Amy Courts + Paul Koopman: A LITURGY LIVE

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During my pastoral internship at Oak Grove Lutheran Church, I wrote a series of four songs reflecting on four liturgical holy days (lyrics below). At the end of my year there, on August 19, 2022, my spouse and I performed those four songs plus a few others of our favorites, both originals and cover songs, in a concert given at Oak Grove. The concert may be viewed above or on facebook. Individual songs are below for your viewing!
All songs (c) 2021-2022 Amy Courts Koopman

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FEAST OF ALL SAINTS
(All Saints Day)

Welcome to the feast of all Saints
The table is set, the wine is well aged
And the God of the grieving, your tears will redeem
They await with a ribbon of peace
To welcome you to the feast

Oh come to the great lamenting
Here the Spirit of wisdom is interceding
She will take to the father
In groanings deep all the pain
That you cannot speak
When you come to great lamenting

Oh Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy
Oh Christ have mercy

O Come to the grave and receive
The full count of your tears, the name of your griefs
And our Mother, O Giver of Life, She'll weep
with you when you come to the grave
She will carry you in grace

Oh, come to the Feast of All Saints
The table is set, the wine is well aged
The God of the Rising is still raising us up today
Oh come and celebrate
At the feast of all saints
At the feast of all saints

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EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING
(Baptism of Our Lord / First Miracle of Christ)

Bury me like a seed
In a watery tomb
And I’ll breathe in the Spirit
Like the Baptizer did in the womb
And maybe they’ll have my head on a platter
Or kill me like you,
On a tree in the late afternoon
And you’ll raise me to bloom
In the garden you’ve planted 
For saints and for fools


Send me out to the wilds
Where all the wounded and frail
Are the ones who work wonders and signs
Of everyday finds like
fishes and bread gone stale
Oh and give the ears and the eyes
To see everything, everything
Everything divine 

Like life and like death
Every deeply drawn in breath
Finding root in you

Call me back to the room w
Where all the empty jars stand
And tell me to do what I do
Like your mom said to you
When the turning began
And draw from me each desire and need
That feels too big to speak
Turn every want into wine,
Like you did that one time
So the party won’t end
For the groom or the bride
Or for all of the comers
Who revel and wonder
At the signs of abundance 
The over-the-top-ness of you
For joy is a miracle too
Oh, your joy is a miracle too

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MOTHER (Ash to Ash)
(Ash Wednesday)

What to do with death and dying
How to tell the truth when liars lie
Where to breathe lament and sighing
Will you gather up and hold us
Like a mother, will you show us
What to do with death and dying

In your waters, baptize us
Let your death and ours to life remind us
You’ve Hallowed us for life eternal
And in this one let us lay the seeds
For justice and for peace
In your waters baptize us

Mother

Ash to ash, dust to stardust
From a billion years of life, We are us
The resurrection of what came before us
Made from dirt and of divine
We are great love come to life
In the gardens that we tend
May we grow a medicine
When consecrated back to earth
May it be another birth from
Ash to ash and dust to stardust

Mother, Mother, Mother

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JUDAS
(Maundy Thursday)

I don’t know how You love Judas or Peter
All the ones who betray you
Who turn you in or turn around
As if they never heard the sound
Of your voice over water
Washing feet, making offers
Giving promises of help
When I can hardly love myself
Ooh-oh

I don’t understand how you love
Without condition
Giving body blood and vision
And a Kiss before he goes
To sell you your body and his soul
I don’t how you can offer
To forgive when you suffer
At the hands of your own friends
Who would betray you in the end

I don’t know love 

I don’t know how you love
The ones who crucify you
Say they love you then deny you
Fall asleep or run away
As if they never knew your name
I don’t know why you’re still here
Undeterred by our fear
Loving cowards like a fool
I’ll never understand

I don’t know love

How you love without remorse
Like it’s gonna change the course
Of history
It don’t make sense to me

I don’t know love