The Winter Hymn Project, Week 2

And is it ever winter! From snow storms to frigid days when the cold enters every fibre of our beings. It is achingly beautiful, the play of the moonlight on the clear palette of snow at dawn, to the sounds of trees yawning and cracking in the forest…

This week’s hymns come to us from our community of friends both close by and far away.

Dorothy Brown: MV 169 When Hands Reach Out Beyond Divides

Ronee and I always liked this one, both for the music and the words.

*Ronee was a church member, then a choir member too, sitting next to Dorothy as part of the all-female tenor section! She moved to Ottawa a year and a half ago – stripped of a proper send-off by Covid, though I still have plans to get her back for a Sunday this spring.  

Linda Young: VU 664 What a Friend We Have in Jesus

We joined Southwest United on Woodland first in 1993 when we moved from Montreal East. Have always been associated with a United Church. 

Our grandchildren were baptized at the Church on Woodland. 

The Church has always been a center of my life. It represents Peace, Love among family and community. Thank you for using my song. It means a lot to me. 

Sandra Thompson: MV 215 Peace Be With You

I would love for you to include this hymn that I love from the old Voices United, ‘I the Lord of Sea and Sky’ please, and if possible, my other favourite ‘Peace be with you, peace forever.’ Thank you ------- and to the congregation for not forgetting about me and especially keeping me in prayer. Miss all of you!

*I promised Sandra that we’d sing I the Lord of Sea and Sky again soon, but since we sang it last Sunday, we’d wait a few weeks!

Beryl and Angie Barraclough: VU 352 I Danced in the Morning

Some of my Mom's greatest stories were about dancing during the Blitz when the bombs were falling. She and her friends would all head to the Palace to dance. In honor of that memory, you played it at her funeral in February 2010. I'm sure she would have loved it.