Hymns by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

  • Easter Hymns
    • Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16; John 20:1-18
      Early On a Sunday
      PROMISES (11.11.11.9 with Refrain) (Standing on the Promises)
      Book: Gifts of Love
      Easter
    • Matthew 28:1-10; John 20:1-18
      Come and Join the Celebration!
      ANN'S TUNE (8.7.8.7 D) (Newly composed by Hal Hopson)
      NETTLETON (8.7.8.7 D) (Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing)
      This hymn celebrates Christian hope found in Easter with references to Romans 8:26-39.
      "God, we sing, for there is nothing that can keep your love away --
      Not oppression, hardship, famine, things to come or things today.
      Heights and depths cannot defeat us; death will never be the same.
      Christ is risen! So you promise: we have life in Jesus' name."
    • Luke 24:13-35
      Emmaus-Bound on Easter Day
      O WALY WALY (8.8.8.8) (Though I May Speak)
      This hymn celebrates the story of the risen Jesus walking with two disciples.
    • Matthew 28:1-10; John 20:1-18
      God of the Women
      SLANE (10.10.9.10) (Be Thou My Vision)
      Books: Gifts of Love, Voices Found
      This hymn celebrates the faithfulness of biblical women, including as the first witnesses to Jesus' resurrection, and is a popular hymn for Mother's Day.
    • John 20:19-31
      When Thomas Heard from Jesus
      AURELIA (7.6.7.6 D) (The Church's One Foundation)
      A hymn celebrating the all of the biblical stories about Thomas, his growing faith and ours.
    • 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
      Listen, Sisters! Listen, Brothers!
      BEACH SPRING (8.7.8.7 D) (God Whose Giving Knows No Ending)
      Book: Songs of Grace
      Resurrection, Hope and Everlasting Life
    • I Believe (The Apostles' Creed)
      AUSTRIAN HYMN (8.7.8.7 D) (Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken)
      Book: Gifts of Love
    • O Jesus, You Were Born to Be
      TRURO (8.8.8.8) (Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates)
      O WALY WALY (8.8.8.8) (Though I May Speak)
      TALLIS' CANON (8.8.8.8) (All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night)
      "O Jesus, you're the living Way,
      The Resurrection, God's new Day.
      You give us hope and make us new;
      How wondrous is our life in you!"
    • John 11:1-45
      You, O Christ, Are Resurrection
      BEACH SPRING (8.7.8.7 D) (God Whose Giving Knows No Ending)
    • O God, You Made the Sabbath Day
      TALLIS' CANON (8.8.8.8) (All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night)
      Book: Songs of Grace
      Sabbath
 
Resources on Easter
  • The People's New Testament Commentary by M. Eugene Boring and Fred B. Craddock is a wonderful single volume commentary that Carolyn used in teaching a course for commissioned lay pastors and is one she recommends to all pastors and lay people. This book has a very helpful excursus, "Interpreting the Resurrection" (p. 101).
  • Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N. T. Wright
    "After explaining why we ought to believe objectively in Jesus' literal resurrection, Wright argues that in his ministry resurrection is called the first fruits of the new creation because it demonstrated that the conditions of the new creation could be realized, however imperfectly, in the old, and by human agency. In the long run, Christian hope empowers and enjoins Christians to heal humanity and nature now, not to participate in general degradation through war, greed, and pollution."
    — Ray Olson
  • The Resurrection of the Son of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, Vol. 3) by N. T. Wright is the 700+ page, comprehensive study of the resurrection — what precisely happened at Easter? What did the early Christians mean when they said that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised from the dead? What can be said today about this belief?
  • The Challenge of Easter by N. T. Wright (64 pages). Wright takes a step back from the hoopla surrounding Easter to look at it in its earliest context, where we see a band of followers discovering the fulfillment of all the promises God had made to their people over the centuries, and pronouncing a new era that unsettled their friends and scandalized their oppressors. That era extends to our day, where to celebrate Easter is to receive an invitation to live as though God is among us, making everything new.
  • Christian Doctrine by Shirley Guthrie: This book, originally written for an adult Sunday School class, became a bestselling overview of the Christian beliefs. Carolyn had it as a college textbook; it was later revised and it has been used for adult classes in two churches where she has been a pastor. This book has an excellent chapter on resurrection; see pages 270-290.
 
Books of Carolyn's hymns
Books including Carolyn's hymns
A Dozen Ways to Support Carolyn's Hymn-writing (including hymn use permission)


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We are happy to send you news about new hymns by Carolyn. For example, her hymn "Abraham Journeyed to a New Country" is inspired in part by Hebrews 13, the lectionary epistle lesson for August 29th. Church World Service, Sojourners, the National Council of Churches, Mennonite Church USA, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and others are promoting this hymn about the church's ministry with immigrants. Three of Carolyn's hymns ("Down by the Jordan," "O Christ, When You Ascended" and "Whatever You Do") are included in Worship and Song: for United Methodists (Abingdon Press, February 2011). Carolyn has several other hymns in the works.

To request occasional free update notes about Carolyn's hymns, send an email message to bcgillette@comcast.net with "hymn news" in the subject line. We appreciate your sharing hymn news with pastors, church musicians and others who love hymns.