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Connor Parishioner wins Hard Gospel Hymn-writing competition
The winning entry from the Hard Gospel Hymn-writing competition is 'All the loves' written by Roddy Cowie, a lay reader based at St Bartholomew's Church, Stranmillis Belfast, and long time choir-member there. The hymn will receive its world premiere on the 19th January 2008 at the Hard Gospel Conference on Immigration in Swords, Co Dublin when it will be performed by the Discovery Gospel Choir.
There were 38 hymns submitted in total from a wide variety of sources. The judges Melanie Clark Pullen, Bishop Edward Darling and Lorna Palmer met in Belfast on Friday 7th December to decide upon a winner. The main consideration for the competition was the theme 'Love God and love your neighbour'. Each submission also had to be able to be
performed in a number of locations and on a wide variety of musical instruments, making it suitable for both liturgical and more informal acts of worship.
Roddy Cowie is a psychologist by profession, at Queen's University in Belfast, and he said that the hymn was inspired by the book, The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James, one of the founding fathers of psychology. 'The love he has in mind', Roddy said, 'is a dynamic force that overwhelms all the various competing impulses that usually pull human beings one way and another, and harnesses all their energy to its own goal'.
Bishop Edward Darling, one of the adjudicators and Editor of the current Church Hymnal, was so impressed with 'All the loves' that he strongly believes that this winning text and accompanying tune, from such a wide variety of submissions, should be made widely available to all parishes throughout the island. 'This,' he said, 'would make a deep impression on the whole Church of Ireland as to what the purpose of the Hard Gospel project is all about. The hymn would be a lasting fruit of the message which the Hard Gospel has been proclaiming since its inception.' A transcript of the winning hymn will therefore be sent to every parish in the Church of Ireland, as an added resource in their weekly worship. You can find the tune (and other songs) on Roddy's website (please click here). There are also plans to release a recorded CD of ‘All the Loves’ for parish use, at a later date.
by Roddy Cowie
Love your God, and love his people
Surely, love your mother;
Love your father, love your sister,
Truly, love your brother;
Love your husband, love your wife
And love your son and daughter;
Love through all your life on Earth
And then for ever after.
Love your friends, and fellow Christians
Love your kindly neighbour;
Love the ones you hardly know
Who share your daily labour;
Love the ones who do you wrong,
And those who hate you dearly;
Try to love as God loves you
And don't pretend that's easy.
Love the stars that God threw out
Across the face of nothing;
Love the rocky world he made
It oceans and its mountains;
Love the clouds and sweeping rains
That water grass and forest
And the lovely living things
His loving eye holds dearest.
Love is pointing all you are
Towards the one you cherish,
Never counting what it costs
To let your loved one flourish;
Looking up with wonder
That the world contains such glory;
Love directs the Universe
And makes creation holy.
For further information, please contact:
Philip McKinley
Dublin-based Hard Gospel Project Officer
Church of Ireland House
Church Avenue
Rathmines
Dublin 6
Mob: +353 (0)87 132 5531
E-mail: Philip McKinley
Visit our website at www.hardgospel.net
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