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Play, download and edit the free video Lord, I Want to Be a Christian.

Like our other recent videos, this highlights the importance of the Black music tradition within the United Methodist Hymnal. The exact origin of this song is unknown, but it was sung on plantations as early as 1750, when it was written into an anthology by Frederick Work. This arrangement is by William Farley Smith, in 1986.

A word about the video formatting: I miss singing hymns with you all, as does the choir, and I'm sure some of you are missing it, too! Father Dyer is blessed with an active, singing congregation. Because it's too dangerous to sing together because of COVID-19, I wanted you all to be able to sing along with the hymns at home. So, instead of putting just the text in the videos with some pictures, I made the sheet music the main visual element of the song. I hope you'll sing along with us at home.

The text is very simple, but quite powerful when taken at its word:

"Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart.
Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart.
Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart.
Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart."

What does it mean to be a Christian, what does it mean to be loving or holy, and in which ways can we be like Jesus? How can we apply those four goals to our day to day lives?

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