Song: Never Alone

Never Alone was born in 2002 out of a collaboration of writers, visual artists, storytellers, dancers, theologians, poets and musicians linked to The Uniting Church in Australia (Victoria), in an initiative titled The Lacuna Project.

Lacuna literally means 'gap' or 'space', and is the term used on ancient manuscripts where there are gaps in the text. The Lacuna Project, coordinated by Rev Joan Wright-Howie, met in Victoria (Australia) over many months, exploring ways in which people might explore their own spirituality. There was a strong desire to balance all our neccesary business and busyness with space for God, and attend intentionally to God's still small voice, embracing vulnerability in order to be filled. 


The Lacuna Project produced a kit of resources for personal and community use, including photos, images, poetry, household/garden ideas and music. Importantly the kit was not delivered as a finite bound book, but as a two-holed punch clip folder in which further materials might be inserted along the way. The kit is now out-of-print.


I have provided one of the songs I contributed to the project here. It is a gentle song of reassurance and peace. The only restriction on its use is that it is duly acknowledged. If you make use of it, I'd be delighted to know.

Never Alone vocal score and lyrics
Never Alone piano score

How to teach a song in 4 steps
More songs by Lucy

The Shepherd's Rap

About this Rap
This participatory rap was written for the children's Advent Workshop program at Ringwood Uniting Church, Australia in 1993. It is still fun. Its participatory nature requires the gathered community to join the refrain. While originally written for children, subsequent use has proved there are many young-at-heart folks in churches.

You will need: 
2 shepherds (dressed appropriately) who can carry off the rap
3 people, each to lead one of the community parts (dressed variously as an angel, baby and sheep)
A drum beat in four, using live musos or drum machine

Notes for presentation

• There are no breaks between the spoken lines. Each line should last the same number of beats (count four for each line) flow effortlessly from one to the next. The spoken rhythm of each line will vary.
• The only space where drumming is exposed for a bar or two is during the introduction and after each verse and refrain to allow breathing space.  
• Be prepared to rehearse. Shepherds, angel, baby and sheep should be under no illusions about the need for preparation. 
• As with all drama, memorising parts always produces a superior result. 
• Divide the community into three groups: angels, babies and sheep. Rehearse the refrain beforehand.Please feel free to omit some stanzas in the interest of brevity.

This rap may be used freely for worship and Christian education purposes, with due acknowledgement.
Please send any filmed renditions for inclusion on this site. Have fun with it!

Print the rap (page 1)
Print the rap (page 2)
What is rap?

You may also be interested in The Rap of the 3 Travellers. There are 3 pages to copy.
page 1, page 2, page 3
More Resources for Advent and Christmas

Song for Advent/Holy Week: Shine A Candle

Shine a candle was originally written to accompany the lighting of Advent candles, but may also be of use during Holy Week. It is a song of gentle longing. This song may be sung any number of times, as required. The final refrain may be underlined by singing the line, "till the day when Christ arrives", three times..

How to Play it

The manuscript indicates guitar chords, and also bass notes. The bass brings gravity to the accompaniment, providing equal doses of tension and resolution - such is the suspense of Advent.  Without the bass, the song can be insipid. If you have no bass instrument, the piano can provide this element in octaves.

Tempo

Pace is important. Please note the metronome speed marked.

Shine a Candle is freely offered here for use in worship and for Christian education purposes, with due acknowledgement. Please let me know if you make use of it.

View/Print a copy of the song

More resources for Advent and Christmas 

Song: And it was very good

And it was very good is a retelling of the creation story in Genesis.

It was originally written for a group of primary aged children on a weekend campout at Euroa in 2001, but has wide appeal. It is bright and lively and easy to learn.

The song is freely available for use in worship and for Christian education, with due acknowledgement.
Please let me know if you make use of it.

Print the lyrics
Print the music

song: psalm 107 with drum

Although Psalm 107 with drum  is associated with the season of Lent, it's a song of gratitude for any time of year. 

How to use this song
This song was originally written for those congregations with very limited musical resources. The key to success is that the songleader leads with confidence in the learning stages. All you really need is voices and a hand drum of some sort (the deeper the better), to beat a consistent pattern throughout. 

A simple drum ostinato adds gravity to the song. A guitar is great, but a drum is essential.  It is vital the songleader is very familiar with this song, making continual eye-contact with the community without peering into music. Guitar chords are provided for those with a band set up.
 
What rhythm does the drum play? 
Some suggestions for rhythms are to emulate a simple rhythmic ostinato from the rhythm of the text (eg: "Sat-is-fied").

A skilled percussionist ""all the marvellous" repeated over and over as a rhthmic ostinato is very effective. 

The simplest drum ostinato is often the most effective. Try striking the drum on the first and third beats of each bar, with a flourish to mark the end of the song. An extension of this ostinato would be to insert quavers between the first and third beats. Using the opening sung text as a guide, the drum would play LET - THANK THE LORD - HIS ENDUR -  etc...

What kind of drum?

Any type of hand drum is fine. The deeper the better. It is likely the drummer will need to concentrate on the ostinato, and refrain from singing to retain the integrity of the drum part.

The song may be used freely for worship/christian education with acknowledgement.

Please let me know if you use it in your faith community.

Print the music

How to read rhythm

How to teach a song in 4 steps