{"id":1114,"date":"2009-10-14T21:25:36","date_gmt":"2009-10-14T21:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=1114"},"modified":"2010-12-22T12:48:27","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T17:48:27","slug":"7355","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/14\/7355\/","title":{"rendered":"Hymn-Writing Covenant Pastor Honored for Compositions"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, IL (October 14, 2009) \u2013 If your church has sung from a hymnal at any time during the past several decades, chances are good that you have sung a composition by Evangelical Covenant Church minister Bryan Jeffrey Leech.
\n
\nThe composer\u2019s best-known works include \u201cCome Share the Lord\u201d and \u201cWe are God\u2019s People,\u201d both of which are in the Covenant\u2019s current hymnal, The Covenant Hymnal: a Worshipbook<\/em>. His work also has appeared in numerous other hymnals, including Hymns for the Family of God<\/em>, which sold more than three million copies.<\/p>\n

His music has been performed in venues that have included the Vatican, where two numbers were translated into Italian and sung by renowned choirs. That\u2019s not bad for someone who received no real formal training in music, says he can\u2019t play the piano very well, is \u201cokay\u201d with reading music, has someone else arrange his compositions, and didn\u2019t even start seriously writing down his \u201clittle hums and hymns\u201d until he was in his 40s.<\/p>\n

In July, the 78-year-old was presented with the Fred Bock Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Association of Church Musicians convention. The award was established to honor church musicians and is named for Fred Bock, renowned composer, choral publisher, and performer.<\/p>\n

Accepting the award, Leech told the audience, \u201cMy piano teacher dropped me when I was 11, giving me the impression that I was not musically adept. So here I am at nearly 80 years old, and you\u2019ve given me proof that maybe she was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leech was born in England in 1931 and moved to the United States in 1955 at the urging of a friend. He graduated from North Park Theological Seminary and served Evangelical Covenant Church pastorates in Boston, Massachusetts; Montclair, New Jersey; San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Oakland, California. Now retired, he is minister emeritus at First Covenant Church in Oakland.<\/p>\n

Leech\u2019s career has been varied. In addition to his other work while living in Santa Barbara, Leech hosted \u201cMorning Song,\u201d a 30-minute program of commentary and light to classical sacred music that was broadcast worldwide from 1979-2007.<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, IL (October 14, 2009) \u2013 If your church has sung from a hymnal at any time during the past several decades, chances are good that you have sung a composition by Evangelical Covenant Church minister Bryan Jeffrey Leech.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHymn-Writing Covenant Pastor Honored for Compositions - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/14\/7355\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hymn-Writing Covenant Pastor Honored for Compositions - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CHICAGO, IL (October 14, 2009) \u2013 If your church has sung from a hymnal at any time during the past several decades, chances are good that you have sung a composition by Evangelical Covenant Church minister Bryan Jeffrey Leech.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/14\/7355\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-10-14T21:25:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-12-22T17:48:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/14\\\/7355\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/14\\\/7355\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"headline\":\"Hymn-Writing Covenant Pastor Honored for Compositions\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-10-14T21:25:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-22T17:48:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/14\\\/7355\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":353,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/14\\\/7355\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/14\\\/7355\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/14\\\/7355\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hymn-Writing Covenant Pastor Honored for Compositions - Covenant Newswire Archives\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-10-14T21:25:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-22T17:48:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/14\\\/7355\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/14\\\/7355\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/10\\\/14\\\/7355\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hymn-Writing Covenant Pastor Honored for Compositions\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/\",\"name\":\"Covenant Newswire Archives\",\"description\":\"Evangelical Covenant Church\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/author\\\/covwebster\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hymn-Writing Covenant Pastor Honored for Compositions - Covenant Newswire Archives","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/14\/7355\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hymn-Writing Covenant Pastor Honored for Compositions - Covenant Newswire Archives","og_description":"CHICAGO, IL (October 14, 2009) \u2013 If your church has sung from a hymnal at any time during the past several decades, chances are good that you have sung a composition by Evangelical Covenant Church minister Bryan Jeffrey Leech.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/14\/7355\/","og_site_name":"Covenant Newswire Archives","article_published_time":"2009-10-14T21:25:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-12-22T17:48:27+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/14\/7355\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/14\/7355\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8"},"headline":"Hymn-Writing Covenant Pastor Honored for Compositions","datePublished":"2009-10-14T21:25:36+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-22T17:48:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/14\/7355\/"},"wordCount":353,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/14\/7355\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/14\/7355\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/14\/7355\/","name":"Hymn-Writing Covenant Pastor Honored for Compositions - Covenant Newswire Archives","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-10-14T21:25:36+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-22T17:48:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/14\/7355\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/14\/7355\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/14\/7355\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hymn-Writing Covenant Pastor Honored for Compositions"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#website","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/","name":"Covenant Newswire Archives","description":"Evangelical Covenant Church","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/author\/covwebster\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1114"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5903,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions\/5903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}