“Daily May We Ask God’s Kindness”
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 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.
HYMN OF THE MONTH FOR JUNE 2024: Text: “Daily May We Ask God’s Kindness,” by John A. Dalles, set to the tune: TUPPERS CREEK, by Roy Hopp,
With its Trinitarian structure, the Hymn of the Month for June 2024 serves well as a Hymn for Trinity Sunday (26 May 2024), with each of the three stanzas devoted to one person of the Trinity. Thus, it could be introduced on that final Sunday in May but could certainly be appropriately sung throughout the month of June, for most Christians encounter the Holy Trinity weekly in reciting the Nicene or Apostles’ Creed. Even in non-creedal churches, Trinitarian imagery is pervasive in liturgy, hymns, and prayers. Upon first glance, John A. Dalles’ (b. 1954) text, Daily May We ask God’s Kindness, seems a bit awkward given its unusual meter (84 84 88 84), which alternates between long and short poetic lines, and surprising rhyme scheme (ababcccb), which only a very good poet could sustain over three stanzas. However, Roy Hopp’s (b. 1951) masterful tune, TUPPERS CREEK, removes any sense of awkwardness, flowing as smoothly as any good hymn tune of a more conventional meter.
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 Uni (BS), Lancaster Theological Seminary (MDiv), and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (DMin), Dalles was previously pastor for churches in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Florida. 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. Roy Hopp is Director of Music at Woodlawn Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Adjunct Professor of Choral Music at Calvin Theological Seminary, where he directs the Calvin Theological Seminary Choir. He studied at Calvin College (BME) and Michigan State University (MM), and, as a composer of church music, he has over 150 published works. A collection of his hymn tunes, Let Voices Break the Silence, was published in 2017 by Leupold Editions.
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