devastation. A United Nations Human Rights Commission was established and, under the chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt, created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Drafted by representatives of all regions of the world and encompassing all legal traditions, the declaration was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. It is the most universal human rights document in existence, delineating the thirty fundamental rights that form the basis for a democratic society.1 Shirley Erena Murray shares that she wrote her text in 1998
W
while she worked for Amnesty International and used this docu- ment’s list of fundamental human rights in her text, such as the right to shelter, safety, food, the right to a job, to freedom of speech and worship. She used them in context of the Gospel, trying to avoid ex- cluding those who might not relate to a faith. “But in a more specific way, and to me an authentic one, it relates deeply and immediately to the manifesto of Jesus and all that he taught,” she says. As we sing the text, we can ask ourselves how we can become
co-creators with the God of justice and joy, compassion and peace. How does this happen in our churches, our communities, our homes? Murray sets forth examples of “everyone” in her “woman and man,” “young and old,” “just and unjust,” “gay and straight” as possibilities for us to consider as we look at our own setting and see what God is asking of us. As DeAndre notes at right, WorshipArts 2018 issues will focus on examples such as these as we carry the theme of justice and joy throughout the year. “Creating justice and joy means walking into the territory of basic human rights, as Jesus did. It means being aware of our own fragility as well [as that of our planet]” ….2
Let us walk in
justice and joy as we discern God’s Word to us, for the world in the place we live and move and have our being. Murray’s hymns and carols address a wide spectrum of themes
ranging from the seasons of the church year to human rights, care of creation, women’s concerns and above all, peace. Though born to a Methodist family, she later became Presbyterian through her mar- riage to The Very Rev. John Stewart Murray, a Presbyterian minister who died in early 2017. “The Methodist tradition nurtured me, the Presbyterian tradition claimed all my adult life, and the ecumeni- cal movement called me out of both.” Murray describes herself as “a woman, a mother, a grandparent, a citizen, and a layperson.” She has three sons and six grandchildren, and now lives in active retirement in Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand.3
Norma Lee Barnhart
NOTES 1 United for Human Rights. © 2008-2017 United for Human Rights. Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
humanrights.com
2 Shirley Erena Murray,
bit.ly/Murray-WAJF2018 3 Composers,
bit.ly/Shirley-WAJF2018
For everyone born, a place at the table
hen the United Nations was established on October 24, 1945, in the aftermath of World War II, the purpose was to find ways to avoid international conflict and human
A look ahead to the year Our theme for this year is
derived from the powerful hymn text on the previous page by Shir- ley Erena Murray, an increasingly influential hymn writer from New Zealand. Murray’s hymn unequiv- ocally states that everyone deserves and requires the space for fullness of being, simply by virtue of being alive – and that this human right is deeply connected to God’s will, intention and work in the world. In considering both the
events of 2017 and the many, varied ways in which the Holy Spirit has been calling and leading the church into more prophetic engagement through worship, the WorshipArts Editorial Committee has been drawn to this hymn as a guide for coalescing our com- mon call to be creators of justice and joy, compassion and peace. Each issue for 2018 will focus on a phrase from the hymn that will be a point of reflection for how the practice of worship enables us to live into this prophetic call:
• January-February: “Justice and Joy”
• March-April: “A Star Overhead”
• May-June: “For Young and For Old”
• July-August: “A Voice to Be Heard”
• September-October: “A System That’s Fair”
• November-December: “A Place at the Table”
In this first issue we explore
__________________________________________________________________________________________________ January-February 2018 • WorshipArts •
www.UMFellowship.org
the interplay between justice and joy – how we recognize it, create it, find it, live it, be it. As always, our prayer and hope is that both the voices and the resources offered here will strengthen and enliven your faith and ministries for the sake of transforming the world through worship. R. DeAndre Johnson
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