December 24, 2016 + Christmas Eve

Service Schedule:

3:50 p.m.  Choral Prelude (Youth Choir)

4:00 p.m. Family Eucharist sung by the Youth Choir

10:30 p.m. Choral Prelude (Adult Choir) with string quartet

11:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist sung by the Adult Choir with string quartet

Worship at Home:

Click here for the Service Bulletin: 4:00 – 11:00 ; scroll to read full sermon text.

Full Service Audio (4pm):

Full Service Audio (11pm):

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Choral Prelude at 3:50 p.m. with Youth Choir

Hymn 102    Once in Royal David’s city    Irby
Stanzas 1 & 2, choir; stanzas 3-6, congregation

Anthem   Jesus Christ the apple tree    Elizabeth Poston (1905-1987)
Words from Divine Hymns of Spiritual Songs, compiled Joshua Smith, 1784

The tree of life my soul hath seen
Laden with fruit and always green
The tree of life my soul hath seen
Laden with fruit and always green
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree

His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know but ne’er can tell
His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know but ne’er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.

For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
I missed of all but now I see
‘Tis found in Christ the apple tree.

I’m weary with my former toil
Here I will sit and rest a while
I’m weary with my former toil
Here I will sit and rest a while
Under the shadow I will be
Of Jesus Christ the apple tree.

This fruit does make my soul to thrive
It keeps my dying faith alive
This fruit does make my soul to thrive
It keeps my dying faith alive
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree.

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 4:00 p.m. with Youth Choir; sermon by the Rev’d Susan Pinkerton.

Processional Hymn 83    O come, all ye faithful    Adeste fideles, arr. David Willcocks (1919-2015)

Gloria S280     Robert Powell (b.1932)

Sequence Hymn 101    Away in a manger   Cradle Song

Offertory Anthem   Brightest and Best   Malcolm Archer (b. 1952)
Words: Reginald Heber, 1783-1826
Ted Babbitt, soloist

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

Cold on His cradle the dewdrops are shining;
Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall.
Angels adore Him in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Savior of all.

Shall we not yield Him, In costly devotion
Odors of Edom and offerings divine,
Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest and gold from the mine?

Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
Vainly with gifts would His favor secure.
Richer by far is the heart’s adoration;
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.

Sanctus  S130    Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Fraction anthem S164    Jesus, lamb of God     Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem    In the bleak mid-winter    Harold Darke (1888-1976)
Words: Christina Rosetti (1830-1894), found at Hymn 112

Communion Hymn 115    What child is this   Greensleeves

Post-communion Hymn 111     Silent night     Stille nacht

Closing Hymn 87     Hark the herald angels sing     Mendelssohn, arr. David Willcocks (1919-2015)

Voluntary    Joy to the world    Wilbur Held (1914-2015)

+   +   +   +   +

Choral Prelude at 10:30 p.m. with Adult choir and string quartet

String Quartet    Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 8 Per la notte di Natale     Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
I. Vivace – Grave – Allegro

Ave Maria    Franz Biebl (1906-2001)

Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae et concepit de Spiritu sancto.
The angel of God visited Maria and she conceived of the Holy Spirit. (John Nowacki, soloist)

Maria dixit: Ecce ancilla Domini. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.
Maria said: See the servant of the Lord. May it happen to me according to your word. (Doug Engwall, soloist)

Et Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us. (Lynn Brooks, soloist)

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
Blessed art thou among women,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus

Sussex Carol    English Carol, arr. David Willcocks (1919-2015)

On Christmas night all Christians sing, to hear the news the angels bring –
News of great joy, news of great mirth, news of our merciful King’s birth.
Then why should men on earth be so sad, since our Redeemer made us glad?
When from our sin he set us free, all for to gain our liberty?
When sin departs before his grace, then life and health come in its place,
Angels and mortals with joy may sing, all for to see the newborn King.
All out of darkness we have light, which made the angels sing this night:
“Glory to God and peace on earth, now and forevermore. Amen.”

String Quartet    Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 8 Per la notte di Natale     Arcangelo Corelli
II. Adagio – Allegro – Adagio

The blessed son of God, from Hodie     Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Words: Miles Coverdale, after Martin Luther

The blessed Son of God only in a crib full poor did lie;
With our poor flesh and our poor blood was clothed that everlasting good. Kyrie eleison.
The Lord Christ Jesu, God’s son dear, was a guest and a stranger here;
Us for to bring from misery, that we might live eternally. Kyrie eleison.
All this did he for us freely, for to declare his great mercy;
All Christendom be merry therefore, and give him thanks for evermore. Kyrie eleison.

No sad thought his soul affright, from Hodie    Ralph Vaughan Williams
Words: Anonymous, second stanza by Ursula Vaughn Williams (1911-2007)

No sad thought his soul affright,
Sleep it is that maketh night;
Let no murmur nor rude wind
To his slumbers prove unkind:
But a quire of angels make
His dreams of heaven, and let him wake
To as many joys as can In this world befall a man. (quartet: Anne Harney, Mary Beth Lamlein, Paul Smith, John Church)

Promise fills the sky with light,
Stars and angels dance in flight;
Joy of heaven shall now unbind
Chains of evil from mankind,
Love and joy their power shall break,
And for a new born prince’s sake;
Never since the world began
Such a light such dark did span.

String Quartet    Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 8 Per la notte di Natale     Arcangelo Corelli
V. Largo – Pastorale

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 11:00 p.m. with Adult choir and string quartet; sermon by the Rev’d Susan Pinkerton.

Processional Hymn 83    O come, all ye faithful    Adeste fideles, arr. David Willcocks (1919-2015)

Gloria S280     Robert Powell (b.1932)

Sequence Hymn 101    Away in a manger   Cradle Song

Offertory Anthem    The shepherd’s carol    Bob Chilcott (b. 1955)
Words: Clive Sansom (1910-1981)

We stood on the hills, Lady,
Our day’s work done,
Watching the frosted meadows
That winter had won.

The evening was calm, Lady,
The air so still,
Silence more lovely than music
Folded the hill.

There was a star, Lady,
Shone in the night,
Larger than Venus it was
And bright, so bright.

Oh, a voice from the sky, Lady,
It seemed to us then
Telling of God being born
In the world of men.

And so we have come, Lady,
Our day’s work done,
Our love, our hopes, ourselves,
We give to your son.

Sanctus  S130    Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Fraction anthem S164    Jesus, lamb of God     Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem    In the bleak mid-winter    Harold Darke (1888-1976)
Words: Christina Rosetti (1830-1894), found at Hymn 112

Communion Hymn 115    What child is this   Greensleeves

Postcommunion Hymn 111    Silent night    Stille nacht, st. 3 arr. Wolfgang Lindner

Closing Hymn 87    Hark the herald angels sing    Mendelssohn, arr. David Willcocks (1919-2015)

Voluntary    Joy to the world    Wilbur Held (1914-2015)

 

Full Sermon Text:

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