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Staff Snapshot: Anna Brink

For Anna Brink there is never a dull moment when it comes to Hymnary.org. Though she is one of the site's more recent employees (having started in the fall of 2018 after having previously been a student intern), Brink's  typical day includes everything from developing new features for the site to reviewing peer's code.

A Calvin grad who majored in math education with a minor in computer science, Brink says she enjoys both the problem solving and the opportunity to learn as she works at Hymnary. 

Holy, Holy, Holy

The song on Hymnary.org that is viewed more often than any other is Reginald Heber’s "Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!" Published in 1826, this hymn of praise to the Trinity is set to the tune Nicaea, written for this hymn and named after the council at Nicaea where the doctrine of the Trinity was established and the Nicene Creed formulated. 

Staff Snapshot: Ann Brown

For Ann Brown, who has worked at Hymnary for a little over a year now since starting in October 2017, a typical day and week involves designing and implementing features for the website, updating and hunting down any bugs in our code and providing feedback to her colleagues through our code review process.

It's a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff, but it keeps the site humming and ensures that it continually responds the users' needs. And Brown finds that gratifying.

Featured Hymn: "Come Down, O Love Divine"

Author: Bianco de Siena

Translator: Richard Frederick Littledale

Tune: Down Ampney

Bulletin Blurb:

The first stanza of this text addresses the Holy Spirit as “O Love divine” and “O Comforter,” asking for His presence in our lives. The middle stanzas ask the Holy Spirit to purge us of all pride and evil passion, and to purify our love and light our path. The final stanza anticipates the greater love for God that will ensue from such purification, and recognizes that, as Paul wrote, “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you” (1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV).

Featured Hymn: "Break Thou Bread of Life"

Author: Mary A. Lathbury (1877)

Tune: [Break thou the bread of life] (Sherwin)

Bulletin Blurb

This hymn has served as both a comfort and inspiration to many people since its first publication. Before every mid-week service, the great English preacher G. Campbell Morgan would read the words to this hymn to help him focus on his message. The primary focus of this hymn is centered upon Bible study and the desire to glean truth from God’s word.

Worship Notes

Text:

September Newsletter

Our September 2018 newsletter is out. If you're not on our email list, you can see the latest issue online.

https://us14.campaign-archive.com/?u=03252e86fcc1ce909a7c56979&id=67152a673e

Or go to the latest issue to find the subscribe button and be in the know for future issues! And if you have ideas for future newsletter content (things you're wondering about, confused about, especially love, etc), let us know. Thanks!

Phil de Haan, Hymnary newsletter editor

Staff Snapshot: Nyna Sykes

Nyna Sykes became the associate director of the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) in 2006. CCEL has three websites: ccel.org (since 1994), Hymnary.org, and in partnership with CICW, preachingandworship.org (in beta). Development work on Hymnary.org started in 2007, so she was involved in Hymnary.org’s creation.

"Hymns have played a gargantuan role in Christianity," Nyna says, "and as technology is changing the church service, Hymnary.org is positioned to help maintain the essential role of music in the life of the church."

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