John Adamson
Grace Church, Allentown
Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come;
’tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
My life has been changed forever by church music. This is no exaggeration. If children’s choir counts, I’ve been involved in church music since age 6, a musician at Grace Episcopal (Allentown) for 22 years, and for 30 years, my “day job” has been designing electronics for church organs. I really didn’t plan this…if I had, I would have taken organ lessons.
The thing is, your life has been changed forever by church music, too. After reading the verse above, some of your are hearing the music in your head right now, and probably will be for the next hour (sorry for that). These aren’t the opening lines. No musical cues here. The music and texts get into our bones and become a part of us. There’s a power here that transcends the ordinary.
The last years before my Dad died, we had very few clues as to how much of him was still with us. But put him in church, with hymns sung around him, and the gleam in his eyes was unmistakable joy.
Wherever this journey takes you, take hymns with you. Sounds almost silly, right? But they’re already with you, just waiting for the effort of remembering.
Photo taken of Window at Grace Church, Allentown by Anne E. Kitch