Develop a Discipleship System
Garland, F. Richard
The Reverend F. Richard Garland is a retired United Methodist pastor. He and his wife, Catherine Sprigg, a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, live in North Kingstown, RI.
Dick was born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and is a lifelong Methodist. A graduate of Garrett Theological Seminary, he interned in Chicago and then served churches in Indiana, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. He remains involved in the Walk to Emmaus movement. He continues to preach on occasion, provide coverage in emergency pastoral situations, and write a monthly essay, "From Where I Sit" for the newsletter of the North Kingstown UMC. He has been a contributor to The Upper Room.
Dick is a lifelong hiker who still climbs in the mountains of New Hampshire. At home, he spends a great deal of time in his flower gardens. He has sung with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra and is a member of the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts.
Dick wrote his first hymn, a children's song, in a seminary music class with Austin C. Lovelace, and he has written poetry for many years. He began writing hymns for use in his churches about twenty years ago, but did not submit them for publication until 2006, after being encouraged to do so by a classmate and friend.
Many of his texts are inspired by the seasons of the church year, particularly Christmas and Easter, and by Scriptures from the Lectionary. In April of 2007, an appeal from a clergy colleague for a memorial hymn in response to the shootings at Virginia Tech University resulted in the creation of his hymn, In Grief and Aching Sorrow, set to the tune, Passion Chorale by J.S. Bach. Once, his pastor, frustrated in trying to find enough hymns to go with the Good Samaritan story in Luke 10:25-37, asked him to write a new hymn for a service. The result was his hymn, "When We Would Neighbor Be." On a dare from a colleague, he revealed a whimsical side by writing a hymn for Groundhog Day, "Praise the Lord for Woodland Creatures." His hymn, "I Have a Dream," was written to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the address by The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is currently working on a series of texts based on the selections from the Letter to the Ephesians found in the New Revised Common Lectionary and on an occasional series of texts on the theme of "Health and Healing for Those Who Serve."
Contact Information:
The Rev. F. Richard Garland
80 Grant Drive
North Kingstown, RI 02852
Phone: 401-294-5215
Cell Phone: 603-560-7672
E-mail: [email protected]
Hymns by F. Richard Garland on the Discipleship Ministries Website:
- A Litany of Healing and Hope for September 11, 2011
- A New Advent of Joy
- A Stranger Joined Them As They Walked
- A Star Shone Bright (Advent/Christmas Eve Hymn)
- Before an Open Empty Tomb - Easter Hymn
- Build Up the Saints in Love
- Called by the Word
- Child Will Lead the Dawn Of Grace
- Christ Is Our Peace
- Christ Is Raised, a Living Witness
- Christ Modeled Faithfulness
- Come Humbly Seeking How to Live
- Come to the Light Of Hope
- Come to the Mountain Peak - Transfiguration Sunday Hymn
- Come to the Table - Communion Hymn
- Come With Rejoicing
- Come with Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving Hymn
- Dear Jesus, in Whose Life I See - New version
- From Creation's Timeless Word
- Fulfill the Joy of Faithfulness
- Gather Your People To Comfort And Love
- God Calls Us from Darkness
- God Envisions Full Redemption
- God, Who Is Rich in Mercy’s Grace
- Go Now Into the World
- Heart Of Love With Grace Abounds
- Heaven Waits with Eager Longing - Earth Day Hymn
- He Comes to Us as One Unknown
- He Knelt to Wash the Feet of Friends
- Help Us, Lord, When We're Scared - Based on I Kings 19:1-15a
- He Stands Outside the Doors We’ve Closed
- He Stood Before the City - Palm Sunday Hymn
- How Full Is God's Great Love - Advent Hymn
- Hush! Then Heed the Silences - Health and Healing for Those Who Serve
- Hymns on Twelve Ephesians Texts
- I Have a Dream
- If You Would Have New Life
- In Christ Is blessedness
- In Christ We Find New Life
- In Grief and Aching Sorrow - Written in Response to the Virginia Tech Tragedy
- In This Is Love- Based on 1 John 4:7-21
- In This Night We Hear Rejoicing - Christmas Eve Hymn
- In Righteousness Stand Firm --based on Ephesians 6:10-20
- Jesus Conquered Death and Darkness - Easter Hymn
- Let Us Kneel Before Our Maker
- Lord, Be To Us A Source Of Joy
- Majestic Mountains (Also see "Reflections on a Theme: Majestic Mountains.")
- May the God of Hope So Fill You
- O Lord, Our Lord - New Year Hymn
- On the Day of Pentecost
- Out Where the Stars Are Born - Health and Healing for Those Who Serve
- Praise the Lord for the Woodland Creatures
- Promise Of The Lord
- Push Out Into the Deep - Based on Luke 5:1-11
- Save Us, Lord, from War's Illusions (Beachspring)
- Save Us, Lord, from War's Illusions (Beecher)
- Shepherd, Source of Our Contentment
- Sound the Alarm, the Lord Is Near - Ash Wednesday Hymn
- Source of Faith - A Hymn on the Wesleyan Quadrilateral
- Source Of Hope
- Spirit Of The Lord
- Stand in the Spirit's Grace
- Take Care in How You Live
- The Lord is Near
- The Shepherds Heard the Angel's Voice
- They Found Purpose for Their Living
- Through the Universe, a Story
- The Way of Life in Christ
- Welcome Home, Precious Child
- We Live in Hope - World Aids Day Hymn, December 1
- We Stand Before the Cross - Good Friday Hymn
- What Would You Sell?
- When God Envisioned Love's Birth
- When Prophets Come
- When The Lord Comes
- When the Seeds Of Love Are Sown (Kolby)
- When the Seeds Of Love Are Sown (Ratisbon)
- When Thomas Heard the Easter News
- When Weary Times Confront the Soul
- When We Would Neighbor Be - Based on Luke 10:25-37, Micah 6:8
- Will You Fulfill the Vow
- With Humble Grace - Remembrance for All Who Quietly Serve
- Within the Shadow of the Cross
- World Did Dwell in Dark and Fear, The - Advent Hymn
- Would You Build A Home?
Articles and Essays by F. Richard Garland on the Discipleship Ministries website:
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