attributed to St. Francis of Assisi

Hear the story of St. Patrick, his kidnapping, escape and return to his captors, which resulted in the evangelism of Ireland where this text and melody were written.

text Fanny Crosby; tune by Mrs. Joseph Knapp

In 1873, Fanny was visiting with a friend, Mrs. Phoebe Palme Knapp, a musician and wife of the founder of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. During their visit Mrs. Knapp played a tune on her piano, which she had recently written. She then asked Fanny, “What does this tune say?” After kneeling in prayer for a few moments, she rose and declared, “It says, ‘Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!’”

Watch a brief history of Bianco da Siena, a member of the Gesuati and writer of Christian hymns in Italian during the late Middle Ages.

The Ascension Songbook credits “Come Holy Ghost” to Bruce Benedict and Ray Mills, with a copyright in 2006. This isn’t inaccurate per se, but it does leave out the name of Rhabanus Maurus (776–856) who wrote the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus on which the verses are based. “Come Holy Ghost” is sort of a hybrid of a new song and a retuning: Benedict and Mills paraphrased the words of the original hymn to create the words for the verses, and the music and the refrain are new.

written by Robert Robinson (1735-1790)

Watch the story of Robert Robinson (1735-1790), a hurt and rebellious youth from Norfolk who converted following a sermon from George Whitfield. This song was Robinson's "Ebenezer" for his salvation. The video above accounts of an unverifiable story, in which Robinson had wandered from the faith (he had switched denominations several times - Methodist, Baptist, and rumored Unitarian). In this story, Robinson shared a stagecoach with a woman who was humming the hymn, unknowing that Robinson was its author. Robinson then confessed, "Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then."

by Elise Massa & Stacey Regan

This song was written specifically to mark Church of the Ascension's capital campaign, "More Than Stones." It captures the story of the Lord's faithfulness in Ascension's history, and our hope to become a missional church within our corner of the Kingdom in Pittsburgh. Watch the video to learn more!

Text: Matthew Bridges (V1 & V5), Godfrey Thring (V2-V4); Music DIADEMATA by Sir George Job Elvey

The hymn Crown Him with Many Crowns has undergone many revisions in words, verses, and theological nuances from its early years of publication. 'Crown Him with Many Crowns' had two writers of different theological backgrounds. Matthew Bridges was born in Essex, England and left the Church of England to become Roman Catholic in 1848. His hymn “Crown him with many crowns” was published in 1851 with six stanzas. However, Protestant churches objected to Bridges "complex references" to the Virgin Mary. During the 1879's Godfrey Thring, an Anglican priest, wrote an additional six verses that capture more Reformed theology. Our 1982 Hymnal, while attributing the text solely to Bridges, actually contains a combination of theological verses: Bridges (V1 & 5) and Thring (V2-4),

The videos on the left represent two very different ways this hymn has been done. And for the record - Church of the Ascension would prefer that people of all generations worship together, regardless of worship style!

African-American Spiritual

"Deep River" is an anonymous African-American spiritual, popularized by Henry Burleigh in his 1916 collection Jubilee Songs of the USA.

Words: William Walsham How

Music: Sine Nomine, Ralph Vaughan Williams

Take a listen to the conversation between Chris Massa, Director of Music & Worship Arts, and Jeanne Kohn, former Director of Music Ministry and currently serving as organist, as they discuss the history of this beloved hymn, the text's author Bishop How, and the composer of the re-tuned melody, Ralph V. Williams, that we have in our 1982 Hymnal.

African-American Spiritual

The history of the negro spiritual is closely linked with the the institution of slavery in the US and its abolition, continuing through the Civil Rights movement. You read a brief history here: https://www.negrospirituals.com/history.htm

Watch the interview on Worship Together with Charlie Hall regarding his song whose inspiration started from Psalm 24.

Translator: Edward Caswall (1857); Tune: WEM IN LEIDENSTAGEN

This hymn has been our traditional Lenten doxology at Church of the Ascension. The swells of the organ, choir and congregation rise at each verse, erupting into an outcry of worship in response to the recollection of Jesus' Passion: "Lift we, then, our voices, swell the mighty flood, louder still and louder, praise the precious blood!" The video above was recorded live from our church at 2014.

Edward Caswall was born in 1814, at Yately, in Hampshire, where his father was a clergyman. In 1832, he went to Brasenose College, Oxford, and in 1836, took a second-class in classics. His humorous work, "The Art of Pluck," was published in 1835; it is still selling at Oxford, having passed through many editions. In 1838, he was ordained Deacon, and in 1839, Priest. He became perpetual Curate of Stratford-sub-Castle in 1840. In 1841, he resigned his incumbency and visited Ireland. In 1847, he joined the Church of Rome. In 1850, he was admitted into the Congregation of the Oratory at Birmingham, where he has since remained. He has published several works in prose and poetry.

"Glory to the Father" was inspired by the Gloria from the Kenyan Eucharistic Rite. Hear the story with a lyric video at the end so you can learn the song!

Listen to Asiedu Biney, Jr. share the story behind "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," written in 1923 by Thomas Chisholm who shortly after his conversion and ordination as a Methodist priest, was bedridden due to severe physical illness.

written by Chris Tomlin, Tomlin shares the original impetus and refinement of the song that in his opinion "was just too simple."

Chris Tomlin discusses how the World Edition of "How Great of Our God" came about with the help of music ministers from around the globe.

by Nathaniel Bassey

Chris Massa, Director of Music & Worship Arts, shares how Imela was introduced to Ascension, and why it is an important song of thankfulness in our repertoire.

written by Charles H. Gabriel (1856-1932)

Charles Gabriel grew up in Iowa (USA) and was a self-trained singing school educator. According to UMC Disciples, "Gabriel is credited with between 7000 and 8000 songs, thirty-five gospel song collections, Sunday school song books, collections for men's and women’s choirs, numerous cantatas, including 41 Christmas cantatas, and music education texts. He wrote under numerous pseudonyms, making it often difficult to know the precise number of songs he wrote."

Hear the story of the hymn writer Charlotte Elliott, whose physical suffering led her from rage and bitterness to the peace of Jesus Christ through the invitation of a visiting evangelist who invited her to "Come as she was."

by Paul Zach & Andy Zipf

"Let All Creation Sing" is part of the Doxecology Album produced by Resound Worship and released in 2020. According to the Doxecology website, the writers Paul Zach and Andy Zipf write, "This song was inspired by Psalm 96 where it talks about the fields, trees, and the sea all praising the Lord in their own way. I'm glad that we can join in with ALL of creation (including the narwhals and armadillos)."

In the video (left), Joel Payne of Resound Worship shares the heart behind the Doxecology album "When we go to church, and especially when we sing, it's sometimes as if we've forgotten about the rest of the world. what we sing in our worship lange, and what we don't sing, really does affect how we view things and set our priorities." Resound Worship invited songwriters to submit songs about ecology, creation, and Christian hope.

by Matt Armstrong, Ryan Flanigan, Micah Massey and Nate Moore

According to songwriter Ryan Flanigan, "Four songwriters crammed into a little writing room and began wondering what it would be like if people thought of Christians as the ones who were first to take care of those in need, to provide a home for the fatherless, and to run towards disaster." After reading "The Next Culture War" (Brookes) and Matthew 5:14-16, the song came together. Read Micah Massey's story here.

by Joel Payne

Listen to Joel Payne share the inspiration behind his setting of the ancient text of the Kyrie. We sang this setting throughout the 2021 Lenten season.

Author: Claudia Frances Hernaman (1873)

According to John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) Claudia Hernaman was born at Addlestone, Surrey, Oct. 19, 1838 and composed more than 150 hymns, a great proportion of which are for children, and also some translations from the Latin.

by Chris Tomlin

From Songfacts: Chris Tomlin told Christian Music Today that good worship songs occur naturally. He explained: "The songs that come out of your heart as a response to God as you're singing at the piano or reading Scripture - those are the songs [that have the most impact]. That's why I'm most proud of a song on the new record like 'Praise the Father, Praise the Son.' It came about naturally. When you're just singing out to God and worshipping him, those are the songs that last."

We were very excited to talk with Emorja Roberson about the song, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" by Thomas A. Dorsey. Learn more about the iconic gospel song, its author, and how this song still resonates with the universal church today.

written by Charles W. Everest (1814-1877)

According to John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)Charles Everest was born at East Windsor, CT in 1814. In 1833, he published Visions of Death, and Other Poems; from this work his popular hymn is taken -

Take up thy cross, the Saviour said. Following Jesus. The original text of this hymn differs very materially from that which is usually found in the hymn-books. The most widely known form of the text is that in Hymns Ancient & Modern, where it appeared in 1861. It was copied by the Compilers from another collection, but by whom the alterations were made is unknown. The nearest approach to the original is in Horder's Congregational Hymn Book, 1884. Original text in Biggs's English Hymnology, 1873, p. 24.

Written by Nigerian songwriter/worship pastor Osinachi Kalu (Sinach) Joseph, the song is a simple yet profound that claims his presence, his work among his people, and names the Lord in ways that we don't often hear in our worship repertoire (Way Maker, Promise Keeper). Check out our Song Stories video featuring our friend and church member, Ronke Adebajo.

by Wendell Kimbrough

Wendell Kimbrough is a music minister in Alabama whose passion is to write singable Psalms for which congregations can engage and worship the Lord. This video tells that story.

Words: David Wright (2005); Music: James E. Clemens

We have often sung this song during penitential seasons. It is a contemporary hymn based on the text of Psalm 32 with a lens of the NT. Pay attention to the weight of the repeated words in each stanza ("silence/bitter", "spirit/turning", "wander/Savior".