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A Festival of Hymns and Heritage
Celebrating the
Bicentennial of the Birth
of Joseph Smith Jr. and
Central Tenets of
His Message:
A Festival of Hymns and Heritage
Created
by Richard Clothier
This service is recommended as an alternate
service for use on Heritage Day,
Sunday, September 18,
2005, for Mission Center gatherings, or any other
worship setting, especially during late 2005.
Prelude
Welcome and Statement of Purpose
The founding prophet of our church, Joseph Smith Jr., was born 200
years ago this year, on December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont, U.S.A.
In observing this anniversary, it is our desire to celebrate not so
much the man, but rather the revealment of God’s purposes through
him, which has enriched the lives of untold millions throughout the
world.
Our worship will be centered on six key concepts lifted up by the
founding prophet that continue to guide and bless our faith journey
today. The words read are from Joseph Smith, taken primarily from
sections of the Doctrine and Covenants given through him. The hymns we
sing will be hymns from his time and ours that express guiding
principles that were central to the life of the early church members
and which are equally important to us today.
In 1838, Joseph Smith, writing in Far West, Missouri, published
answers to several questions he often encountered in his travels. One
of these queries is particularly significant to the message of this
service. He was asked, "What are the fundamental principles of
your religion?" His answer was: "The fundamental principles
of our religion [are found in] the testimony of the apostles and
prophets concerning Jesus Christ, ‘that he died, was buried, and
rose again the third day, and ascended up into heaven;’ and all
other things are only appendages to these, which pertain to our
religion" (Elders’ Journal Vol. 3, No. 1 [July 1838]:
44). The centrality of Jesus, the essence of the gospel message, is at
the heart of all we believe and is the heart of this experience of
worship together.
Invitation to Worship
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Reader 1:
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Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the
voice of him who dwells on high, and whose eyes are upon all . . . yea,
verily I say, Hearken ye people from afar, and ye that are upon the
islands of the sea, listen together; for verily the voice of the Lord is
unto all . . . and there is none to escape, and there is no eye that shall
not see, neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall not be
penetrated.
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Reader 2:
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Wherefore I the Lord, knowing the calamity
which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my
servant Joseph Smith, Jr., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him
commandments, and also gave commandments to others, that they should
proclaim these things unto the world; and all this that it might be
fulfilled, which was written by the prophets . . . that man should not
counsel his fellowman, neither trust in the arm of flesh, but that every
man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world;
that faith also might increase in the earth; that mine everlasting
covenant might be established; that the fullness of my gospel might be
proclaimed. . . unto the ends of the world, and before kings and rulers.
Behold, I am God, and [I] have spoken it.
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—Doctrine
and Covenants 1:1a–b; 4a–e; 5a
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The Story of Our Opening Hymn
Parley P. Pratt was one of the pioneers of the early Restoration.
At the age of nineteen, this self-educated, rugged outdoorsman
traveled from New York to Ohio to clear land west of Cleveland and
built a log cabin for himself and his wife. After reading a copy of
the Book of Mormon, he became converted to the church. It was his
conversion of his friend, Sidney Rigdon, along with Rigdon’s
Disciples of Christ followers that began the work of the church in the
Kirtland area. The enthusiastic expression of Parley Pratt’s secure
and confident faith in the power of the Restoration story is
proclaimed in the strong affirmation of his hymn, "When Earth in
Bondage Long Hath Lain."
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*Hymn: "When Earth in Bondage Long Hath Lain" Stanzas 1, 3,
and 4
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The Hymnal (1956) 288 |
| 1. |
When earth in bondage long had lain, /And
darkness o’er the nations reigned,
And all man’s precepts proved in vain, /A perfect system to obtain—
Refrain
A voice commissioned from on high! /Hark, Hark! It is the angel’s
cry,
Descending from the throne of light, /His garments shining clear and
white!
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| 3. |
Lo, from Cumorah’s lonely hill /There
comes a record of God’s will,
Translated by the power of God; /His voice bears record to his word.
Refrain
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| 4. |
And now commissioned from on high, /God’s
servants faith, repentance cry,
Baptizing as in days of old /Into one Shepherd and one fold.
Refrain
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OR "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet"
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HS 307 |
(This hymn could be substituted if The Hymnal [1956] is
unavailable.)
Comments on HS 307: The author of this hymn, William
Fowler, was born in Australia in 1830, the son of a British soldier
and his wife. Within a few years of the family’s return to England,
both his parents died, leaving William an orphan at the age of
fourteen. In the winter of 1848, he became dissatisfied with his
parents’ Methodist religion and accepted the invitation of a friend
to attend the Latter Day Saint church in Sheffield, England. The next
summer he was baptized. He was ordained a priest the following year
and an elder in 1851. Although we do not know the exact circumstances
of the writing of this hymn, it was probably written before 1863, when
Fowler and his family sailed for America. He died only two years
later, having left to the Latter Day Saint movement a grand hymn,
traditionally sung to express appreciation for prophetic leadership in
our day.
*Prayer of Invocation
*Response
The Ongoing Search for Truth
Reading: A Teenager’s Search for Truth through Scripture and Prayer
see below
Hymn Story
We sing next a hymn that celebrates the search for the revealment
of God’s truth throughout the ages and relates this search
specifically to the birth of our movement. The hymn was written for a
"Quest for Christ" series of meetings held at the Stone
Church in 1953. Roy Cheville, legendary professor of religion and
campus pastor at Graceland College, was to lead the singing, a role
he, and those who sang, relished enthusiastically. He wanted a hymn
that caught up the theme of the series—that the ever living Christ
is available to all. As so often happened when he was unable to find a
hymn that exactly caught up the theme as he understood it, he penned
this text himself. The first stanza of "Afar in Old Judea"
speaks of the baptism of Christ in the Jordan River and the subsequent
confirmation of the Holy Spirit. The second stanza tells of the visit
of Christ to ancient America as recorded in the Book of Mormon. The
third stanza refers to the vision of Joseph Smith in the grove, and
the last stanza affirms that the Christ of the ages still lives and is
available to us today.
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Hymn: "Afar in Old Judea"
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HS 296 |
The Vision of Zion
Reading
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Reader 1:
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Surely Zion is the city of our God; and surely
Zion cannot fall, neither be moved out of her place, for God is there, and
the hand of the Lord is there, and he hath sworn by the power of his might
to be her salvation, and her high tower; therefore verily thus saith the
Lord, Let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion, THE PURE IN HEART.
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Reader 2:
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Now, as you have asked, behold, I say unto you,
Keep my commandments, and seek to bring forth and establish the cause of
Zion: seek not for riches but for wisdom; and, behold, the mysteries of
God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold,
he that hath eternal life is rich.
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Reader 1:
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And the Lord called his people Zion, because
they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there
was no poor among them.
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—Doctrine and Covenants 94:5b–c, 6:3,
36:2h–i
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Hymn Story
When the Latter Day Saint movement was little more than a year old,
William Wines Phelps read the Book of Mormon and moved his family to
Kirtland to learn more about this new church. In a revelation dated
June 1831, he was told that he should be baptized and ordained an
elder. Phelps’ background in political affairs and journalism would
be put to good use by the movement. In June 1832, when the first issue
of The Evening and the Morning Star came off the press Phelps
had set up in Independence, the back page contained six hymns: two by
Phelps, one by Parley P. Pratt, and three hymns borrowed from other
denominations and revised by Phelps to better express Latter Day Saint
theology. The most popular themes included Zion and the
imminent Second Coming of Christ.
In one of these hymns, Phelps was able to catch in a particularly
moving way both the excitement and the struggles of the new movement.
He had experienced firsthand the trials of the early church members
and likened them, in these verses, to the travail of the children of
Israel. The pursuit of the dream of Zion was an integral element of
this message. In his writing, Phelps was inspired by an existing hymn
written by Joseph Swain, which began, "O Thou in whose presence
my soul takes delight." Phelps’s hymn, "Redeemer of
Israel," is one of the important musical expressions of the young
Restoration movement.
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*Hymn: "Redeemer of Israel"
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HS 313 |
Missionary Zeal and the Worldwide Fellowship
Reading
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Reader 1:
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Verily, thus saith the Lord . . . Go ye, go ye
into the world, and preach the gospel to every creature . . . declare the
things which ye have heard and verily believe, and know to be true.
Behold, this is the will of him who hath called you, your Redeemer, even
Jesus Christ.
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Reader 2:
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And again, the Lord shall utter his voice out
of heaven, saying: Hearken, O ye nations of the earth, and hear the words
of that God who made you. O, ye nations of the earth, how often would I
have gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings, but ye would not?
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Reader 1:
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Verily I say unto you again, The time has come
when the voice of the Lord is unto you . . . gather ye out from among the
nations, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Send
forth the elders of my church unto the nations which are afar off; unto
the islands of the sea; send forth unto foreign lands; call upon all
nations . . . yea, let the cry go forth among all people: Awake and arise
. . . Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord.
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—Doctrine
and Covenants 79:1; 43:6a–b; 108:2c, 3a, c–d
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Hymn Story
As Emma Smith worked in Nauvoo to expand her second hymnal to more
than three times the size of the Kirtland hymnal, she must have been
pleased to find texts written for other denominations that also caught
the spirit of the new Latter Day Saint movement. Our next hymn is one
of these existing hymns that must have appealed to early church
members.
"Yes, We Trust the Day Is Breaking," was written in 1809
by an Irishman. Thomas Kelley was the son of an Irish judge and
attended Trinity College in Dublin with the intention of becoming a
member of the bar. While there, he experienced a conversion to
evangelical religion and was ordained into the Episcopal Church of
Ireland. He was a magnetic preacher, a friend to the poor and
oppressed, and a prolific hymn writer. The early church members
appreciated, as should we, the strong testimony of this hymn—that a
new day is dawning for the gospel of Jesus Christ as it is preached
abroad, in lands far and wide, through the power of God.
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Hymn: "Yes, We Trust the Day Is Breaking" stanzas 1,
2, and 4
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The Hymnal (1956) 441
(Tune: HS 231) |
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Yes, we trust the day is breaking;
/Joyful times are near at hand;
God, the mighty God is speaking /By his word in every land;
When he chooses, When he chooses, /Darkness flies at his command.
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| 2. |
While the foe becomes more daring, /While
he enters like a flood,
Christ, the Savior, is preparing /Means to spread his truth abroad;
Every language, Every language /Soon shall tell the love of God.
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| 4. |
God of Jacob, high and glorious, /Let thy
people see thy hand;
Let the gospel be victorious /Through the world, in every land;
Then shall idols, Then shall idols, /Perish, Lord, at thy command. |
Stewardship and the Sacredness of All Things
Reading
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Reader 1:
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Wherefore, verily I say unto you, that all
things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a
law which was temporal . . . for my commandments are spiritual.
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Reader 2:
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And again, a commandment I give unto you
concerning your stewardship which I have appointed unto you: behold, all
these properties are mine . . . and if the properties are mine then ye are
stewards, otherwise ye are no stewards. But verily, I say unto you, I have
appointed unto you to be stewards . . . indeed.
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Reader 1:
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Our heavenly Father is more liberal in His
views, and boundless in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to
believe or receive . . . He says: "Ask and ye shall receive, seek and
ye shall find" . . . no good thing will I withhold from them who walk
uprightly before me, and do my will in all things.
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—Doctrine and Covenants 28:9a, c;
101:10a–c;
Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints,
B.H. Roberts, editor (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1960), 5:136.
Blessing and Offering of Mission Tithes
The Genius of Shared Ministry
Reading
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Reader 1:
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Therefore, let every [person] stand in his own
office, and labor in his own calling; and let not the head say unto the
feet it hath no need of the feet, for without the feet how shall the body
be able to stand? Also, the body hath need of every member, that all may
be edified together, that the system may be kept perfect.
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Reader 2:
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Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God, ye
are called to the work, for, behold, the field is white already to
harvest, and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same
layeth up in store that he perish not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;
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Reader 1:
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And faith, hope, charity, and love, with an eye
single to the glory of God, qualifies him for the work.
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—Doctrine and Covenants 83:21; 4:1c–e
Hymn Story
One of the most talented hymn writers of our own time is Geoffrey
Spencer, former president of the Council of Twelve Apostles. His eleven
hymns in Hymns of the Saints are admirable in the beautiful and
profound way in which they express key elements of our faith today. This
hymn is no exception, as the author catches up in a few verses what he
feels is the essence of Restoration theology. Brother Spencer has
explained how the hymn came into being:
Frequently in my contacts in the field, I would encounter the
question, in one form or another, "What does the church believe
today?" What I attempted to do here was to incorporate into the
text what I believed to be foundational beliefs of the Restoration.
With this in mind, I referred briefly to the concepts of: (1)
restoration; (2) the living presence of divine power for the task; (3)
the sacredness of all things; (4) the unity of spirit and element; (5)
the ongoing search for truth; (6) men and women together in ministry;
(7) the role of the church as sin-bearer; (8) the power of our
heritage; and (9) the experience of the God who calls us into the
future. In the course of working up the text, I found other ideas
pressing for inclusion, or so it seemed, but resisted the temptation
to add other stanzas.
—Richard Clothier, "398 Let Us Give Praise to the
God of Creation,"
A Heritage of Hymns (Independence: Herald House, 1996), 144.
These nine concepts, including the unique concept of shared
ministry, were incorporated masterfully into the five stanzas of the
hymn, "Let Us Give Praise to the God of Creation."
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Hymn: "Let Us Give Praise to the God of Creation"
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HS 398 |
The Witness of the Gospel
A short testimony [five to six minutes in length] of a blessing
that has resulted from one of the elements of the gospel message
lifted up in this service
OR a brief message on a related topic such as "The Gospel—Then
and Now."
The Continuing Revelation of God
Reading
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Reader 1:
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Verily, verily I say unto you, I will impart
unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill
your soul with joy, and then shall ye know, or by this shall you know, all
things whatsoever you desire of me, which is pertaining unto things of
righteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive.
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Reader 2:
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A person may profit by noticing the first
intimations of the Spirit of Revelation; for instance, when you feel pure
intelligence flowing unto you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas,
that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon;
(i.e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of
God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and
understanding it, you may grow into the principle of Revelation, until you
become perfect in Christ Jesus.
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—Doctrine and Covenants 10:7a–b
Joseph Smith, Millennial Star 17, 279
The Story of Our Closing Hymn
It is fitting that we bring our service to a close with a hymn that
is dear to the heart of every Latter Day Saint—a hymn that grew out
of the Pentecostal experiences in Kirtland, Ohio, prior to the
completion and dedication of the temple. Tongues, visions, and
prophecies were enjoyed on several occasions; in one particular quorum
session, those attending reported "a great flow of the Holy
Spirit… like fire in their bones, so that they could not hold their
peace, but were constrained to cry hosanna to God and the Lamb" [The
History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
(Independence: Herald House, 1896), 2:23–24]. With his poetic gifts,
W. W. Phelps formulated the words of a hymn that caught up the
powerful spirit of this remarkable period. "The Spirit of
God" was printed as the last entry in Emma’s hymnal, which
actually came off the presses only a few weeks before the temple
dedication in March, and the hymn was sung at the dedication service
by a large choir seated in the pews at all four corners of the temple.
Surely it was a memorable moment for all who attended, for it is
recorded that the benedictory prayer by Sidney Rigdon was "ended
with loud acclamations of Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna to God and the
Lamb, Amen, Amen, and Amen" (Clothier, 81).
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*Hymn: "The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning"
OR "The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning"
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HS 33
R-18 |
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—By Request: Songs for the Community
of Christ (Herald House, 2004).
This version adds a stanza and includes an alteration in the refrain.
*Prayer of Benediction
*Sending Forth Statement
The message of this hour is beautifully summed up in a prophetic
statement made by Joseph Smith Jr., writing in the Times and Seasons
in Nauvoo, May 2, 1842. He said at that time, "Generations yet
unborn will dwell with peculiar delight upon the scenes that we have
passed through, the privations that we have endured; the untiring zeal
that we have manifested; the insurmountable difficulties that we have
overcome in laying the foundation of a work that brought about the glory
and blessings which they will realize." The truth of this prophecy
will be born out in the lives of each one of us.
And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of [Jesus
Christ], this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him, that
he lives. Amen.
—Doctrine and Covenants 76:3g
*Postlude
Note that the two hymns from The Hymnal refer to the 1956
(gray) hymnal. Words should be printed for the congregation if
sufficient copies of this hymnal are not available.
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A Teenager’s Search for Truth through Scripture and Prayer
Excerpted from The History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints
(Independence: Herald House, 1896), 1:7–11.
As the following is read at a microphone, the suggested
actions could be dramatized on stage by a male teenager following the
notations in italics, or these notations could be ignored and the text could
simply be presented as a reading.
The Restoration movement began with the search of a teenager for religious
truth. In one of several accounts of his first encounter with the Divine,
Joseph describes his experience in the following words: (Actor enters and
sits, reading Bible.)
There was in the place where we lived an unusual excitement on the subject
of religion . . . So great was the confusion and strife among the different
denominations that it was impossible for a person young as I was . . . [I was
at this time in my fifteenth year] . . . to come to any certain conclusion who
was right, and who was wrong . . . While I was laboring under the extreme
difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was
one day reading the epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which
reads: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all
men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
(Actor looks up, in deep thought.) Never did any passage of scripture
come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine .
. . I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed
wisdom from God I did . . . At length I came to the conclusion that I must
either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs;
that is, ask of God . . . (Actor stands and moves to another spot on
stage.) So, in accordance with this my determination, to ask of God, I
retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful
clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the
first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my
anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally. (Actor
kneels and looks up in prayer.)
. . . Having looked around me and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and
began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so when
immediately (Actor buries head in hands, in anguish.) I was seized upon
by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such astonishing influence
over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness
gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to
sudden destruction. (Actor looks up again in prayer.) But exerting all
my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which
had seized upon me . . . just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of
light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun; which descended
gradually until it fell upon me. (Actor continues to look up, in great
awe.)
. . . When the light rested upon me I saw two personages (whose brightness
and glory defy all description) standing above me in the air. One of them
spake unto me, calling me by name, and said (pointing to the other),
"This is my beloved Son, hear him." . . . No sooner . . . did I get
possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the personages
who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right . . . and
which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them . . . Many
other things did he say unto me which I cannot write at this time. When I came
to myself again I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven . . .
I had seen a vision; I knew it . . . and I could not deny it . . . [I would]
continue as I was until further directed; I had found the testimony of James
to be true. (Actor reverently leaves stage.)
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