"We've Come This Far By Faith:" Celebrating Black Sacred Music

Leon Roberts

We’re focusing on the rich heritage of the Black sacred music tradition, and we’re blessed to be joined by two important voices: Leon Roberts (recorded in a presentation from 1985), and Lynne Gray. Join co-hosts Zack Stachowski and Matt Reichert for an exploration of the treasury of hymns, spirituals, and gospel songs. You’ll hear lots of standard and familiar music, and you’ll also hear selections from several contemporary composers.

So, please open your hymnals!

Lynne Gray

Episode links

You can find out more about the work of Leon Roberts by visiting his composer pages at OCP and GIA Publications. You can find out more about Lynne Gray and her work by visiting St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.

The recording of Leon Roberts’ presentation was from the 1985 convention of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. You can find out more about the work of NPM by visiting www.npm.org.

You can purchase the song recordings you heard in this episode: “We’ve Come This Far By Faith” (Goodson), “With Hands Lifted Up” (traditional), “Traditional Prayer with Moans” (anonymous), “Deep River” (anonymous), “Great is Thy Faithfulness” (traditional), “The Solid Rock (My Hope is Built on Nothing Less)” (Mote), “Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee” (Wesley), “Lead Me, Guide Me” (Akers), “We Shall Walk Through the Valley in Peace” (Hatter), “The Lord is Blessing Me Right Now” (traditional), “Taste and See” (Moore), “Psalm 27: The Lord is My Light” (Harbor), “Lord, I Love You (God is So Good)” (Jansen), “Hail, Queen of Heaven” (Holland), “Holy, Holy, Holy” from the Mass of New Beginnings (Petty), “You’re the One” (Roberts).

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Special Feature: "Pilgrims and Companions" and "The Liturgical Ensemble"

In our most recent episode, Zack and Matt spoke to composer Marty Haugen about the song “All Are Welcome." In this rich conversation, Marty shared many thoughts about the importance of congregational song, how he writes and arranges his music with parish musicians in mind, and the ways that faith communities can and should address current issues through the lens of the Gospel. These are important considerations for anyone involved in parish ministry. But, getting started can be difficult without the right resources. During our conversation, Marty shared with us two projects that he is working on that can help.

Feature links

You can purchase both the song scores and audio recording for the collection "Pilgrims and Companions" from GIA Publications.

You can view more information about the National Association of Pastoral Musicians convention, including the three-part liturgical ensemble workshop co-led by Marty Haugen, by visiting the NPM website. You can also register to attend the convention. 

You can find out more about Marty's compositions, articles, books, and other publications at his website, www.martyhaugen.com.

All content of this podcast is property of Open Your Hymnal or its content suppliers and is protected by United States and international copyright laws. For information about this podcast and its use, please contact us.