• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
David LaMotte

David LaMotte

Speaker • Author • Musician

  • About
    • Bio
    • Speaking
    • Music
    • Patreon
    • Blog
    • Trips & Retreats
    • Projects
    • Videos
    • Media Articles
    • Calendar
  • Calendar
  • Store
  • Contact
    • Contact David
    • Booking Inquiry
    • Subscribe
    • Blog
  • David’s TEDx

Search David LaMotte

A hymn for these days

July 3, 2020 by David LaMotte

In 2019, I was commissioned by the North Carolina Council of Churches to write a hymn in honor of their eighty-fifth anniversary in 2020. Though the lyrics were written months before the world’s focus turned to the twin pandemics of Covid-19 and racism, the hymn seems to resonate with these turbulent times, and calls us to the work of justice, in broad and inclusive community.

One of the requests that the Council made of me was that the hymn work in various musical styles and contexts, and in order to communicate that, the Council also commissioned five other musical interpretations of the hymn, in addition to my own. Each version has its own audio, video, lead sheets/scores, etc. at Convergence Music Project.

If you just want to listen to the hymn yourself, you can get the MP3 at Convergence. If you’d like to perform it, or share it in a service (in person or online), all the resources for each version are at the links below.  If you would like to license the hymn to use in a service, you can do that through these links (or list CCLI #7153770, if you have a CCLI license).

• Original acoustic/folk version, by David LaMotte

• Traditional hymnal/congregational arrangement, by Wil Smith

• Acoustic worship band arrangement, by Zach Light-Wells

• Pop/gospel arrangement, by The Many

• Banjo/traditional arrangement, by Joe Newberry

• Anthem/four-part choral arrangement, by Wil Smith

Sheet music scores and lead sheets include chord box charts for banjo and open-tuning guitar, melody sheets, lead sheets for band arrangements, piano score, and full choral score for the SATB choir arrangement, as well as lyric videos for each arrangement, and a scrolling sheet music video for choir instruction and performance. Check out the links above and explore!

And if you are inclined to record the hymn, please let me know.  I’d love to hear your interpretation.

Grace and peace,

David

Filed Under: Music News, Peace Work Tagged With: hymn, new song

Sign Up for David's Monthly Newsletter

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Copyright © 2025 · David LaMotte · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Contact
  • Subscribe