About
Who Am I?
To begin, I should let you know that I’m Jason McGovern (or “JMac” for short). I’m a 22-year-old student at Drexel University going into my fifth year (of a five-year program) majoring in communication. Most importantly, I am a wretch of a sinner who has been saved by grace alone through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who took every vile thought and deed of mine on the cross.
For most of my life, I’ve also had a great interest of music (of varying genres and styles to varying degrees). Over the years, I’ve developed an interest in songwriting and especially music recording and production. Lately I’ve becoming interested in hymns and other music used for corporate worship, which brings me to…
What I’m Doing
I have set a goal for myself to create new arrangements and melodies (or modify existing ones) of every one of the hymns published in John Newton and William Cowper’s Olney Hymns. I hope to publish one song per week on this blog.
Since first being introduced to this work, I have grown to love the Olney Hymns. I’ve become amazed at how John Newton, the former slave-ship captain and author of “Amazing Grace”, used the creation of the hymnal for two purposes. The first was to serve his congregation at Olney with the hymns. The second was help William Cowper, a close friend and congregant, battle through his severe bouts of depression. Newton’s care for both his congregation and Cowper shines through this work.
My goal for this multi-purposed:
- I hope that by disciplining myself with this project, I will be reminded more of the truths of scripture presented in the hymns that I may fight the sin in my life and grow more like Christ.
- I hope that beyond edifying my own soul, that some of these arrangements and melodies would be able to serve the larger body of Christ.
- I hope to use this as an opportunity to challenge myself creatively; by exploring various musical styles with the melodies and arrangements I create.
To learn more of the nitty-gritty details of the project, visit the Details page.
