302. In the Quiet Consecration

1 In the quiet consecration
of this glad communion hour,
here we rest in you, Lord Jesus,
taste your love and touch your power.

2 Christ, the living bread from heaven,
Christ, whose blood is drink indeed,
here by faith and with thanksgiving,
in our hearts on you we feed.

3 By your death for sin atoning,
by your resurrection life,
hold us fast in joyful union;
strengthen us to face the strife;

4 while in joyful holy radiance
shines the feast that is to come
after conflict, toil, and testing
your great feast of love and home!

Text Information
First Line: In the quiet consecration
Title: In the Quiet Consecration
Author: Constance H. Coote (1910, alt.)
Meter: 87 87
Language: English
Publication Date: 1987
Scripture: ;
Topic: Bread of Life; Lord's Supper; Eternal Life (4 more...)
Tune Information
Name: KINGDOM
Composer: V. Earle Copes (1959)
Meter: 87 87
Key: G Major
Copyright: © 1959, Abingdon Press. Used by permission.


Text Information:

Scripture References:
st. 2 = John 6:51
st. 3 = John 6:56

This fine Lord's Supper hymn combines a number of important images: intimate union with Christ (st. 1), participation in the sacrament "by faith and with thanksgiving" (st. 2), the support and strength of Christ's resurrection life (st. 3), and the sacrament's foretaste of the heavenly feast with the Lamb (st. 4). Gently but firmly supported by the tune KINGDOM, the reflective text is for "quiet consecration" and meditation. The song also stands out as a Lord's Supper hymn with an apocalyptic focus.

Constance H. Coote (b. England, 1844; d. Turnbridge Wells, Kent, England, 1936) wrote "In the Quiet Consecration" in 1910 and first published it in her At His Table (1913); later the hymn found wider circulation when published in The Church Hymnal for the Christian Year (1917).

Although Coote spent much of her life as a single woman and a widow, she is known mainly because of her marriage to Algernon Coote, a pastor who later became Sir Algernon, a baronet. Throughout her life she wrote hymns and other devotional poetry.

Liturgical Use:
During the Lord's Supper.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

KINGDOM features a gentle melodic contour and subtle changes in rhythmic structure (that soften the trochaic meter of the text. Sing this tune in harmony and in two long lines. This communion hymn can be framed by the equally meditative "Alleluia" (see 640). Good singers may improvise additional parts (especially a higher descant) on the "Alleluia" setting. Sing it once at the beginning of the hymn and again after the fourth stanza, or perhaps have everyone sing the "Alleluia" setting and have the choir sing three hymn stanzas.

V. Earle Copes (b. Norfolk, VA, 1921) composed KINGDOM in 1959 for the hymn text "For the Bread Which Thou Hast Broken," written by Louis F. Benson; the tune name derives from the word "kingdom" in the final line of that text. KINGDOM was first; used publicly at the 1960 National Convocation of Methodist Youth, and it was later published as an anthem. The first hymnal to publish it was The Methodist Hymnal (1964)

An ordained Methodist minister, Copes has served mainly in the musical ministry of the church. He was educated at Davidson College and Union Theological Seminary, obtaining degrees in both church music and theology. From 1946 to 1949 he was J minister of music at the Highland Park Methodist Church, Dallas, Texas, and at Christ United Methodist Church, Dayton, Ohio. In subsequent years he taught organ and church music at Hendrix College, Conway, Arizona, and at Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa. Copes also edited the Methodist periodical Music Ministry (1958-1967), taught at Birmingham Southern College in Alabama (1967-1973), and served as minister of music at Christ United Methodist Church, Kettering, Ohio (1973-1986). Now retired, Copes has published numerous works for organ and choir.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook


Media
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(Faith Alive Christian Resources)
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