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