymns for worship, actually, there's a, um, accompaniment there for every hymn that is, um, I really started out that website where I wanted to provide, um, accompaniment because I know that there are churches who doesn't have a pianist.

[00:58:13] who does not have a guitarist. So they're, they're really just left to just singing acapella, you know, and so they will just sing the same old songs they know over and over. There's no accompaniment and then there's no one to really introduce it. No one knows how to study a new one, you know, so that was really the goal of “Hymns for Worship”.

[00:58:33] But, um, I'm just thinking like on, on the level of those people who are, who have access to it. What can be, like, a practical way to encourage and, you know, enhance people's interest in hymns in a way that's not just in a local level but, like, in a really, like, national level? And just in a Adventist setting still.

[00:59:05] We're brainstorming. Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Well, I, I, I, I, it's, well, I have to say this, no? Um, in the Adventist setting, we are no different from, from other denominations where we look up to, to a, a singer who is kind of like a, parang showbiz personality to us. Diba? So, we need those singers to to also believe in, in the hymns because otherwise they will just be imitating most of our groups, right?

[00:59:45] They just imitate Sandy Patty, Michael W. Smith, Steve Green. That's the way they do it. So if you have a personality like, uh, Jennifer Lamountain, for example, she's there at the PICC, but, um, does she have arrangement of, of hymns, or even Sabbath, Sabbath hymns. So if she could do that, then it could be a big influence.

[01:00:14] That's true. Gone are the days of, you know, before, the big influences are the King's Heralds, Del Del Care. Yeah. And they would sing hymns. Yeah, but now we're into contemporary singing, and so of course, uh, um, the hymns are forgotten. Yeah, and I think that there should be a rebirth, a renaissance. Yes, exactly.

[01:00:42] So to speak of, you know, of hymns, we need to gain this interest back. Because, um, it's really important. And aside from the, you know, what you mentioned a while ago, the depth of the messages and how it can help musically, so to speak, um, many of these hymns are really rooted, a lot of the lines are really rooted in the scriptures versus if you would be singing, and I know I'm going on to, uh, deep waters when I would compare it to a CCM where it's, you know, it's not, it's not so deep, it's just, it's, Okay, this is how I feel kind of thing versus a hymn that has, a grounded in, in the scripture kind of stuff. Um, I was, um, thinking, I did not include this in the questions that I sent to you, but I was, uh, brainstorming with another musician about the possibility of having a hymn camp or a hymn festival.

[01:01:55] Well, For Seventh day Adventists, I know other religions have been doing this also to promote their own hymns. Do you think this is something feasible for, for our, um, Adventist culture to have something like this? Definitely, definitely. Um, hymn camp and festival. I was just talking to, um, Randy Simatupang, uh, Indonesian, uh, he now is the head of the music department at the MAMC Church.

[01:02:27] And I was telling him, you know, there are, Faber and Alfred have actually, uh, hymns that are in different levels from repertory to level four, you know, so this, this is something that our children can play. Yeah. Okay. So. So they, they will, then they will learn hymns instead of, of the usual, well, instead of the usual either folk songs or, uh, well, it's folk songs are also important, but, uh, but we could, we could, uh, um, that this can be something special for, for the hymn camp.

[01:03:08] And then, for example, learning sight reading. So I’m a believer in numbers, you know, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. So, 1,1,1,2,3,2,1,1. 1,4,4,3,2,3. You know, the sacred anthem is actually, if you, if you analyze it, it's so perfect for sight reading. Hmm. The only reason, perhaps, it's not being sight read or, uh, read, uh, by other musicians is it's in three flats.

[01:03:48] So if we change it to D major, it will be easier. Yes. Yeah. And it's difficult. A violinist will have a hard time with, with E flat major. A pianist will also have a hard time. So put it to D major, put it to C major, make that as your sight reading. 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1. 4, 5, 6. Five. Five. Five. Five. Five. Or or in, do ,do, do, do, do, do, fa, sol, la.

[01:04:24] That will be your sight reading to teach them, diba?, it’s all hymn based. I know for this would be such a fun activity for a hymn camp. You know, like learning how to sight read this way, using the hymns this way. Oh, it's gonna be so much. Um, excuse me, Asian Theological, I'm sorry, not Asian Theological, but Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music, for example, uh, Dr. Francisco Feliciano and Lucrecia Kasilag, I saw a book when I was teaching at Philippine Women's, that the melodic dictation that they use are actually hymns.

[01:05:01] Really. So, I mean, you can use that as your melodic dictation. That's true. Yeah. Because , you have and then trans transposing it in, in different keys, pwede rin diba? and then, you, then you could, uh, you could go straight to, um, four part harmony, and then progression, then perfect. Actually, I noticed that you have a, um, Mormon hymnal behind you.

[01:05:35] Yes, Latter day Saints. Yes, the Latter day Saints. And if you would go to their website as well, they have this whole section about their hymnal. And for free, you can download, uh, graded, uh, you know, like those books that you just mentioned a while ago where you can teach, um, children in grade, grades of, you know, like books graded by Faber, they have that same thing as well.

[01:06:06] But instead of just general hymns, they're using their hymnal. So it's really, it's really nice. Um, okay. Exactly. Yes. But keep going. You were saying you're going to say something. Oh, I mean, this, uh, I wouldn't call it a problem, but this, uh, what it's not only in the Adventist church, but in most churches, we are, we are now lacking pianists.

[01:06:38] We are now lacking, uh, uh, instrumentalists who would play hymns. You know, you would be surprised. If you go to a fundamentalist Baptist church, I thought when, when you say fundamentalist, then they would be very strict with, with, uh, the Bible, biblical text. [01:07:00] But when it comes to music, wow! it's praise and worship, and it's all these drums and all, no more hymns!

[01:07:07] So how, how can it be fundamentalist without hymns? And hymns is like the foundation, foundation of, of the church, especially the Protestant church. And, uh, I forgot a while ago to tell you, but I mean, I was doing my research before you, uh, Uh, well before this live streaming and Isaac Watts is considered, you know, one of the fathers of the hymnal and the whole world looks up to England when it comes to the coronation of the queen, the death of the queen, coronation of Prince Charles, maybe soon, uh, King William, you know, and if we look at their, their coronation service, wow! It is full of hymns.

[01:08:00] It's really their tradition. And look at that. We are all amazed, not just our church, everybody. So let's make that as an example. And then I know. Our choirs love singing a cappella, so let's sing hymns in a cappella.

[01:08:22] So, um, let's talk about the, the, the doctrines that make, you know, Sabbath Day Adventists strict, right? Why is it so important that we're still learning all this, especially the Sabbath hymns, the Second Coming hymns, and all these other hymns that make us distinct?
[01:08:45] Okay, um I, uh, let, let me just give you a background or how I, you know, how, how I came into this, uh, advocacy of mine of, of, uh, the Sabbath hymns. Yes. Um, [01:09:00] about, uh, 10 years, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, um, 2004, um, this was my first year of teaching at the Ateneo de Manila University. Um, they asked me to create a, an elective called, uh, and I named it Liturgical Music History and Tradition.

[01:09:23] Okay. Okay. So I've been teaching this until I moved to Batanes in 2019. And what does my class do? We observe all kinds of worship services. Okay? Observe the liturgy, et cetera. So, um, since I created this class and up to now, I could say that I have actually observed almost all, all religions, uh, Christian, Christian religions, and, uh, those who, uh, also believe in, in God. Because there are some, some religions who don't believe that Christ is God. uh, but I have attended all of their services, name it, uh, name all, I, I have, I have been there. So, one thing I noticed, Is that when you attend, uh, a Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, uh, UCCP, uh, what else?

[01:10:25] Adventist, uh, worship service, uh, divine worship service. It's very much the same. Hmm. We sing our, uh, after the offering and you sing the doxology, you have an opening hymn, you have closing hymn, you have a, a prayer response. There's no, it's, it's no difference at all. So when I go back to my mom in AUP and, and,and her experience.

[01:11:02] Uh, in as being a church musician. So, uh, well, 45 to 50 years ago when, when we were, uh, all active at, uh, BPH church. And then, and, uh, as part of the church music seminars that, that she gives and other AUP Um, professors, uh, mentioned that, uh, and in AUP, the worship service, the welcoming the Sabbath and, and having a Sabbath hymn, uh, it, it distinguishes us.

[01:11:37] It, it makes us unique. And so when you attend an Adventist worship service, divine worship service and you have a Sabbath hymn, uh, crowning jewel of creation, blessed Sabbath made for men or the sacred anthem slowly rise. Um, so when you have that, then you, you could say, Oh, I'm, I'm in an Adventist worship service.

[01:12:05] Okay. Oh, um, so what is this all about? Oh, I'm in a service that they believe that the seventh day is the Sabbath. So it has that big influence. If we don't have that, then we are just the same as the others. I mean, isn't it part of the Adventist history that they all left the, their Protestant religions, or denominations, and they became Adventists because of the Sabbath. So I go to Union Church of Manila, I go to the, you know, uh, United Central Methodist Church, to the, to the, um, Bible Baptist Church, uh, in Batanes, we have a lot of Baptist churches as well.
[01:12:57] Um, you go to, uh, [01:13:00] I go to a Makati Ward of the Latter Day Saints. And I mean, it's, it's the same, you know, the, the hymns, it's all the same. So let's make it different now. Uh, let's even make it specific. Now, other religions, they do have hymns that say about the Sabbath, right? Because this, this Sabbath hymns did not start with

the Adventist, you know, because before that people believed that the Sabbath was Sunday.
[01:13:33] Or you have the Latter Day Saints and they have, they even have more Sabbath hymns. So, how do we, how do we make it different? We have Adventist authors who have actually written for, uh, hymns in the SDA hymnal. And it really specifies what day of the week, what, uh, what happened during creation. [01:14:00] Exactly.
[01:14:02] Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, Friday, it even says diba? uh, there's a story that on the Friday we prepare and there are even hymns to, before the Sabbath on sunset on Friday, you know, welcoming the, the Sabbath. So let's, let's use that so that we really are, we really are Seventh day. Now, what's the, the, well, what I'm glad though, that most churches have this at the end about the second coming, no?
[01:14:34] Adventists, we believe in the, in the second coming. And partly because of, well, the influence of the General Conference, although it is not really done in other countries. I think the Philippines is just really a musical country that whatever the General Conference has, every five years, has a new new theme song that we would sing it after our service, but, uh, [01:15:00] glad, I mean, at least it's, it's about the, the second coming.
[01:15:04] So, so there you go. Um, that's, that's the reason why I have this advocacy. Let us, let us all make sure that we have a Sabbath hymn composed by an Adventist in, in our church service. Amen. Yeah. Well, I will challenge your advocacy because my advocacy is to have more hymns on the

sanctuary. Because this is what really makes the Adventist really distinct as well.
[01:15:38] Our beliefs and our theology regarding the sanctuary. And if you would look at the hymnal, there's maybe one or two, and it's not even by an Adventist, regarding to the Sanctuary. Yes, exactly. You know, so, um, I believe that in our church service, it should always reflect this distinct [01:16:00] beliefs and I call it the SSS. And I mean, this is not original from me, but, um, it's SSS, meaning the Sabbath, the second coming and the sanctuary, those things should always be a theme that should be used in our churches
[01:16:16] every Sabbath, every time we have our worship. Because that the repetition of that will of course encourage the people to also study more about it. And then, you know, when they're singing about the Sabbath, they will reverence the Sabbath more, have more respect for the day. When you're singing a lot about the second coming, then you are more excited about the second coming.
[01:16:39] And when you're singing about the sanctuary, then you have an idea of what is happening today, and as Jesus, as the priest is in the Most Holy, uh, Most Holy place interceding for us. That's, that's a theology that we are, we are not really discussing a lot, you know. So, [01:17:00] that's what I really want. But I'm glad, uh, I think in the, in the new directive, I would say directive, recommendation of, uh, the well, North Philippine Union Conference, that's, there's a prayer, I think.
[01:17:14] Yeah, I think it's a prayer response that they have that. Oh, yeah, where Jesus intercedes, right? There's a place, da da da da da, something like that. So, so that's good, yeah. Anyway, so as we wrap

up our discussion on hymns, how important it is for our church, and how relevant it is still for today. Um, what's your final advice for the for the new generation?
[01:17:44] How can we keep the hymns alive? And, um, maybe like talk also about the importance of singing these new songs and not singing the same things [01:18:00] over and over again. Because I know, I've been to several places and it's always “To God be the Glory”. And I think, is there any other songs that we can sing, you know?
[01:18:10] And it's the opening song, it's the closing song, it's, it's sometimes, it's a really good hymn, but what about the verse that says, sing a new song, right? In Psalms, we need to be singing these new songs, but people apply it to be the CCM songs. Mmm. What is CCM? Contemporary Christian Music, meaning songs that are composed by people who are still alive, basically, or like around the 20th century or the 21st
[01:18:45] century. So they consider it that style? They consider it to be the new song. That's why the application for the, for the text sing a new song. It's not the old hymns because they are old. The new songs are the ones are [01:19:00] now. Hmm. Okay. Okay. Okay. Cause I have a different, uh, definition of contemporary. Well, we welcome your contemporary when it comes to style or when it comes to style.
[01:19:17] Well, yes. Contemporary music. I have a different definition. And like what I said, uh, even in, in England, right? Uh, in Great Britain, but they, they still, they still compose hymns. Yes. They have a rich hymn tradition. So yeah, I would expect but yeah, so

how what would be your your last words? Okay. Um, first of all, uh, I think it's not, uh, it's not really, uh, please, please forgive me if I say this, it's not really the new generation, but the ones who [01:20:00] are leading our church, for example, when I gave my, uh, seminar at, uh, MAMC church, what I recommended is that the choir
[01:20:13] leads the service as well, rather than just going there for the special, special number or message in song or going to the pulpit for the responses. But they, they should really be part of the service. So, so how can we, how can we make that special? Well, okay. If you have a hymn that is four stanzas, The first stanza can be the congregation.
[01:20:47] Second stanza can be the choir a cappella. S A T B, right? Okay, third stanza can, can just be, [01:21:00] um, the ladies, the women, and then the fourth stanza, everybody with the streaks. So what am I saying here? Um, we need to make our young generation, we, we need to make them part of the, of the service. Okay. Even, and, but I'm, I'm actually happy this is happening because you go to Manila Center, you go to Pasay Adventist Church, and even AUP a lot, in Cavite, almost every, everyone is, it's like everybody wants to play the violin.
[01:21:38] Everybody wants to play the violin and so, um, so that they can be, uh, seen in church playing the violin, then they have to practice and then suddenly they are, they are, they are just playing hymns. So include them because if you include them in the, in the worship service, then, uh, they would be encouraged.
[01:21:59] [01:22:00] They would be encouraged to, to, to join. Now, how do we revive this, this hymns?

Then, then, uh, somebody has to assign, for example, okay, for, for the opening, uh, the, the, what do you call that, the prelude, instead of the, the organ doing it, um, you assign it to the choir. The choir will sing an acapella version, okay?
[01:22:32] Or, uh, but it really, it's, it, it, it, it really depends on the, the, the head of the music department of, of the church, uh, offertory, okay? You have, you have an old hymn that the string ensemble will play, okay? So, that's how I would encourage. It's, it's, I know it's difficult. It's, it's difficult. But, but you just have to, to [01:23:00] make it, uh, part of their service.
[01:23:02] It's really exposure. Exposure. And, and, uh, you cannot, you cannot force them. But if you, you tell them, Oh, we want you to be, to be part of us. We want you to uh, to have a variety, variety of, of singing, not just everybody singing, then, then perhaps we can influence them. Yeah. I think that's about it. Yes. Yeah.
[01:23:29] That's good. So many ideas. I'm so excited to just keep going and going because it's, it's really inspiring for me to talk about these things. And, um, you know, because sometimes things can become like a bit hopeless and bleak when I go to certain churches where, oh my, you, they really need a lot of help with their song service.
[01:23:53] Like, it's really sad. And, and I really pray that we will, we will have more, [01:24:00] um, musicians that, that would have a service oriented kind of, um, um, mindset where, the church will be one of their burdens, to kind of like really improve on and I really pray and hope that by talking about it, by, um, opening, exposing certain topics about it, that people will kind of come to understand really the importance of these things.
[01:24:28] I just want to add one last thing. Uh, for the past five years, I've been living in Batanes and Uh, of course, uh, most of our church members there, they're, they're just used to singing the old, old hymns, whatever they, you know, like what you said, “To God be the Glory”, Showers of Blessing. So what do I do to influence them?
[01:24:49] I mean, I don't really impose. So what do I do when they ask me to sing, uh, a message in song, then I will sing something from the hymnal [01:25:00] that they don't know that at least, at least they hear something new. Okay. Or if they ask me to, to lead the, uh, song service, okay, then I would, I would teach something that's new.
[01:25:17] So I think it also has to come from, from us, you know, um, if nobody, if nobody believes you, nobody wants to do it, then there are, there are many ways of influencing. Yeah. Influencing people. That's right. Well, thank you so much for your time. Prof. Batanes or Jonathan. Hopefully we can invite you again, but, um, in the meantime, we'll end here and, um, we'll see you again.
[01:25:47] Thank you. And so I think that as we conclude with this episode, what I'd really like to leave is this. Learning hymns first starts with you. With me and when you're interested in it, then you share it with family. Then your family shares it with the church and the church shares it with a community. It's a ripple effect and many times we have a mindset of what can we benefit from the church?

[01:26:18] But have we ever thought of what the church can benefit from us? And I don't mean to brag or show off our skills and resources, but what can we do in the simplest of ways to keep our brothers and sisters encouraged in this pilgrim journey we are in? Learning hymns, understanding them, and singing them together is a great way to do this.
[01:26:41] In fact, it has been scientifically proven that by singing together in a group contributes tremendously for our, the good of our wellbeing. We're going to unpack how precisely it does, but just so you know, the musical structure of the hymnal, as simple as it is, really [01:27:00] facilitates congregational singing.
[01:27:02] Also, music leaders and worship leaders should work together to make worship parts related together. One united front and message helps the congregation to have something tangible. You have the central message of the hour. All other parts should relate to that. The Sabbath school lesson and all things should relate to that.
[01:27:24] Sometimes we cram so many things in the program and so many different messages not relating to each other and so it's the job of the presider and the musicians to bridge these gaps through the songs and the short speaking parts. And so anyway, this is not the end of the series, but rather the end of, uh, discussing “I'm a Pilgrim”.
[01:27:50] And I hope that you have learned something useful and practical. Um, if you would visit hymns for worship, we have so many resources there. We had accompaniments for all the hymns in the hymnal and so much more. And so we would like to end here. We would like to see you for next week where we're going to start on a new hymn.
[01:28:12] And so it really promises to be good. So as we end, let us have a word of prayer. Our dear Heavenly Father, thank You so much for this time that we have spent together. It was a little bit long this time, but we just know, Lord, that, um, when we talk about ways that we can please You and glorify You and make our worships more meaningful through music, we believe, Lord, that You are in this place and that Your spirit is with us.
[01:28:45] Lord, help us to be responsible in the way that we use music, the way that we engage with music, and also Lord, help us to be more creative in the ways that we use music in our worship service. Thank You so [01:29:00] much for this hymn, “I’m a pilgrim”, where it reminded us that our lives here on earth are just short and we are just tarrying and that we know that our destination, the heavenly home, is the real reason why we are here.
[01:29:17] Thank you so much for the Sabbath day that as we close, we would just like to praise and honor and glorify You as we embark on a new week. Thank You so much dear Father, in Jesus name I pray, Amen. Thank you so much everyone and we hope to see you on our next episode. God bless and bye-bye.
[01:29:33] This media is brought to you by hymns for worship, a website dedicated to help church members sing with spirit and understanding. If you want more resources on hymns, please go to www.hymnsforworship. [01:30:00] org.