963

Heleluyan (Hallelujah, We Are Singing)

Scripture References

Confessions and Statements of Faith References

Further Reflections on Confessions and Statements of Faith References

How can the worshiper not conclude with such acclamations! When God is the “overflowing source of all good” (Belgic Confession, Article 1) and when he has provided all the benefits of Christ’s atonement and makes them ours so that “they are more than enough to absolve us from our sins,” (Belgic Confession, Article 22) our hearts cry out to him with praise and adoration. Therefore, Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 52, Question and Answer 128 includes the ending doxology of the Lord’s Prayer and teaches that “your holy name, and not we ourselves, should receive all the praise, forever.” And so consistent with these thoughts, Our World Belongs to God, paragraph 2 exclaims, “Our World Belongs to God! God is King: Let the earth be glad! Christ is victor: His rule has begun! The Spirit is at work: Creation is renewed! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!” And the Belhar Confession, Section 5 concludes: “Jesus is Lord. To the one and only God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be the honor and the glory forever and ever.”

963

Heleluyan (Hallelujah, We Are Singing)

Additional Prayers

A Prayer of Acclamation
 
With Christians everywhere, we sing to you, gracious God. We sing to you in alto voice, in bass, in soprano, in tenor. We sing to you, our God, because you have done marvelous things through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
— Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.
963

Heleluyan (Hallelujah, We Are Singing)

Tune Information

Name
HELELUYAN
Key
E♭ Major
963

Heleluyan (Hallelujah, We Are Singing)

Hymn Story/Background

The refrain of this traditional Muscogee (Creek) hymn first appeared in print in the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal, commended by Harold D. Jacobs, a Native American member of their Hymnal Revision Committee.  He wrote: “This is a Muscogee (Creek) hymn that originated before or during the Trail of Tears and has been kept familiar in the Muscogee (Creek Indians) through the Oral Tradition.”  The Muskogee (also spelled Mvuskogee) live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. The full hymn was published in Muskoge Hymns of Faith, and three stanzas are included here as translated by Brian Wren.  
— Emily Brink

Author Information

Brian Wren (b. 1936) is English by birth, American by choice, Reformed by Tradition, Presbyterian by membership, United Methodist by marriage and Emeritus Professor of Worship, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He is a writer, preacher, worship leader and designer, and internationally published hymn-poet, with entries in most recent denominational hymnals in North America, Britain and Australia. Some of his hymn poems have been translated into Finnish, French, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish and Korean.

Brian holds undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Oxford University. He is a Minister of the United Reformed Church (UK). His publications include Education for Justice (1979), What Language Shall I Borrow? - God-Talk in Worship: A Male Response to Feminist Theology (1989- reissued 2009), Piece Together Praise - A Theological Journey: Poems and Collected Hymns Thematically Arranged (1996), Praying Twice: The Music and Words of Congregational Song (2000), Advent, Christmas and Epiphany: Liturgies and Prayers for Public Worship (2008), Hymns for Today (2009) and seven hymn collections totaling 250 hymns, the most recent being Love's Open Door (2009). He is a Fellow of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. Most of his hymns are published through Hope Publishing Company (USA) and Stainer & Bell (UK)
— Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Brian-A.-Wren/e/B001IQW922])

Brian Wren (b. 1936) is English by birth, American by choice, Reformed by tradition, Presbyterian by membership, United Methodist by marriage and Emeritus Professor of Worship, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He is a writer, preacher, worship leader and designer, and internationally published hymn-poet, with entries in most recent denominational hymnals in North America, Britain and Australia. Some of his hymn poems have been translated into Finnish, French, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish and Korean.

Brian holds undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Oxford University. He is a Minister of the United Reformed Church (UK). His publications include Education for Justice (1979), What Language Shall I Borrow? - God-Talk in Worship: A Male Response to Feminist Theology (1989- reissued 2009), Piece Together Praise - A Theological Journey: Poems and Collected Hymns Thematically Arranged (1996), Praying Twice: The Music and Words of Congregational Song (2000), Advent, Christmas and Epiphany: Liturgies and Prayers for Public Worship (2008), Hymns for Today (2009) and seven hymn collections totaling 250 hymns, the most recent being Love's Open Door (2009). He is a Fellow of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. Most of his hymns are published through Hope Publishing Company (USA) and Stainer & Bell (UK).
— Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Brian-A.-Wren/e/B001IQW922])

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