Carolyn Gillette Talks to Joshua Rothman About Writing Hymns in Tragic Times
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 27 June 2016
⏱️ 16 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The hymn writer and Presbyterian minister Carolyn Gillette was taught in seminary to write sermons with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. She does the same when she composes her hymns, which have been sung by congregations around the world. Some of them are uplifting songs of praise to God, but Gillette specializes in hymns that help the faithful address their feelings about the tragedies they see in the news every day—from hurricanes and the refugee crisis to the Orlando shooting. The New Yorker’s Joshua Rothman visited Gillette’s church, in Delaware, to talk about balancing hope and sadness.
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| 0:48.5 | I'm Dorothy Wickenden. On today's Politics and More podcast, the New Yorker's Joshua Rothman talks to the pastor Carolyn Gillette. |
| 0:56.9 | Gillette is a writer of hymns and is best known for her sacred music responding to current events, including national tragedies. |
| 1:06.3 | To a place of celebration filled with after dancing joy. |
| 1:18.7 | That's a brand new hymn called To a Place of Celebration. |
| 1:22.8 | It was written in response to the mass shooting in Orlando just days after we woke up to the news of that tragedy. |
| 1:28.8 | And it was performed here last Sunday by the Rutgers Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. |
| 1:34.2 | Now, the tune is an old one, and the words, though, are by Carolyn Gillette. |
| 1:38.3 | She's the pastor of Limestone Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware. |
| 1:43.1 | Carolyn is prolific. |
| 1:44.6 | She's written about 250 hymns that have been sung in churches all around the world. |
| 1:49.2 | She's carved out a particular niche, talking about current events right as they happen, |
| 1:54.0 | sometimes mass killings and disasters that I think would test the faith of any believer. |
| 1:59.5 | The New Yorkers Josh Rothman visited Carolyn Gillette |
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