Amazing Grace How Sweet The Sound

An incredibly moving picture book biography of the man behind the hymn “Amazing Grace” and the living legacy of the song by New York Times bestselling author Carole Boston Weatherford and award-winning illustrator Frank Morrison. One stormy night at sea, a wayward man named John Newton feared for his life. In his darkest hour he fell to his knees and prayed—and somehow the battered ship survived the storm. Grateful, he changed his ways and became a minister, yet he still owned a slave ship. But in time, empathy touched his heart. A changed man, he used his powerful words to help end slavery in England. Those words became the hymn “Amazing Grace,” a song that has lifted the spirit and given comfort across time and all over the world.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Cloister Walk, a book about Christianity, spirituality, and rediscovered faith. Struggling with her return to the Christian church after many years away, Kathleen Norris found it was the language of Christianity that most distanced her from faith. Words like "judgment," "faith," "dogma," "salvation," "sinner"—even "Christ"—formed what she called her "scary vocabulary," words that had become so codified or abstract that their meanings were all but impenetrable. She found she had to wrestle with them and make them her own before they could confer their blessings and their grace. Blending history, theology, storytelling, etymology, and memoir, Norris uses these words as a starting point for reflection, and offers a moving account of her own gradual conversion. She evokes a rich spirituality rooted firmly in the chaos of everyday life—and offers believers and doubters alike an illuminating perspective on how we can embrace ancient traditions and find faith in the contemporary world.

Lovers of acoustic-flavored, guitar driven worship will want to consider this collection of songs from the likes of Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman and other contemporary worship leaders. The Allens weave several of the songs into blended-worship medleys based on particular themes (e.g., "How Can I Keep from Singing?" is joined with the hymn "I Will Sing the Wondrous Story" and the chorus "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever"). Other nice features include simple but effective narration, rendered by the worship leader (with two optional storytellers). Keeping the narration short (and utilizing familiar songs) allows for the collection to be presented more as a worship concert than a performance, therefore fostering more audience participation than is often the case in a choral musical. The production notes also give instructions for an optional communion service that can be incorporated into the mix.

Tells the story of John Newton and William Cowper, writers of over 350 hymns.

"Amazing Grace" is a song that has inspired millions. From its inception, the words of this beloved hymn have struck a chord across cultures and generations. The author, John Newton, could not have known the impact his words would have. This book highlights the journey Amazing Grace has taken to becoming a modern-day pop-culture phenomenon. When written, Newtons intent was to combine a new song with his New Year's Day sermon, "Faith's Review and Expectation." Subsequently, Amazing Grace was refined and adjusted to fit the more nuanced contexts of the individual communities who adopted it as their own. Refining the tune into today's most recognized cadence was a process that took over one hundred years. Blues, gospel, jazz, folk, and eventually rock and pop music all adopted the song into their respective genres. It also reached beyond church walls and religious gatherings, and moved to streets filled with marchers for civil rights or onto stages of concerts pleading for peace, and into recording studios looking for something new to make a buck.

How to Beat the Cost of Implementing CBW IIIHow your parish can get CBW III without straining its budget: 1) Two-year interest-free financing option allows you to pay in instalments-No payment for 90 days! Order 50 copies or more of CBW III (any combination of Choir and Pew editions). Upon receipt of the invoice, you have three months to pay only one third (1/3) of the amount billed. Pay the second third on the anniversary date of your invoice (a year later), and the last third the following year. No interest will be charged during this period. (Please note that our offer for a two-year interest-free payment plan does not apply to discounted orders.) or...2) Place your order through your diocese and save up to 20%. When placing bulk orders for their parishes, dioceses get a discount. In the case of CBW III, the discount is 20%. We normally bill and ship the order to the diocese, which is then responsible for redistribution. However, for CBW III we have agreed to bill the diocese and ship to individual parishes, when requested.

Stowe traces the evolution of sacred music from colonial times to the present, from the Puritans to Sun Ra, and shows how these cultural encounters have produced a rich harvest of song and faith.