“As the Wheat of Fertile Hillsides”
This month we continue our Hymn of the Month series in which one or more hymns drawn from collections published by Leupold Editions will be posted on the opening page of the website for consideration by pastors and musicians who may wish to introduce the hymn to their congregations the following month. The Hymn of the Month will often be thematically appropriate for a particular season of the church year or it may be related to a more general theme about the church’s mission in contemporary society. Thus, pastors and/or musicians may wish to have the choir introduce the hymn on the first Sunday of the month or season and then invite the congregation to join with the choir in singing the hymn on each of the remaining Sundays. Additional hymns will occasionally be suggested for a particular Sunday in the church year or for annual commemorations, such as the liturgies of Holy Week; such hymns may only be appropriate on the designated day, or they might be used as a Hymn of the Month in anticipation of or in response to the particular day observed on the church calendar.
The Hymn of the Month for October 2023 is “As the Wheat of Fertile Hillsides” by John A. Dalles (b. 1954). As a Eucharistic text, the hymn is appropriate not only for World Communion Sunday, the first Sunday in October for congregations who observe that commemoration, but for every Sunday of the month for congregations who celebrate the Eucharist weekly. The first stanza focuses on “Christ, the bread of life we share,” while the second stanza centers on “Christ, the Cup of blessedness.” The final stanza invites all to the table with the invitation, “Take and eat, this is Christ’s body! Take and drink, this is Christ’s blood!,” and proclaims that “we are gathered and made one” in Christ through sharing the Eucharistic meal.
John A. Dalles is a retired Presbyterian pastor who served most recently as Interim Senior Minister for Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. A graduate of Penn State University (BS), Lancaster Theological Seminary (MDiv), and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (DMin), Dalles was previously pastor for churches in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Florida. As a hymnwriter, his texts have appeared in hymnals in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Two volumes of his collected hymns, We Turn to God (2010) and God Is the Singer’s Friend (2013) appear in the catalog of the Leupold Foundation.
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