When We Proclaim Christ as God’s Son
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.
For many denominations, the Transfiguration of Our Lord is celebrated on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, which in 2024 falls early on 11 February. A hymn based on specific details of the Transfiguration as recorded in the Gospel According to Saint Mark (8.27-9.32), as appointed for Year B in the Revised Common Lectionary, is When We Proclaim Christ as God’s Son. The text by James Hart Brumm (b. 1962) also addresses the tradition in some churches of “burying the Alleluia” on Transfiguration Sunday, just before the beginning of Lent on the following Wednesday. With its final stanza proclaiming “So we now moderate our praise to join Christ in these journey days, sure that this Love we found will raise our Alleluias once again,” this hymn would lend itself well as a hymn, during which the liturgical act of “burying the Alleluia” often occurs. Suggested Tune: TRURO (LM)
Brumm, who holds degrees from Westminster Choir College, New Brunswick Seminary, and Drew University, is an active author, editor, scholar, hymn writer, and ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America. Three volumes of his hymns texts: Rhythms of Praise, Alleluias All Our Days and Out of the Ordinary are included in the catalog of Leupold Editions.
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