Jacob Humerick

Choral Evensong at 5:00 p.m. sung by the choir of Center Church, Hartford, William Ness, organist/choirmaster

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Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth Choir, sermon by the Rev’d Susan Pinkerton.

Worship at Home:

Click here for the Service Bulletin; scroll to read full sermon text.

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary    Prelude Robert    Paoli, 1991

Processional Hymn 556 st. 1-5    Rejoice ye pure in heart!    Marion

Gloria S280     Robert Powell (b.1932)

Psalm 15   Gregorian Chant sung by the choir

Sequence Hymn 593    Lord, make is servants of your peace    Dickinson College

Offertory   My eyes for beauty pine    Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
Words: Robert Bridges (1844-1930)

My eyes for beauty pine; My soul for God’s grace; No other care nor hope is mine;
To heaven I turn my face; One splendour thence is shed from all the stars above;
Tis named when God’s name is said; Tis love, ’tis heavenly love;
And every gentle heart that burns with true desire
Is lit from eyes that mirror part of that celestial fire.

Whether for voices or organ or orchestra, Herbert Howells could most certainly write grand, sweeping musical phrases. As the Youth Choir sings, note the crest of the phrase on the word “eyes” from the outset. The highest note of the first section occurs on the word “heaven” not by accident, indeed. In the middle section, not only does he write another high passage for “heavenly Love,” he even slows down the tempo and harmonic rhythm to make sure we pay close attention to the use of “Love” (capitalized) as an equivalent name for God. He then uses similar tempo and rhythm techniques with the words “celestial fire” at the end with similar sublime effectiveness. (Notes courtesy David Perry Ouzts)

Sanctus  S130    Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Fraction anthem S164    Jesus, lamb of God     Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem    Nunc dimittis    George Dyson (1883-1964)

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace:
according to thy word;
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation:
which thou hast prepared before the face of all people,
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles:
and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son:
and to the Holy Ghost:
As it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be:
world without end. Amen.

Hymn in Procession 438    Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord!    Woodlands

Voluntary    Processional    Robert Paoli, 1991

 

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Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir, sermon by the Rev’d Helen Moore.

Worship at Home:

Click here for service bulletin; scroll to read full sermon text.

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Service Music:

Voluntary    Prelude on Land of Rest    George Shearing (1919-2011)

Blind from birth, George Shearing was one of the most well-loved of the 20th century jazz pianists. Wanting to express his faith through his music, he composed a set of jazz preludes for organ, including this prayerful setting of Land of Rest, the hymn-tune for I come with joy. This hymn text, written in 1968 by living hymn-writer Brian Wren, gradually changes perspective from the inward “I come with joy to meet my Lord” to the outward togetherness in Christ that is embodied in communion. Through the singing of this hymn, we are molded into the body of Christ in worship and return to the world to witness, not as individual Christians, but as Christ’s “people in the world.”

Processional Hymn 304    I come with joy to meet my Lord    Land of Rest

Gloria S280     Robert Powell (b.1932)

Sequence Hymn    Lord, you have come to the seashore    Pescador
Sung in English.

Written in 1979, “Tú has venido a la orilla” is based on the parallel passages found in the synoptic gospels on Jesus’ calling of his first disciples (Matthew 4:18-20; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11). As found in the Scripture, the hymn-writer captures the total obedience of disciples and their willingness to give up everything. The hymn entreats us to follow Christ with the same obedience and commitment. The refrain is a call to surrender to Jesus in response to his command to follow him. The gentle melody, Pescador de Hombres (Fisher of Men), is reminiscent of a rocking boat by the lakeshore. This hymn was used in the 1993 movie Alive, based on a book about the survivors of the Andes plane crash in 1972, and the Spanish film Camino (2008), about a girl who died of spinal cancer in 1985 who is in the process of canonization by the Catholic Church. (Notes courtesy C. Michael Hawn)

Offertory   Before the morning star begotten    Ned Rorem, 1988
Words from the Liber Usualis

Before the morning star begotten,
and Lord from everlasting,
Our Saviour is made manifest unto the world today.

Sanctus  S130    Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Fraction anthem S164    Jesus, lamb of God     Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem    Hide not thou thy face from me, O Lord    Richard Farrant (1525-1580)
Words from Psalm 27

Hide not thou thy face from us, O Lord, and cast not off thy servant in thy displeasure;
For we confess our sins unto thee and hide not our unrighteousness.
For thy mercy’s sake, deliver us from all our sins.

Hymn in Procession 550    Jesus calls us; o’er the tumult    Restoration

Voluntary    Fanfare     John Cook, 1952

 

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Jazz Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by the Rev’d William Eakins.

Worship at Home:

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Service Music:

Voluntary    Hymns by the Hot Cat Jazz Band
Just a Closer Walk with Thee
What a Wonderful World
This Little Light of Mine

By now you have noticed that things are a little different this morning! Our music today is led by the Hot Cat Jazz Band, a local Dixieland-style band that specializes in Jazz Worship – they do many of these services throughout Connecticut every year. The service music responses continue to be our traditional music with organ to provide an anchor in our traditional worship style; but everything else, including and especially the hymns, are a time for you to tap your toes, move about, and sing praise with freedom and joy. Don’t be afraid – join in and sing loudly!

Processional Hymn    How great thou art    O Store Gud

Gloria S280     Robert Powell (b.1932)

Sequence Hymn    Take my hand, precious Lord     Precious Lord

Offertory   Amazing grace   arr. Jack Shrader, 1998
Words: John Newton (1725-1807), found at Hymn 671.

Sanctus  S130    Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Fraction anthem S164    Jesus, lamb of God     Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem    Agnus Dei (from A Little Jazz Mass)    Bob Chilcott (b. 1955)
Latin words from the Eucharist liturgy, at the Breaking of the Bread.

Hymn in Procession    I have decided to follow Jesus    Assam

Voluntary    When the saints go marching in

 

Full Sermon Text:

Now is a time of looking ahead.  It is the time of New year’s resolutions when we make lists of what we are going to do differently in the future – things like losing weight, exercising regularly, spending less and saving more.  The days are getting longer.  Seed and plant catalogues have started to arrive, and gardeners are beginning to think about what they are going to grow when spring comes.  Travel brochures get us dreaming about where we might go on vacation.  Year-end financial statements signal the beginning of the tax season and the run-up to April 15. As a nation, we will enter this week upon a new era with the inauguration of Donald Trump as our 45^th President.  Who knows what lies ahead for America in the next four years?  Now is also the season of annual meetings like the one we will have at St. John’s in two weeks.  What lies ahead for this parish in the coming year?  What are the challenges and opportunities for us as people of God? And what do we need to do about them?

 

Now is a time when we might well ask ourselves the question that Jesus asks in today’s Gospel: “What are you looking for?”  It is the most fundamental question in life.  All of our busyness, all of our plans – where are they taking us?  To what purpose and to what good?  Unless we know where we are headed and why, we might end up losing our way.  We might even end up crying like Isaiah, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity.”

 

Jesus knew how vital it is for us to get the right priorities and put them in the right order.  In this morning’s Gospel two men are following Jesus.  There was something about him that had caught their imagination and awakened hope.  Could he indeed be the Messiah, God’s Promised One?  And so they follow Jesus at a distance, perhaps out of shyness, perhaps just waiting to see what would happen next.  It is then that Jesus turns and looks them in the eye and asks them, “What are you looking for?”  Are you following me because, like the scribes and Pharisees, you want to get me to debate fine points of the Law?  Are you following me because, like the Zealots, you are looking for a political demagogue and military commander to overthrow Roman rule?  Are you perhaps looking for a position of power and privilege in the new order that Messiah will usher in?  Or are you simply men of prayer looking for God?  If that’s what you are, if God’s light and love is what you seek, then come follow me.  The two men answer Jesus’ question, “Rabbi, where are you staying?”  We want to be where you are and learn whatever you have to teach us.  And Jesus invites them to “Come and see.”

 

“What are you looking for?”  Jesus’ question is the essential question for us as well.  What’s your aim and goal in life?  What are you really trying to get out of your years on this earth?

 

Some people are searching for security.  They want to have enough money to take care of any need they might have.  They want to feel safe from danger, and they try to stay as healthy and fit as possible.  In our hearts, however, we know that there is no complete safeguard against the changes and chances of life.

 

Some people are searching for love, for someone who will understand and cherish them as they really are.  Others are looking for someone to love, someone to dedicate their life to.  However, like wealth, safety, and health, all human relationships are imperfect and transitory.  In the end, even the best of loves is interrupted by death.

 

Some people are searching for a career – somewhere and someplace to use their abilities and talents in a way that gives personal satisfaction.  Some people are looking to achieve recognition, prestige, power, and wealth.  Others work to make the world a better place.

 

I wonder, though, if any career, any relationship, or any other aspect of our life can be as deeply meaningful and satisfying as it might be if we are not also searching for God.  This is the quest in which we wonder about the whys and wherefores of our existence and look for that which is of enduring value.

 

This is the path that Christian people – and all seekers – have travelled throughout the ages, the path that Martin Luther King took when he left being a pastor of his church to become a civil rights activist, a vocation that led both to the Nobel Peace Prize … and to his assassination.  It is the path that a man I’ll call John took when he left his law career to fight for justice another way – to work as a priest.  It is the path a couple took when they sold their house to share their wealth with a land trust that preserves our environment.  It is the path a young woman took when she decided to dedicate all her energy and her talents to be an artist.

 

Matthew Arnold describes this quest movingly in his poem The Buried Life:

But often in the world’s most crowded streets

But often, in the din of strife,

There rises an unspeakable desire

After the knowledge of our buried life. …

A longing to inquire

Into the mystery of this heart which beats

So wild, so deep in us, to know

Whence our lives come and whence they go.

 

Isn’t that why we are here this morning?  We want to “know where our lives come from and where they go.”  And like those two disciples of long ago, we want to be where Jesus is because we believe that Jesus has answers to our questions.  There is something we can learn from being in his presence.  And did not Jesus promise, “Wherever two or three are gathered together in my Name, there I am in the midst of them”?  So we gather here with other Christian seekers after God to meet the One we call Lord.  We come to read together from God’s Word and consider together what God is saying to us now.  What is God calling us to do with our lives?  How is God calling us to use the resources that God has placed into our care both as individual Christians and as a congregation of Christian disciples?  We come to ask, as Martin Luther King did, what is God is saying to us as a nation?  So we come to offer our prayers for the needs of the world around us and for our political leaders whether we voted for them or not.  We come to share with Christian brothers and sisters the joys and sorrows, the perplexities and wonders of our lives.  We come to tell each other stories of where we have found God.  And we come to do what Jesus told us to do for the remembering of him.  In thanksgiving for all that God has given us, we eat the broken bread and drink the cup of wine that are sacraments of God’s love for us.  And then we go out as the people of God to be Christ’s continuing presence in the world.

 

“What are you looking for?”  Jesus asked the question of his disciples long ago.  And Jesus asks the same question of us today:  “What are you looking for?”   Let the question resonate in our hearts and minds in the days ahead and let us take careful stock of our priorities and consider where our lives are headed.   Jesus invites us, like those disciples of old, to “Come and see.”  If we do that and follow him, who knows what he has in store for us?  Who knows where we will be led as a parish?  But of two things we can be certain: Christ will be with us always as he promised, and following him will be well worth the journey.

Holy Eucharist Rite II and Holy Baptism at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir, sermon by the Rev’d Helen Moore.

Worship at Home:

Click here for the Service Bulletin; scroll to read full sermon text.

Full Service Audio:

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Service Music:

Voluntary    Prelude in E-flat, BWV 552   Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Chorale: Schmucke dich

Opening Hymn 76    On Jordan’s bank, the Baptist’s cry    Wincester New

Gloria S280     Robert Powell (b.1932)

Sequence Hymn 339    Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness    Schmucke dich

Offertory   What cheer? Good cheer!    Peter Warlock (1894-1930)

Lift up your hearts and be ye glad, in Christ His birth the angels bade.
Say each to other if any be sad:
What cheer? Good cheer! Be merry and glad this good new year!
The King of Heaven His birth hath take: now joy and mirth we ought to make.
Say each to other for His dear sake:
What cheer? Good cheer! Be merry and glad this good new year!
I tell you all with heart so free, right welcome ye be all to me;
Be glad and merry for charity.
What cheer? Good cheer! Be merry and glad this good new year!

Sanctus  S130    Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Fraction anthem S164    Jesus, lamb of God     Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem   Away in a manger   Normandy Tune, arr. Reginald Jacques (1894-1969)

Closing Hymn 435    At the name of Jesus    King’s Weston

Voluntary    Carillon    Herbert Murrill (1909-1952)

 

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Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. with chant and hymns, sermon by Postulant Michael Corey.

Worship at Home:

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Service Music:

Voluntary    What star is this?    Alec Wyton (1921-2007)

Opening Hymn 109    The first Nowell the angels did say    The First Nowell

Sequence Hymn    To the Name of our salvation     Regent Square

Gospel, Offertory and Communion Music   Chant for the Feast of the Holy Name, sung by John Nowacki

Closing Hymn 450    All Hail the power of Jesus’ Name!    Coronation

Voluntary    Postlude in F     Eric Thiman (1900-1975)

 

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Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:00 a.m.  with congregational carols, sermon by the Rev’d Susan Pinkerton.

 

Worship at Home:

Click here for the Service Bulletin; scroll to read full sermon text.

Full Service Audio:

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Service Music:

Voluntary    Whence is that goodly fragrance flowing?    Dale Wood (1934-2003)

Opening Hymn 96   Angels we have heard on high    Gloria

Sequence Hymn 79    O Little town of Bethlehem    St. Louis

Offertory   Pastorale   Louis Lefebvre-Wely (1817-1869)

Closing Hymn 100    Joy to the world!     Antioch

Voluntary   In dulci jubilo   Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

 

Full Sermon Text:

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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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The St. John’s Christmas Pageant at 10:30 a.m., sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs, with Jeffrey Higgins and Thomas Hintz, trumpets

Worship at Home:

Click here for the Service Bulletin.

Full Service Audio:

Service Music:

Choral Voluntary    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

Anthem   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.”

Traditional Carols

Voluntary    My spirit be joyful (Cantata 146)     Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. E. Power Biggs