Past Service Archive: Music and Sermons

Sermon by the Rev. Hope Eakins

April 30, 2017 + The Third Sunday of Easter

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 8:00 and 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by Deacon Walter McKenney.

Worship at Home:

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Full Service Audio:

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Service Music:

Voluntary Aria Flor Peeters (1903-1986)

This Aria was originated in 1943 as the slow movement of a Sonata for trumpet and piano, and it is still a permanent fixture on exam syllabuses for aspiring young trumpeters. Peeters himself arranged it for organ. The expressive melody unfolds above an accompaniment of soft repeated chords. As in so much of his finest work, there is a simplicity and sincerity in this music that speaks directly to the heart. (Notes courtesy David Gammie)

Processional Hymn 432 O praise ye the Lord! Praise him in the height Laudate Dominum

Song of Praise 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17 Sung by the choir; Anglican chant by Thomas Pavlechko, 2010

Sequence Hymn 296 We know that Christ is raised and dies no more Engelberg

Offertory Anthem They that go down to the sea in ships Herbert Sumsion (1899-1995)
Words: Psalm 107:23-30

They that go down to the sea in ships:
and occupy their business in great waters;
These men see the works of the Lord:
and his wonders in the deep.

For at his word the stormy wind ariseth:
which lifteth up the waves thereof.
They are carried up to the heaven,
and down again to the deep:
their soul melteth away because of the trouble.

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man;
and are at their wits’ end.
So when they cry unto the Lord in their trouble:
He delivereth them out of their distress.

For he maketh the storm to cease:
so that the waves thereof are still.
Then are they glad because they are at rest:
and so he bringeth them unto the haven where they would be.

Herbert Sumsion was born in Gloucester, and sang in the choir of the cathedral as a chorister. He gained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists at the age of only 17. He was organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1928 to 1967 and is remembered as a cathedral musician, organist and teacher. They that go down to the sea in ships (1979) was written for the choir of Repton Preparatory School. The piece unfolds with a remarkable economy of material: a rippling, listless organ part suggests the sea, with an attractive solo melody over it; and rising and falling choral writing depicts the movement of the ship and the staggering of its sailors.

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Fraction Anthem Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard (b. 1942)

Communion Motet Ubi caritas Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978)
Words from the Maundy Thursday liturgy

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.

Exsultemus, et in ipso jucundemur. Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.

Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

Where charity and love are, God is there. Christ’s love has gathered us into one.

Let us rejoice and be pleased in him. Let us fear, and let us love the living God.

And may we love each other with a sincere heart.

Closing Hymn 180 He is risen, he is risen! Unser Herrscher

Voluntary Toccata on I Believe This Is Jesus Spiritual, setting by Dennis Janzer (b. 1954)

Assisting Organist: Kari Miller

Full Sermon Text:

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April 23, 2017 + The Second Sunday of Easter

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 8:00 and 10:30 a.m. sung by Daaé Ransom, soloist, sermon by the Rev’d Hope Eakins.

Worship at Home:

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Service Music:

Voluntary Short Prelude & Fugue in F Major, BWV 556 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Processional 208 Alleluia! The strife is o’er, the battle done Victory

Song of Praise 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Sequence Hymn 178 Alleluia, alleluia! Give thanks Alleluia No. 1

Offertory Anthem He shall feed his flock (Messiah) George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Words: Isaiah 40:11
Daaé Ransom, soloist

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; and he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Fraction Anthem Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem How beautiful are the feet of them (Messiah) George Frideric Handel
Words: Romans 10:15
Daaé Ransom, soloist

How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Closing Hymn 182 Christ is alive! Let Christians sing Truro

Voluntary Toccata Flor Peeters (1903-1986)

Full Sermon Text:

April 16, 2017 + The Sunday of the Resurrection: Easter Day

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 8:00 and 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs with brass and timpani, sermon by the Rev’d Susan Pinkerton.

The Adult Choir sings alone at 8:00 a.m.

Worship at Home:

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Service Music:

Voluntary Sonata III in A Major Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Con moto maestoso – Andante tranquillo

Worship begins this Easter with a “resurrection” Sonata by Felix Mendelssohn. It’s opening fugal theme builds in turmoil and intensity, set on top of the hymntune Aus tiefer not (Out of the depths). In the end, however, the clouds are parted in a triumphal hymn, and our antiphonal Trompette en Chamade (which has been silent in worship during the Lenten season) heralds a bright new day.

Introit Break forth into joy! Daniel Pinkham (1923-2006)

Processional Hymn 207 Jesus Christ is risen today Easter Hymn

Song of Praise 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Sequence Hymn 199 Come, ye faithful, raise the strain St. Kevin

Offertory Anthem Hallelujah (Messiah) George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Fraction Anthem Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Agnus Dei (2010) Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978)

Composed for the Phoenix Chorale, Gjeilo’s Agnus Dei is symphonic in nature, and is one of those pieces where the text is a servant of the music, not the opposite. Images of the Arizona desert bring the text to life, similar to works by Samuel Barber (Adagio) and Elgar (Nimrod from Engima Variations).

Communion Hymn 305 Come, risen Lord Rosedale

Closing Hymn 210 The day of resurrection Ellacombe

Voluntary Toccata (Symphonie V) Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937)

Music: The St. John’s Adult Choir (8:00), The Saint John’s Youth and Adult Choirs (10:30)
Organist/Choirmaster: Scott Lamlein
Assisting Choirmaster: Nicholas Filippides
Trumpeters: Tom Hintz, Jeff Higgins
Timpani: Bill Solomon

Full Sermon Text:

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April 14, 2017, 7:00 p.m. + Good Friday

Good Friday Liturgy at 7:00 p.m. sung by the combined choirs of St. John’s and St. James’s Churches, and messages by the clergy of both parishes.

This service takes place at St. James’s Church, 1018 Farmington Avenue.

Worship at Home:

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Choral Anthem Pilgrims’ Hymn Stephen Paulus (1949-2014)
Words: Michael Dennis Brown

Even before we call on Your name
To ask You, O God,
When we seek for the words to glorify You,
You hear our prayer;
Unceasing love, O unceasing love,
Surpassing all we know.
Glory to the father,
and to the Son,
And to the Holy Spirit.
Even with darkness sealing us in,
We breathe Your name,
And through all the days that follow so fast,
We trust in You;
Endless Your grace, O endless Your grace,
Beyond all mortal dream.
Both now and forever,
And unto ages and ages,
Amen.

Choral Anthem To mock your reign, O dearest Lord Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)
Words: Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000), found at Hymn 170.

April 14, 2017, 12:10 p.m. + Good Friday

Good Friday Liturgy at 12:10 p.m. with hymns, and messages by the clergy of both parishes, at St. John’s.

Hymn 167 There is a green hill far away Horsley

Hymn 160 Cross of Jesus, cross of sorrow Cross of Jesus

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April 14, 2017, 7:00 a.m. + Good Friday

Spoken Good Friday Liturgy with Reserved Sacrament Eucharist at 7:00 a.m., sermon by the Rev’d Helen Moore.

Worship at Home:

April 13, 2017 + Maundy Thursday

Agape Meal at 6:00 p.m.; Maundy Thursday Eucharist at 7:00 p.m. with hymns and chant, sermon by the Rev’d Hope Eakins.

Worship at Home:

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Service Music:

Voluntary Chorale Daniel Pinkham (1923-2006)

Kyrie Eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 171 Go to dark Gethsemane Petra

Hymn at the Maundy Stay with me Stay with me

Offertory Music Ah, holy Jesus Helmut Walcha (1907-1991)

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Hymn 458 My song is love unknown Love unknown

Psalm 22 Plainsong Chant
Daaé Ransom and Scott Lamlein, soloists

Full Sermon Text:

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April 9, 2017 + Sunday of the Passion – Palm Sunday

Holy 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:

Palm Procession from the Cloister Garden

Hymn in Procession 154 All glory, laud, and honor Valet will ich dir geben

Kyrie Eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 158 Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended Herzliebster Jesu
Sung in unison; men sing verse 2, women sing verse 3, all sing remaining verses.

Offertory Anthem Sanctus (St. Cecilia Mass) Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
Words from the Liturgy of the Eucharist
Soloist: Omar Mulero, tenor

Charles Gounod, because of his great popularity (especially from his operas) and his stylistic influence on the next generation of composers, was a towering figure in French music in the mid-nineteenth century. For two years he studied theology, but chose not to take holy orders; still, he was often referred to as “l’Abbé (Father) Gounod.” This mass setting is dedicated to Saint Cecilia (the patron saint of music), written in 1855.

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem Crucifixus Antonio Lotti (1667-1740)

Aside from two years in Dresden producing operas, Antonio Lotti spent his entire career at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, first as an alto singer, then as assisting assistant organist, assistant organist, main organist, and finally music director for the final four years of his life. Bach and Handel knew his work and may have been influenced by it. His 8-part setting of this brief text is justifiably famous, for its lavish dissonances and other expressive qualities so well suited to the event described.

Hymn in Procession 168 O sacred head, sore wounded Passion Chorale

Assisting Organist: Kari Miller

Full Sermon Text:

I imagine you have seen many a hometown parade on Memorial Day or the Fourth of July. I imagine you have seen little kids pedaling bikes trimmed with streamers, school bands earnestly trying to keep in step, and veterans of assorted wars proud that they can still fit into their uniforms. Along the parade route you see daddies holding toddlers on their shoulders, mothers pushing babies in strollers, grandmas and grandpas, some of them in wheelchairs, and teenagers flirting. When you take in the breadth of humanity in such a parade, it can bring a lump to your throat.

All of life is also there in the parade of characters we will encounter in the Passion Story this morning. We will hear of fickle crowds, threatened authorities, a compromising politician, cynics and scoffers, soldiers carrying out their orders and a few who hope for something better. We will recognize these people because we know them from our own experience. And some of them will even bear an uncomfortable resemblance to our own selves.

Take for instance the fickle crowds. These are the same folks who welcomed Jesus only days before, shouting ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ and waving their palm branches. Now only a few days later they shout, “Let him be crucified!” and “Give us Barabbas instead!” As we say those words, we might feel a shiver because the words cut close to the bone because we are little different from those people of old Jerusalem. We come to church and sing hymns and recite creeds that proclaim Jesus as Lord and then go out to speak and act in ways that deny any allegiance to Jesus.

We will meet Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate sees very clearly that Jesus is innocent and yet Pilate is perfectly willing to let an innocent man be put to a horrible death in order to please the crowd, keep the peace, and stay in power. We are familiar with politicians like Pilate who are willing to sacrifice their integrity just to stay in office. But are not all of us like Pilate whenever we lie to keep our jobs, wash our hands of responsibility instead of doing what is right, remain silent to keep a friendship, or sacrifice the truth for the easy way out or because we are afraid?

Then we will hear about the soldiers who do the dirty work of nailing Jesus to the cross. The soldiers are the men and women of every generation and place who carry out the orders of those in authority. They are just doing their job. And are we not just like the soldiers whenever under the guise of minding our own business we abdicate accountability for what goes on in the world around us? “It’s not my problem what happens in Syria or in Hartford; it’s just the way it is. I can’t worry about refugees or health care reform or global warming. I just need to deal with my own life because that’s all I can handle.” And every time we turn away to mind our own business, do we not pound the nails deeper into the One who died for the whole world?

We will encounter plenty of cynics in the Passion Story. There are people who don’t believe that there is anything or anyone who is ultimately good or true. We will glimpse such cynicism in Pilate, in the soldiers and bystanders at the cross who take pleasure in mocking Jesus’ supposed kingship. They cannot or will not see in the suffering of the crucified Jesus anything more than a figure of failure, someone to be made fun of. Such cynicism has not ended. Even children mock the weak among us.

But we will also meet two characters in the Passion Story who seem to rise above the sordidness of other characters. There is Pilate’s wife who begs her husband to have no part in Jesus’ condemnation. And finally, there are the Roman centurion and his companions who have the story’s final line: “Truly this man was God’s Son.”

There is much in the parade of characters in the Passion Story to make us weep about the frailty of our faith, for we are little different from those folks in Jerusalem 2000 years ago. But the Good News of Christ’s Passion Story is that God is right there in the midst of that parade of characters. God loves the fickle crowds, Pontius Pilate, and his soldiers; God loves the mockers and the cynics and God loves us. The question we are left with is what will we make of the Passion Story? Is it merely the record of our failure, the same old endless parade of human foibles? Or is the Passion Story amazing and life-changing Good News, Good News of how God so loves you and me and ALL the world? If it is, then there is hope for ourselves and for the world and we have got a job to do.

April 2, 2017 + The Fifth Sunday in Lent

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir, sermon by Wesley Winterbottom.

Worship at Home:

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Service Music:

Voluntary Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Brahms is hardly known for his organ music, and indeed he wrote very little of it – an hour’s worth in total, a mere five works. Yet the Lutheran music he grew up with exerted a major influence on him and his compositions. The 11 Chorale Preludes, Op. 122 constituted Brahms’s very last work, although they were not published until 1902. Among these is found this elegiac setting of the familiar hymn-tune Herzliebster Jesu, with musical suspensions reminiscent of Christ’s pain on the cross.

Kyrie eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 151 From deepest woe I cry to thee Aus tiefer Not

Offertory Anthem Out of the depths Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000)
Words: Psalm 130, found at Hymn 151

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem Lay up for yourselves Ned Rorem (b. 1923)
Words: Matthew 6: 20-21

Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,
And where thieves do not break through and steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Post-communion Anthem Rejoice in the Lord always Traditional
Children’s Choir

Hymn in Procession 665 All my hope on God is founded Michael

The timeless words of this great hymn were written in 1680 by Joachim Neander (who also brought us Praise to the Lord, the almighty). The hymn’s popularity increased in the 20th century when its pairing with a tune Michael by the English composer Herbert Howells became more widely known. Howells’ son, Michael, born in 1925, had died in childhood in 1935 from spinal meningitis. It is believed that shortly after this, in 1936, Howells received a request for a new hymn tune in the morning’s post, and he is said to have written the tune, which he named after his late son, over breakfast.

Voluntary Agincourt hymn John Dunstable (c. 1390-1453)

Children’s Choir Directors: Daaé Ransom, Katherine Foust

Full Sermon Text:

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March 26, 2017 + Choral Evensong

Choral Evensong Rite I at 5:00 p.m. sung by the Bishop’s Choir School of Springfield.

March 26, 2017 + The Fourth Sunday in Lent

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

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 Passacaglia: the prodigal son James Biery (b. 1956)

A passacaglia is a musical work in which a single line of music is repeated over and over, usually in the bass, and continuous thematic development happens in the upper parts – much like the famous Pachelbel Canon. James Biery’s Passacaglia takes the listener through all of the emotions of the Prodigal Son story – questioning, loss, pain, quiet resolution, gently quoting the hymn-tune St. Columba at its conclusion.

Kyrie eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Psalm 23 Iona Chant, sung by the choir arr. John Bell (b. 1949)
Soloist: Julia Foust, soprano

Sequence Hymn 645 The king of love my shepherd is St. Columba

Offertory Anthem Pilgrims’ Hymn Stephen Paulus (1949-2014)
Words: Michael Dennis Brown

This work is from an opera titled The Three Hermits and is powerful in its subtlety. Paulus uses straightforward harmonic progressions and melodic writing in such a deft way as to point the listener not to the notes and rhythms but to the intent and message of the piece. This is one of the most stunningly effective (and affective) pieces in the choral repertoire. (Notes courtesy Randall Z. Stroope)

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Motet Ave verum corpus Edward Elgar (1857-1934)

Ave, verum corpus natum de Maria Virgine, vere passum immolatum in Cruce pro homine,
Cujus latus perforatum unda fluxit sanguine, esto nobis praegustatum in mortis examine.

Hail, true body born of the Virgin Mary, who truly suffered, sacrificed on the Cross for man,
Whose pierced side overflowed with blood, Be for us a foretaste in the test of death.

Hymn in Procession It is well with my soul Ville du Havre

Voluntary Chaconne Louis Couperin (1626-1661)

Full Sermon Text:

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March 19, 2017 + The Third Sunday in Lent

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

Worship at Home:

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Service Music:

Voluntary Choral Dorien Jehan Alain (1911-1940)

Kyrie eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 167 There is a green hill far away Horsley

Offertory Anthem Abide with me William Henry Monk (1823-1889), arr. Moses Hogan (1957-2003)
Words: Henry Frances Lyte (1793-1897), found at Hymn 662

The setting of this timeless hymn by Moses Hogan melds his own harmonic language with the uncomplicated melody. Hogan masterfully drafted an arrangement using contemporary harmonies and stylistic devices such as sforzandos, suspensions, and dissonance resolving to consonance that effectively keep your ear interested and your heart totally engaged.

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem A Gaelic blessing John Rutter (b. 1945)
Words: Ancient Gaelic rune

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the gentle night to you.
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.
Deep peace of Christ,
of Christ the light of the world to you.
Deep peace of Christ to you.

Communion Hymn 676 There is a balm in Gilead Balm in Gilead

Hymn in Procession 522 Glorious things of thee are spoken Austria

Voluntary Litanies Jehan Alain (1911-1940)

Jehan Alain, a Parisian composer whose life was cut short when his plane was shot down during WWII, wrote this morning’s organ music. The opening voluntary is two haunting Chorals that explore modal tonalities. Litanies is a breathless and relentless prayer. The desperation of prayer in time of deep need is illustrated by a repetitive litany and rhythms written while traveling on a train – all building to a frenzy. Alain writes, “When the Christian soul in its despair can no longer find any new words to implore the mercy of God, it repeats the same incantation over and over again in blind faith. The limits of reality are surpassed and faith alone continues upward.”

Full Sermon Text:

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March 12, 2017 + The Second Sunday in Lent

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

Worship at Home:

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

Service Music:

Voluntary Final: Andante (Sonata VI) Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Introit Lift thine eyes (Elijah) Felix Mendelssohn
Words: Psalm 121:1-3
Trio: Emily, Julia, & Katherine Foust

Lift thine eyes to the mountains, whence cometh help.
Thy help cometh from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
He hath said, thy foot shall not be moved, thy keeper will never slumber.

Kyrie eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 604 When Christ was lifted from the earth San Rocco

Offertory Anthem He, watching over Israel (Elijah) Felix Mendelssohn
Words: Psalm 121:4,Psalm 138:7

He, watching over Israel, slumbers not nor sleeps.
Shouldst thou, walking in grief, languish, he will quicken thee.

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem God so loved the world (The Crucifixion) John Stainer (1840-1901)
Words: John 3:16-17

God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son,
that whoso believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world;
but that the world through him should be saved.

John Stainer’s choral setting of the famous John 3:16-17 text is a standard of the choral repertoire, and part of a larger work, The Crucifixion. The full oratorio is still performed annually at St. Marylebone in London, which commissioned it in 1887. The short text of God so loved the world is so well-known because it explains the whole Easter story, encapsulating the essence of the Christian Gospel in under 30 words.

Hymn in Procession 473 Lift high the cross Crucifer

Voluntary Fugue (Sonata VI) Felix Mendelssohn

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March 5, 2017 + The First Sunday in Lent

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 the Service Bulletin; scroll to read full sermon text.

Full Service Audio:

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Service Music:

Assisting Organist: Kari Miller

Voluntary
Préambule Louis Vierne (1870-1937)
Prelude on Lonesome Valley Robert Powell (b. 1932)

Kyrie eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 142 Lord, who throughout these forty days St. Flavian

Offertory Anthem Kyrie eleison (Messe Solennelle) Louis Vierne

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem Surely he hath borne our griefs Karl Heinrich Graun (1704-1759)
Words: Isaiah 53:4

In what is probably the best-loved Old Testament prophecy of Christ’s suffering, the prophet reveals the infamous role of the people in the unfolding drama of the Crucifixion: We were not attracted to him… We hid our faces from him… We thought him under God’s righteous judgement… We have each gone astray. It is in this context that the prophet sets the record straight. Christ is not guilty in the least: “Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.” Then Isaiah asserts – and here we can imagine his utter astonishment – that by his scourging we are healed. Graun depicts the grief and sorrow in this text by the use of melisma (one word, many notes) on the words grief and sorrow, chromaticism (half-step movement), and dissonance. The poignant resolution at the end of the work reminds us that the scourging is not in vain. Indeed, by it we are healed.

Hymn in Procession 690 Guide me, O thou great Jehovah Cwm Rhondda

Voluntary Toccata in D minor Johann Jakob Froberger (1616-1667)

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Ash Wednesday + March 1, 2017

Imposition of Ashes at 7:00 p.m. with hymns and organ music, sermon by the Rev’d William Eakins.

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 minor, BWV 555/1 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Hymn 143 The glory of these forty days Erhalt uns, Herr

Hymn 674 Forgive our sins as we forgive Detroit

Voluntary Fugue in E minor, BWV 555/2 Johann Sebastian Bach

Full Sermon Text:

Ash Wednesday, we call it: a solemn day of repentance when Christians go to church to begin the holy season of Lent by having a cross of ashes marked on their foreheads. It is a messy, unattractive business – the gritty, burned residue of last year’s Palm Sunday branches smudged onto our brows, sometimes with bits of ash ending up on our noses. Why do we do it?

After all, doesn’t Jesus tell us in today’s Gospel not to “look dismal like the hypocrites who disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others,” but instead to “wash your face that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who sees in secret?” Jesus’ words remind us that the ashes we use today have no value in themselves, that wearing them will not make us holy, and that if we wear them to show the world that we are Christians, we are missing the point.

The point of the ashes is an in-your-face reminder of two facts that we would like to avoid, two truths that are as messy and dirty as the ashes.
First, the ashes confront us with the fact of our mortality, the fact that we are all going to die. Today, we are not just told that, we have it rubbed in our faces. The time is coming when our hearts will stop beating and our blood will go cold and the world will go on but we will not be there. Whether we are cremated or laid in the finest coffin, we will return to the dust whereof we are made. And from the vantage point of a priest who imposes the ashes, let me tell you that it is hard to do this, hard to say those words and trace the cross on the heads of children and the elderly and those whom I know are ill. I want to soften the stark reality with pastoral words, with words of comfort, but there is no way to soften the fact that we will all die. Life is short; life is precious. Don’t waste it.

Secondly, the ashes are a symbol of our sinfulness, the ineffectiveness of our ability to please God, the incompleteness and frailty of our attempts to be good. We have left undone the things we ought to have done and not done those things we ought to have done. In a few minutes we will confess all the brokenness and deadness in our lives – our hypocrisy, frustration, envy, prejudice, dishonesty and our pollution of the creation. There is no excuse for our sin, no way to explain it away, and no way to hide it from God. “There is no health in us.” The only way to wholeness is through our honesty and God’s grace.

Today’s ashes do mark us as mortal beings and as sinners, but they also mark us as God’s beloved children because they are not smeared on us randomly but traced deliberately in the sign of the cross. There is all the difference in the world between smearing dirt on somebody’s face and marking a cross there. A smudge of black ash and the words of death are signs of abasement and despair. But the same words joined with the cross connect us with our Baptism when another cross was traced on our foreheads with the words, “You are marked as Christ’s own forever.” And so forever after, we are not homeless wanderers on the face of the earth, but people named and claimed as God’s children. As God’s beloved children, we can be confident that when we turn to God and confess our sins, God will welcome and forgive us and that when we die, we have nothing to fear.

The imposition of ashes is not the end of the liturgy. There is one more thing to do. After being marked with the ashes, we will go to the altar once again to receive the bread and to share the wine of Holy Communion, kneeling in recognition of our mortality and sinfulness and reaching out our hands outstretched to receive God’s very self poured out for us in love.

“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return,” and remember that you are precious dust, dust into which God breathed life in the beginning of creation, dust so beloved that God came to be a part of us, embraced us, died for us, and despite our sin, returns again and again to love us.

February 26, 2017 + Choral Evensong

Choral Evensong Rite I at 5:00 p.m. sung by the Youth Choir.

February 26, 2017 + The Last Sunday after the Epiphany

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by Rabbi Michael Pincus.

Worship at Home:

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

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary
Tuba Tune on Laudate Dominum June Nixon (b. 1942)
Andantino Charles Tournemire (1870-1939)

Processional Hymn 432 O praise ye the Lord! Laudate Dominum

Gloria S280 Robert Powell (b.1932)

Psalm 2 Plainsong Chant, Mode VIII.1, sung by the choir

Sequence Hymn 137 O wondrous type! O vision fair Wareham

Offertory Anthem Come, renew us Eleanor Daley (b. 1955)
Words: David Adam

Come, Lord, come to us. Enter our darkness with your light,
Fill our emptiness with your presence,
Come, refresh, restore, renew us.
In our sadness come as joy, in our troubles, come as peace,
In our fearfulness, come as hope, in our darkness, come as light,
In our frailty, come as strength, in our loneliness, come as love,
Come, refresh, restore, renew us.

Eleanor Daley is a Canadian composer, performer, and accompanist. She received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Organ Performance from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and holds diplomas in both organ and piano from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and Trinity College in England. She has been the Director of Music at Fairlawn Heights United Church in Toronto since 1982. During that time she has established a thriving choral program for which much of her choral music has been composed. This lovely anthem was commissioned for Christ Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Stuart Forster, Director of Music and Organist, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Dedication of the Church, 2011.

Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Fraction anthem S164 Jesus, lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Motet O nata lux Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585)

O nata lux de lumine, Jesu redemptor saeculi, dignare clemens supplicum laudes precesque sumere.
Qui carne quondam contegi dignatus es pro perditis, nos membra confer effici tui beati corporis.

O Light born of Light, Jesus, redeemer of the world,with kindness deign to receive the praise and prayer of suppliants.
You who once deigned to be clothed in flesh for the sake of the lost, grant us to be made members of your blessed body.

Hymn in Procession 618 Ye watchers and ye holy ones Lasst uns erfreuen

Voluntary Fugue in C Major, BWV 547/2 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

The Fugue in C Major demonstrates a concentration of material with its extremely short subject, similar to its companion Prelude, heard last week. Although it is a five-voice fugue, Bach withholds the entrance of the pedal until the end of the movement—an unusual practice during the Baroque period. Shortly after the pedal entrance, the detached chords of the prelude make an appearance to announce the final return of the subject in the home key.

Full Sermon Text:

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February 19, 2017 + The Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany

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

Worship at Home:

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

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary Chorale and Aria on Abbott’s Leigh Carl D.N. Klein, 1991

Processional Hymn 525 The Church’s one foundation Aurelia

Gloria S280 Robert Powell (b.1932)

Sequence Hymn As we gather at your table Raquel

Offertory Teach me, O Lord William Byrd (c. 1540-1623)
Words: Psalm 119: 33-38
Elizabeth Proteau, soloist

Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes: and I shall keep it unto the end.
Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law: yea, I shall keep it with my whole heart.
Make me to go in the path of thy commandments: for therein is my desire.
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies: and not to covetousness.
O turn away mine eyes, lest they behold vanity: and quicken thou me in thy way.
O stablish thy word in thy servant: that I may fear thee.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, and is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

This Psalm setting was apparently not designed as an anthem, but as a truly liturgical piece, a festal Psalm to be sung after the Preces; it was popular enough to have found its way (usually as an anthem) into several sources. The piece might almost have been written to exemplify the Royal Injunction that required “a modest distinct song, so used in all parts of the common prayers in the church, that the same may be as plainly understood, as if it were read without singing.” There is a new intimacy, partly due to the verse idiom, in which a soloist alternates with the full choir. A modern listener used to hearing Evensong cannot help noticing the similarity of the full sections, with their regular cadential formulae, to Anglican chant. (Notes courtesy Robert Quinney)

Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Fraction anthem S164 Jesus, lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem Deep river Gerre Hancock (1934-2012)

Deep river, my home is over Jordan, Deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into campground.
Oh, don’t you want to go to that gospel feast, that promised land where all is peace?

Hymn in Procession 379 God is Love, let heaven adore him Abbott’s Leigh

Voluntary Prelude in C Major, BWV 547 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

The Prelude in C Major is an example of Bach’s use of concentrated material within a work. The entire musical fabric of the movement is presented in the first eight measures. The rest of the prelude explores various combinations of this material in a number of keys, often in quick succession. A sustained pedal note and several detached chords announce the return of the home key and final statement of the opening theme. Stay tuned for its companion Fugue, next week!

Full Sermon Text:

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February 12, 2017 + The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. with hymns and organ, sermon by the Rev’d Hope Eakins.

Worship at Home:

Click here for the Service Bulletin; scroll to read full sermon text.
NOTE: Choirs were cancelled for the morning due to inclement weather. The music listing below reflects the service as it took place.

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary Aria Flor Peeters (1903-1986)

Flor Peeters was organist of the St. Rombaut Cathedral, Mechelen, Belgium, and a renowned teacher and performer. Aria is his best known organ piece with its plaintive melody set against pulsing chords.

Processional Hymn 474 When I survey the wondrous cross Rockingham

Gloria S280 Robert Powell (b.1932)

Sequence Hymn 674 “Forgive our sins as we forgive” Detroit

Offertory Preambule Louis Vierne (1870-1937)

Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Fraction anthem S164 Jesus, lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Music Berceuse Louis Vierne

Hymn in Procession I will trust in the Lord Trust in the Lord

Voluntary Prelude in G Major J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Full Sermon Text:

While you were shoveling and plowing snow this week, my husband and I were visiting a friend – in Florida. One of the things we anticipated with delight was our host’s invitation to a book group discussion of Small Great Things, a novel that focuses on modern day racism. We had read this story of an exceedingly compassionate and competent black nurse who is removed from the care of a white baby because the child’s parents refuse to let a black nurse touch him. In the discussion of this racial intolerance, several book group participants questioned whether the nurse was just a little too hypersensitive about losing her job because of her race. “It depends on how you see it,” they said, one way or another. “Two people can have the same experience and interpret it different ways – it’s like alternative facts.”

Jesus didn’t think much of alternative facts. “ Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No‘ be No’,” he said.

Just before Jesus preached the sermon in this morning’s Gospel, he told the folks on the hillside why he was preaching it. He said, “Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I have … [come] to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17)

The Law meant a number of things to the Jews. First of all, the law was the Ten Commandments given to Moses. Secondly, the Law was the sacred Torah, the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Scriptures. Finally there was the Oral Law, carefully repeated and finally written down by the Scribes.

Just like pious Christians, pious Jews, the ones known as the Pharisees, found it hard to keep the Ten Commandments not only because it was difficult but also because the commandments were confusing. And so the attorneys of their day, the Scribes, piled up law books ceiling high with thousands of regulations spelling out what the Ten Commandments actually specify. An example: the Commandments say, “Do no work on the Sabbath.” But how do you define work?

The Scribes said that carrying a burden was work. But then what was a burden? It was “Food equal in weight to a dried fig, ink enough to write two letters of the alphabet, honey enough to put on a wound.” But you couldn’t actually put honey on a wound because healing was forbidden on the day of rest – remember how much trouble Jesus got into for healing on the Sabbath? The Law said that, on the Sabbath, you could prevent a patient from becoming worse, but you couldn’t promote healing, so you could put a plain bandage on a wound but certainly not any honey.

It was to a people caught up in this kind of exhausting legalism that Jesus said, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” On that basis, we are all convicted, because none of us seems to keep Ten Commandments, let alone thousands of Scribal additions. So when Jesus continues, “You have heard it said, ‘You shall not kill,’ but I say that if you are angry with a brother or a sister, you will be liable to judgment,” we cringe because we all have been angry. And when Jesus persists, “You have heard it said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ but I say that it is better to pluck your eye out that to look lustfully at another,” we want to say, “Oh Jesus, I can never be more righteous than the Pharisees for not only Jimmy Carter but I have done that myself.”

So Jesus explains to the people and to us that obeying the laws is not as complicated as we make it. He says that we should start by living the law of love, a matter that goes beyond legal observance to the habits of the heart. When a lawyer asked Jesus, “Which commandment is the greatest?” Jesus told him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:35-39). Jesus didn’t pick his favorite law; he summarized the essence of the Law as respect for people, for the earth, and for truth. Jesus says that keeping the Law is not so much a matter of justice as a matter of mercy, not so much narrow legalism but abundant love and care and respect for all creation.

We need the Laws of Moses, because we don’t do a very good job of living the law of love. The commandments come first, before the Good News, because we always need help figuring out what is right and what is wrong, but Jesus says that following the law, obeying the commandments, doesn’t make us holy, it just keeps us honest. It’s a waste of our lives, he says, to worry about dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s, because even if we follow every jot and tittle of the Law, we are condemned if we fail to love.

Here’s how it works. Jesus says that a man can divorce his wife if she has committed adultery, because there is no love left in that marriage, but … that a man cannot divorce his wife because he has grown tired of her, for that would break his marriage vows. Now I know a divorced man who married a divorced woman – and you probably do too. Their prior marriages failed for good reasons, and they have been happy for decades now, and their love spills out and blesses the world. But one of their children has become a fundamentalist Christian and he quotes this morning’s Gospel. The son says that these people are both adulterers, and his father should leave the stepmother so his parents can get remarried. Jesus says that the Law is bigger than that. Jesus says that the law of love trumps the holiness code, and commands us to live where love is, to weep whenever love fails, and to do all we can to birth love in this world.

Over and over Jesus quotes the Law and extends it beyond the words to the heart of the matter. “You have heard it said, ‘You shall not kill,’ but I say to you everyone who is angry with his brother is liable to judgment.” But how do we keep from becoming angry. Sometimes anger just washes over us, and sometimes folks who don’t get angry get ulcers instead. Too often Christians have misinterpreted Jesus’ dictum as saying that Christians should put on nice faces along with their nice clothes and cover up what troubles them. But Jesus tells us to address our anger and be honest, to bring it out into the light of day and deal with it fairly. Jesus isn’t talking about an indignant blast of fury, but about anger that festers and seeks revenge. We once saw this kind of anger on a visit to Sardinia where vendetta is a pivotal social value and many hillsides are blasted by explosions set by angry enemies. As we stood inside a church there, we watched one woman sneak inside while another woman was lighting a votive candle. As soon as the first woman left, the second woman grabbed the candle, spat on it and blew it out. Sardinian vendetta even permeates prayer.

Another woman in another place harbored a terrible anger toward her brother for 65 years. She was sodomized by this brother when she was ten years old, and she kept her terrible secret until his death. She never told her sister or her husband or her children or her priest; she just let the shame and fear and anger gnaw at her. Oh there were reasons for the secret, the reasons of any incest victim, but, as Jesus knew, the anger festered and killed a part of her life. Once she let the secret out, her anger disappeared. “Why did I carry this for so long?” she asked. The victim who won’t forgive is forever in bondage to the victimizer.

“You have heard it said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ but I say to you that if you have looked lustfully you have already committed adultery in your heart.” Jesus was not naïve. He knew about lusts of the heart. But it is not the momentary passion, the quickening of the breath, that Jesus condemns – after all, physical desire is God’s gift to us. Rather Jesus condemns the choice to enjoy a lust that might lead to infidelity, and he warns us that adultery starts long before the affair.

“You have heard it said, ‘You shall not swear falsely,’ but I say to you ‘Do not swear at all.” Jesus is not referring to profanity. He is talking about swearing in the name of God. So what is the matter with that? Jesus is saying that we don’t need to put God behind our oaths because God is already there. It doesn’t matter if we swear by God because even liars can do that. What matters is the integrity of our word. There can’t be one kind of integrity in the boardroom and another in church. All promises are sacred because all promises are made in the presence of God. Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no,’ Jesus says; no one’s word should need an oath to guarantee its truth. And although there can be alternative interpretations, there can never be alternative facts.

Jesus makes it very simple. Don’t harbor anger; don’t destroy someone’s good name through gossip; be faithful to your spouse; tell the truth. And above all, first of all, most important of all, live the law of love. Not a bad idea for Valentine’s Day and for all the days ahead.

February 5, 2017 + The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir, sermon by the Rabbi Stephen Fuchs.

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 on Leoni Richard Proulx (1937-2010)
Meditation on Slane June Nixon (b. 1942)

Processional Hymn 372 Praise to the living God Leoni

Gloria S280 Robert Powell (b.1932)

Sequence Hymn 543 O Zion, tune thy voice Eastview

Children’s Anthem This little light of mine Traditional

Offertory O for a closer walk with God Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)
Words: William Cowper (1731-1800), found at Hymn 683

Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Fraction anthem S164 Jesus, lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem Ubi caritas Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)
Words from the Maundy Thursday communion rite

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
Exsultemus, et in ipso jucundemur. Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.
Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

Where charity and love are, God is there. Christ’s love has gathered us into one.
Let us rejoice and be pleased in him. Let us fear, and let us love the living God.
And may we love each other with a sincere heart.

This is perhaps the best known work of french composer Maurice Duruflé, and the most moving and finely wrought harmonization of this ancient Gregorian Chant. The beautiful harmonies and repeated moment on the word “sincerity” make it a perfect reminder that God’s central message is one of love.

Hymn in Procession 488 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart Slane

Voluntary Fantasy on St. Anne Christa Rakich, 2011

Christa Rakich is an internationally recognized concert organist and recording artist, and Director of Music/Organist at St. Mark the Evangelist Church, here in West Hartford. She has won particular acclaim for her interpretation of early music and the works of J.S. Bach. This delightful fantasy is from a set of variations written in the style of Johann Pachelbel (yep, the Canon guy). Stick around for the 12:30 Pipes Alive! concert and you’ll get to hear the whole work!

Full Sermon Text:

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January 29, 2017 + Choral Evensong

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

January 29, 2017 + The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

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

Full Sermon Text:

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January 22, 2017 + The Third Sunday after the Epiphany

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.

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

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.

This composition is one of seven works in a set of a cappella motets titled Seven Motets for the Church Year, by New York composer Ned Rorem. Each of the works is brief, yet lyrical and powerfully individual. The choir will present the entire collection during 2017.

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

Full Sermon Text:

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January 15, 2017 + The Second Sunday after the Epiphany

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:

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

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

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.

January 8, 2017 + The First Sunday after the Epiphany

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:

Sermon-only Audio:

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)

Full Sermon Text:

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January 1, 2017 + The Feast of the Holy Name

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

Worship at Home:

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

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

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)

Full Sermon Text:

Check back soon.

December 25, 2016 + Christmas Day

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:

Sermon-only Audio:

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:

Check back soon.

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:

Check back soon.

December 18, 2016 + The Fourth Sunday of Advent

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 full details.

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)

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

Traditional Carols

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

December 11, 2016 + Candlelight Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

At 3:00 p.m., sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs.

December 11, 2016 + The Third Sunday of Advent

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

Worship at Home:

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

Due to a technical issue, the recordings of this service are unavailable.

Service Music:

Voluntary Savior of the nations, come Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Processional Hymn 640 Watchman, tell us of the night Aberystwyth

Kyrie Eleison from Litany of the Saints adapt. Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Sequence Hymn 324 Let all mortal flesh keep silence Picardy

Offertory Anthem No small wonder Paul Edwards (b. 1955)
Text: Paul Wigmore (b. 1925)

Small wonder the star, small wonder the light,
The angels in chorus, the shepherds in fright;
But stable and manger for God – no small wonder!

Small wonder the kings, small wonder they bore
The gold and the incense, the myrrh, to adore:
But God gives his life on a cross – no small wonder!

Small wonder the love, small wonder the grace,
The power, the glory, the light of his face;
But all to redeem my poor heart – no small wonder!

Paul Edwards began his career as a young chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. His text writer, Paul Wigmore, relays the story of No small wonder, which eventually was included in the famous service of Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge: “One November morning in 1983 the young composer, Paul Edwards, gathered up his week’s bundle of laundry and was about to leave for the local launderette when he opened a letter from me. The letter ended with a new poem – a carol for Advent and Christmas, just three short verses. Paul Edwards had already set a number of my lyrics for choir and this was a new one. He slipped it into his pocket. It would be something to read while he waited for the machine to do the washing, he thought. In the launderette he loaded the machine and sat down, read the poem, grabbed a scrap of manuscript paper and began writing. Trying to imagine how any composer could write this profound music while surrounded by the noise of washing machines is practically impossible.” God at work!

Sanctus from Missa Emmanuel Richard Proulx

Fraction Anthem Agnus Dei from Missa Emmanuel Richard Proulx

Communion Anthem The Lamb John Tavener (1944-2013)
Text: William Blake (1757-1827)

Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee

Little Lamb I’ll tell thee,
Little Lamb I’ll tell thee!
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb:
He is meek & he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.

“The Lamb” is a setting of a poem by William Blake, depicting the innocence of the Christ child, the beautiful creation of God. Part of Blake’s collection “Songs of Innocence” of 1789. Although the original poems were meant to be sung, Blake’s original tunes are lost to the ages. Sir John Tavener set the poem to music, explaining, “ ‘The Lamb’ came to me fully grown and was written in an afternoon and dedicated to my nephew Simon for his 3rd birthday.”

Closing Hymn 72 Hark! the glad sound! Richmond

Voluntary Toccata Scott Lamlein (2010)

Cantor: John Nowacki

Full Sermon Text:

Have you ever been disappointed? Looked forward eagerly to something happening that never appeared beneath the tree, looked forward to a vacation or some occasion that failed miserably to live up to expectation? Sometimes, we even get disappointed in God when we look at our lives and look at a world and see so much that is painfully broken. Where are you, God, we wonder? Have we trusted in you in vain?

Take, for example, John the Baptist in today’s Gospel reading. He was once so confident about what God was up to. God’s Promised One was about to break in upon the world to establish justice, separating the good folks from the bad like a farmer separates the wheat from the chaff. “Repent and prepare the way of the Lord,” had been John’s ringing cry. Furthermore John had been convinced that his cousin Jesus was the very one God had sent to carry out the divine judgment. John had even heard a voice from heaven saying of Jesus, “This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

But now a short time later, John is not so sure he had heard aright. In the prison cell where John has been locked up after getting himself in trouble with the authorities, John listens anxiously for news about what Jesus, God’s Chosen One, is doing. And what John hears is not what he had expected. Where is the promised Day of Judgment? Where are the thunderbolts of divine intervention, the unquenchable fire of divine punishment? Jesus isn’t denouncing the tax collectors, harlots, and other sinners; he is sitting down to have supper with them. What’s going on here? And so John starts to think: perhaps I was wrong about you, Jesus. Maybe that voice I heard at your Baptism didn’t come from heaven after all but was merely the whistling of the wind. So John sends messengers to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come or must we wait for another?”

There’s a very good reason why we need to hear this story of John the Baptist’s bewilderment and discouragement as we head into the Christmas season. Truth be told, we sometimes are very much like that puzzled, questioning servant of God of long ago. We too know what it is like to feel disappointed, let down, and depressed even at this very time of the year when we are supposed to be full of Christmas cheer.

Christmas is a season of great expectations. We know the Christmas angels proclaim peace on earth and good will among men and women. We would dearly like to experience that peace and good will in our hearts and in our homes. And we go to great lengths, cooking special foods, trimming trees, putting up wreaths, shopping for just the right presents for everybody on our list – all in hopes of having the best Christmas ever. But our actual experience often falls short of what we had hoped for. We get exhausted and irritable, the relatives and family get into squabbles, fuss over what they will eat and not eat; not everybody is grateful for what you have given them. Then we turn on the news and hear about threatened government shutdowns, angry dissent over the recent election, wars and rumors of ears, political gridlock in Washington, crazy people shooting innocent people in bars. And we start to wonder if Christmas and the Good News it proclaims is really all it’s cracked up to be. “Are you the One we expected, Jesus, or should we look for someone else?”

Now when John the Baptist asks his question, the answer Jesus gives is simple. He tells John to look at what was going on. There are amazing things happening that John is not noticing: blind people are receiving sight, people who haven’t walked in years are skipping and running, deaf folks are swapping stories, untouchable lepers are hugging their children, and the poor are hearing sermons that make them smile. It was all straight out of the Book of the prophet Isaiah, the promise of what happens when God’s power is stirred up and comes among us with great might.

In effect Jesus is saying to John: Think again, my friend. You don’t understand the big picture of what God is doing. You, John have focused on a message of repentance, and repentance is necessary because it opens people’s hearts to recognize their need of God’s love and mercy. And God’s love and mercy is just what I, Jesus, have come to bring. As God’s Chosen One, I have come to fulfill God’s promises of old: I have come to give sight to the blind, to open deaf ears, to bring the dead to life, and to preach the Good News of God’s love to all who are poor in spirit. So, John, the word of God is not as you supposed, “Repent, lest you be judged,” but “Repent and receive with joy God’s redeeming work.” Could it be that we, and not just John the Baptist, need to grow in our understanding of the new order that Jesus Christ ushers in?

There are Christians who seem more ready to sound the note of God’s judgment than to herald the good news of God’s compassion and mercy. Last month a man in the city of Decatur, Illinois, was refused permission to sing at his grandmother’s funeral because the priest had seen the man’s picture in the newspaper participating in a Gay Pride rally. A few years ago, the parents in Newtown received letters from avowedly Christian people telling them that the children were shot as God’s punishment for the sins of their parents. Putting such extremists aside, however, we must all learn to appreciate more fully, as the old hymn reminds us, that “there’s a wideness in God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea…. For the love of God is broader than the measure of [our] mind and the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.”

Why does God allow war and injustice to continue? Why does God allow innocent people to suffer and evildoers to prosper? Perhaps it is because God is incredibly more patient with the creation than we can imagine. Perhaps in divine forbearance, God’s timetable of redemption is slow but nonetheless sure. And perhaps we would do better to focus more closely on the signs of God’s Kingdom breaking into our world than on the evidence of human sinfulness.

There are signs of God’s Kingdom all around us if we would open our eyes, ears, minds, and hearts.

“Look,” Jesus tells John, “the poor have good news brought to them.” Well the good news today is that the number of people living in extreme poverty is in steep decline. So says a recent study published by the World Bank. In 2013, less than 11% of the global population was living in extreme poverty, a dramatic decrease from 35% only 25 years ago. Thanks to better education, better health care, improved rural infrastructure, especially roads and electrification, and employment opportunities brought on by the growth of the global economy, billions of the world’s poorest people have been given new life.

“Look,” says Jesus, the dead are raised. Well, it happened over in Glastonbury just this week. I read about it in the Hartford Courant. Pastor Nancy Butler of the Riverfront Family Church, who for the past year has been dying of ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, made a decision to go off her feeding tube and breathing vent and let herself die. She did so trusting that God did not want her to suffer any longer and trusting that in dying, she would in her words, “go home to God.” Last Wednesday, Nancy Butler passed away peacefully at home. A note announcing Pastor Butler’s death posted on her church’s Facebook page reads, “We are deeply saddened by her loss but also share her joy in Christ, trusting that she is rejoicing in God’s presence and dancing with the saints.”

“Look,” says Jesus, “the lepers are cleansed.” Well haven’t we seen this right here in West Hartford? The Kattoubs, a refugee family from Syria, are in many ways modern-day lepers, exiled from their own country, homeless, and dependent on the charity of others. And we at St. John’s, along with people from St. James’s Parish have welcomed them to our community and done everything we can to give them a fresh start in life in a new land and culture. And thanks to the Max Restaurant Group, Mr. Kattoub, a former auto mechanic, now is earning a living making pizza on LaSalle Road.

“Do you hear what I hear? Do you see what I see?” These are questions from a Christmas song that, I imagine, we will hear many times in the days ahead. They might serve to remind us to be alert, attentive, looking for the signs of God’s reign breaking into our world. The song concludes, “the Child, the Child, sleeping in the night He will bring us goodness and light.” Yes, there will be times when we will doubt whether that is true. But as God promised long ago by the prophet Isaiah: “as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there until they have watered the earth making it bring forth and sprout, so shall my word be … it shall not return empty but it shall accomplish that for which I purpose and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” And isn’t that Good News!

December 4, 2016 + The Second Sunday of Advent

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

Worship at Home:

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

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary Two settings of Es ist ein ‘Ros Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927)

Processional Hymn 56 (st. 1, 2, 6, 7, 8) O come, O come, Emmanuel Veni, veni Emmanuel

The origins of “O come, O come, Emmanuel” date to medieval times. In the 800s, a series of Latin hymns were sung, called the “O” Antiphons. Over time, these were restructured, and the first draft of the beloved hymn we know came from Anglican priest John Mason Neale, in 1851. Born to a family of clergy, Neale wanted to become a parish minister, but his poor health prevented this. He instead became the director of Sackville College, a home for elderly men. This proved to be a good match, as Neale was compassionate with a great heart for the needy. A traditionalist, he was outspoken against the change that other hymn writers like Isaac Watts stood for, but today we find Neale and Watts side-by-side in our hymnals. We owe Neale our gratitude for this great hymn, as well as “Good King Wenceslas,” “Good Christian Men, Rejoice,” and “All Glory, Laud, and Honor.”

Kyrie Eleison from Litany of the Saints adapt. Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Sequence Hymn 597 O day of peace that dimly shines Jerusalem

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

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.

Sanctus from Missa Emmanuel Richard Proulx

Fraction Anthem Agnus Dei from Missa Emmanuel Richard Proulx

Communion Anthem Lo, how a rose e’er blooming Michael Praetorius (1571-1621), Hugo Distler (1908-1942)
Words: Hymn 81

Closing Hymn 616 Hail to the Lord’s anointed Es flog kleins Waldvögelein

Voluntary Fantasy on Veni, veni Emmanuel Wilbur Held (1914-2015)

Cantor: Daaé Ransom

Full Sermon Text:

“The wolf shall lie down with the lamb,” says the prophet Isaiah, “and the leopard with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together.” But this is not reasonable, we say. We know that if you put a lamb in a wolf’s lair, all we have done is to provide lunch for the wolf. A little child cannot lead wild animals without being in grave danger and probably soon dead. And since we are all reasonable people, we interpret Isaiah’s words as unreasonable, as poetry, as a dream outside of reality.

But the very reason we come to church is to hear the dreams of God, not just to sing wonderful hymns and see our friends. The very reason we come to church is to hear prophets like Isaiah tell us that things don’t have to be the way they have always been, that God’s dream for us is bigger and better that a dog-eat-dog world. We come here to see things from God’s point of view, a peculiar way of seeing that is anything but reasonable.

If we believe that this world is designed for nothing more than the survival of the fittest, then the vision of lions and lambs lying down together is only a foolish imagination. And yet Isaiah’s words have a certain ring to them; Edward Hicks painted over sixty versions of the Peaceable Kingdom of pacified wolves and child leaders. So maybe Isaiah is pointing us to something important, to a bigger and better and holier reality than the one we’ve got.

There shall be an abundance of peace, says the Psalmist, and the mountains shall bring prosperity to the people. St. Paul tells us that Christ has come to confirm these promises of peace on earth, good will to all. At the center of Christian belief is the conviction that there is an omnipotent God with whom all things are possible, who really can make wolves lie down with lambs. And the way we live and the way we will die depend on whether or not we believe this.

If we don’t believe that there can be peace on earth, if we continue to trust in the power of our guns and bombs more than we trust in the power of God, we will always be at war. If we don’t believe that God can build the bridges that are too hard for us to build, we will continue our family feuds and vendettas against our neighbors and hostilities toward our boss. If we don’t believe Jesus promise that sins can be forgiven we will keep our secrets and harbor shame. If we don’t repent because we fear God’s harsh judgment, we will live with despair and anxiety and never feel the “God of hope filling us with all joy and peace in believing.”

If we don’t believe in God’s possibilities we will be stuck with our own convictions and live like the two brothers who once owned Manganaro’s grocery store in New York City. Let me tell you the story. Their shop had been around for a hundred years or so until Sal and Jimmy dell’Orto had an argument and split the business in two. Although they worked right next door to each other, they never again spoke to each other nor did their children speak to each other because the feud extended through three generations. At issue in their battle was which shop had the right to take phone orders for Hero-Boy sandwiches. Jimmy said “to have a reconciliation, one of the parties has to say ‘I’m sorry,’ and I won’t. I don’t feel the need to apologize to him for anything and I don’t think he is going to apologize to me.” After years of court battles and petty retaliations, both shops closed. Over a hundred years of family business died with him because a wolf couldn’t lie down with a lamb, because one dell’Orto couldn’t lie down with another.

But in Isaiah’s words, when “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea,” then hope and justice and peace can flourish. I have seen it happen. I have seen a husband hurt a wife in a way that left her demeaned and embarrassed and so angry that she could barely stop shouting. She wanted him to grovel and he was so afraid to admit his wrongdoings he couldn’t speak. He wanted her to forgive him, and she was afraid that forgiveness would diminish the issue so that he would feel free to do it again. Realistically, there was no hope. But they were people of faith, these folks. They remembered their wedding vows and prayed that God would rescue them. And they waited in their shame and anger until the Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, came upon them, and they began the long task of rebuilding trust and making love – and now, at least one wolf and lamb are lying down together.

I have known it to happen. I have seen a man who embezzled from his business and got away with it. He thought he was clever and he was. He also had no self-respect because he knew he was a sinner. He wasn’t caught by the law, but he was caught by his guilt. It took quite a while for him to figure out what he needed to do. He started by making his confession to a priest and then realized that he had to give the money back and admit his wrongdoing. And he did. His partners didn’t condemn him and they commended his honesty and let him keep his job, and he now knows that “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea.”

You have seen it happen in this world too. In our country, slavery and civil war threatened to divide us and oppress us all, but we found a way to live as one people committed to liberty and justice for all. In Germany, the Berlin Wall finally fell after thirty years of division and separation.

God sent Jesus to show us that dreams like these can be more than dreams, that we need not give up and live in tired resignation, that we are not limited to what WE can imagine because God’s dream for us is more than we can ask or imagine. John the Baptist shouted it in the wilderness, proclaiming that if we turn and say we are sorry and admit that we are wrong, we will see the Kingdom of heaven staring us in the face. Paul wrote it to the Romans, that we CAN live together in harmony, that walls can tumble down, that Gentiles and Jews and Christians and Muslims and Afghans and Americans can live together in love.

When I was ordained many years ago on a cold day in December, the Bishop gave me a charge. He said, “Live up to your name, Hope, and be an Advent priest so that Christmas may come to pass in unlikely lives and unlikely seasons and unlikely places.”

If we open our hearts to God’s love and dream big, it just may be so.

November 27, 2016 + The First Sunday of Advent

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult 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 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Processional Hymn 57 Lo! He comes, with clouds descending Helmsley

Kyrie Eleison from Litany of the Saints adapt. Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Sequence Hymn 61 “Sleepers, wake!” A voice astounds us Wachet auf

Offertory Anthem Let all mortal flesh keep silence Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
Text: Liturgy of St. James, found at Hymn 324

Gustav Holst is best known for his 1919 orchestral suite The Planets. But church musicians know that Holst wrote a large body of very effective music for choirs. He grew up idolizing Wagner, and in 1895 while a student at the Royal College of Music met Ralph Vaughan Williams where the two became good friends. His choral works are supremely crafted miniature masterworks with a profound sense of harmony and finely planned dramaticism. (Notes courtesy John W. Ehrlich)

Sanctus from Missa Emmanuel Richard Proulx

Fraction Anthem Agnus Dei from Missa Emmanuel Richard Proulx

Communion Anthem The blessed son of God Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Text: 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.

The Communion Anthem is an a capella choral hymn from Vaughan Williams’ Oratorio, Hodie. Late in life, the composer had always wanted to write a large-scale Christmas work, and here he fused the religious spirit of the festival with British overtones, with associations to English countryside carols. Vaughan Williams used no specific folk tunes in this work, but by this point in his career he had so synthesized their character that his folk tune-like themes sound fully authentic.

Closing Hymn 68 Rejoice! rejoice, believers Llangloffan

Voluntary Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme Paul Manz, 1987

Full Sermon Text:

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November 24, 2016 + Thanksgiving Day

Holy Eucharist at 10:00 a.m. with hymns; 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 All Things Bright and Beautiful Scott Lamlein, 2014

Opening Hymn 397 Now thank we all our God Nun danket

Sequence Hymn 433 We gather together Kremser

Music at the Offertory Great is thy faithfulness William Runyan (1870-1957)
Cleveland Williams, soloist

Closing Hymn 290 Come ye thankful people St. George’s, Windsor

Voluntary Nun Danket Alle Gott Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933)

Full Sermon Text:

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November 20, 2016 + The Last Sunday after Pentecost – Christ the King

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the St. John’s Schola, sermon by the Rev’d William Eakins.

Guest Organist: Kari Miller

Worship at Home:

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Full Service Audio:

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Service Music:

Voluntary Prelude in G Major, BWV 541 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Processional Hymn 494 Crown him with many crowns Diademata

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 441 In the cross of Christ I glory Rathbun

Music at the Offertory Meditation Jacob Arcadelt (c.1505-1568)

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Motet Ave verum corpus Stephanie Martin (b. 1962)

Communion Hymn 433 We gather together Kremser

Closing Hymn 290 Come, ye thankful people, come St. George’s, Windsor

Voluntary Grand Chœur Théodore Salomé (1834-1896)

Full Sermon Text:

“The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are shaken…”

These words from today’s Psalm are an apt description of the current time. Certainly the “kingdom” in which we live has been shaken severely by the recent presidential contest. First there was a seemingly endless and exceedingly bitter election campaign with both parties and both candidates hurling invective at each other. Then there was the election itself, which has revealed a deeply divided nation where one candidate won the popular vote while losing to the other in the all-important electoral vote. The winning candidate ran on a platform promising to drain the political swamp in Washington and make widespread changes in the domestic and foreign policies of the outgoing president and his administration. The political party of the new president-elect has won control of both houses of congress and potentially, at least, can enact whatever changes the president-elect wants to make. Not only we Americans but the citizens of other nations are making “much ado” over the shaking up of our nation’s political order. We are all left wondering what to expect in the months and years ahead.

Our current turmoil offers a powerful reminder of the Bible’s warning about the ultimate unreliability of human rulers. “Put not your trust in princes, nor in any child of earth, for there is no help in them.” The writer of those verses from Psalm 146 must have been well acquainted with political upheaval, with unexpected power changes, and with leaders who say one thing but do another. The Bible teaches that though human leaders are to be respected as agents of justice and order, we must never forget that only God is entitled to our ultimate loyalty. Human rulers can be misguided, ignorant, and sinful; they can also make mistakes and be evil. And human rulers are transitory. They come and go; they rise and fall. Only God endures and can be trusted no matter what.

This last Sunday in the church year, the feast of Christ the King, is an annual reminder of where our ultimate loyalty and confidence need be placed. Christ the King is a feast of comparatively modern origin, introduced by Pope Pius IX in 1925 as an antidote to the godlessness of contemporary culture and in particular to the rise of Fascism. Benito Mussolini had been head of Italy for three years. The Nazi Party and a rabble-rouser named Adolph Hitler were rapidly growing in popularity in Germany. The new feast of Christ the King was a critique of the rise of 20^th century totalitarian dictatorships. It remains a critique of earthly potentates to this day.

Christ the King is a powerful statement about who is really in charge of the world and who is deserving of our obedience and trust. To some it may appear that there is no one in charge and that we live in a world of chaos, random accident, and anarchy. To many it may seem that money and might make the world go round. To others it may appear that the world in in the hands of evil forces and bent on destruction. Over against these views, the Christian faith asserts that it is God who is in charge of the universe and that God is like the King Jesus we see in today’s Gospel reigning from a cross.

Jesus hangs on the cross, naked and powerless, mocked, rejected, suffering, dying, and wearing a crown of thorns. He has nothing that the powers of this world hold out to their devotees – comfort, success, popularity. All Jesus has is his trust in God’s love and God’s power. This trust refuses to give up; it becomes his dying prayer, “Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit.” By his steadfast trustfulness, by his refusal to serve any of the gods of this world in order to serve God alone, Jesus robs the gods of this world of their power to rule and proclaims the sovereignty of God. Jesus’ trust in God alone is vindicated when on Easter morn God raises Jesus from the dead. Jesus outstretched on the cross becomes the sign of God’s triumph and God’s rule. If that Good News is true, if God really is in charge of this world, it makes a huge difference in the way we live. This Gospel bids us live thankfully, responsibly and hopefully.

First. Be thankful. Thanksgiving is not just a day on November when we eat turkey. Thanksgiving needs to be an attitude and a practice that is a part of our everyday lives. Cultivate an awareness of how much God has blessed us, so that we do not begin to think that what we have and who we are are all our own doing. Pausing when we awake and when we sit down to eat and when we go to bed to say “Thank you, God, for all that you have given me” keeps our lives centered on God and makes us conscious of how much we have,

Second. Be responsible. The more we are conscious of God’s gifts to us and God’s presence in our lives, the more we shall want to use what God has given us for Godly purposes. God has given us the planet Earth not to have its resources selfishly exploited by one people or one generation but to have its resources treasured and shared by all the people of the earth, for generations to come. Be a responsible steward of what God has given us. That also means being a responsible citizen.

When the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787, its proceedings were held in strict secrecy. As a result anxious folks gathered outside Constitution Hall when the Convention ended in order to learn what had been decided. A woman asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Dr. Franklin, what kind of government have you given us, a republic or a monarchy?” Without hesitation Franklin responded, “A republic, Madam, if you can keep it.”

Franklin was right. A republic like the United States only works if its citizens do their part, informing themselves about the issues of the day, engaging in civil conversation with their fellow citizens and expressing their opinion by voting. A republic does not work if citizens abdicate these responsibilities out of apathy or a mistaken belief that political leaders can govern effectively without the vigilance and active participation of all citizens. If we believe representative democracy is one of God’s gifts to us as a nation, we had better show our gratitude by being responsible Americans.

Finally, we must be hopeful. If God is ultimately in charge of the world, if Christ is indeed King, then we can face the future with confidence. The nations may make much ado and the kingdoms of this world may be shaken but God is still ruler over all and slowly but surely is restoring the creation to the way God has always intended it to be. With this as our confidence, God expects us to labor on in good times and bad times, always seeking to do what is just and what is right, supporting Godly leadership ands speaking out when our leaders go astray.

Too often we Christians forget or fail to live up to the Good News that God reigns. Confronted by daunting realities like political upheaval and uncertainty, we sit on our hands or pull up the bedcovers and hide in fear and despair. If we really believe what we proclaim today, that it is God’s will to restore all things in Jesus Christ who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, then we must never give up doing our part to make God’s great dream come true. And God whose power brought a universe into being put of nothing, God whose love raised Jesus from the dead, God will weave our lives and feeblest efforts into God’s unconquerable purpose.

So be thankful. Be responsible. And always be hopeful.

November 13, 2016 + The Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult 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 Variations on “Simple Gifts” Noel Goemanne (1926-2010)

Processional Hymn 7 Christ, whose glory fills the skies Ratisbon

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 635 If thou but trust in God to guide thee Wer nur den lieben Gott

Offertory Anthem Lead, kindly light William Henry Harris (1883-1973)
Text: John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th’encircling gloom, lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home, lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears, pride ruled my will. Remember not past years!

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still will lead me on.
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till the night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile, which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem My Lord, what a morning African-American Spiritual, arr. Harry T. Burleigh (1866-1949)

My Lord, what a mornin’, when the stars begin to fall. Done quit all my worldly ways – join that heavenly band.

The arranger of this anthem was an influential black composer who was passionate about preserving the tradition of African American spirituals. Spirituals, said Burleigh, are hymns of soulful depth and rhythm that express the profound faith of slaves in the face of unspeakable injustice. The striking imagery of “My Lord, What a Morning” offers a glimpse of this faith. The hymn even carries a double name that is revealing – My Lord, What a Mourning/Morning. What is the meaning of this double name? The bitter tears of mourning that flow out of oppression and marginalization give way to a new morning in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. (Notes courtesy Jill Crainshaw)

Communion Hymn 679 Surely it is God who saves me Thomas Merton

Closing Hymn 599 Lift every voice and sing Lift Every Voice

Voluntary Wer nur den lieben Gott Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Full Sermon Text:

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November 6, 2016 + All Saints’ Sunday

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by Michael Corey.

Worship at Home:

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

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary The Lost Chord Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900)

Sir Arthur Sullivan was an English composer best known for his operas, but is remembered mostly for this work, and his hymn “Onward soldiers.” Sullivan’s brother, Fred, an actor, was very dear to him, and when he fell ill, Arthur spent many hours by his bedside. During the final week of Fred’s illness, Arthur composed “The Lost Chord”, setting a poem by Adelaide Anne Procter. The piece went on to become the biggest commercial success of the 1870s and 80s in both Britain in America. The final verse reads: It may be that death’s bright angel / Will speak in that chord again, / It may be that only in Heav’n / I shall hear that grand Amen.

Processional Hymn 287 v. 1-4 For all the saints, who from their labors rest Sine Nomine

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 620 Jerusalem, my happy home Land of Rest

Offertory Anthem Hark, I hear the harps eternal Southern Harmony tune, arr. Alice Parker (b. 1925)
Text: Attributed to F. R. Warren

Hark, I hear the harps eternal ringing on the farther shore,
As I near those swollen waters with their deep and solemn roar.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, Hallelujah, praise the lamb!
Hallelujah, hallelujah, Glory to the great I AM!

And my soul, tho’ stain’d with sorrow, fading as the light of day,
Passes swiftly o’er those waters, to the city far away.

Souls have cross’d before me, saintly, to that land of perfect rest;
And I hear them singing faintly in the mansions of the blest.

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Souls of the righteous T. Tertius Noble (1867-1953)
Text: Wisdom 3: 1-8

Souls of the righteous in the hand of God, no hurt, no torment, comes to them now. They rest in peace. They live in heavenly joy. To those who loved them they seemed to die, they are at peace, God is their life and light. On earth as children they were chastened by Love’s rod, As gold in furnace tried, so now in heaven, they shine like stars, they live in heavenly joy. Souls of the righteous in the hand of God.

Thomas Tertius Noble was organist and choirmaster at St. Thomas Church, New York, from 1913-1943), and founder of the choir school there, which is one of two such full-time day schools for young choristers still operating in our country (many such schools still exist in Britain). Two of our parishioners have connections with this choir school – one having been a chorister there under Gerry Hancock, another having a brother who sang with Noble in the very early years. “Souls of the righteous” has been described as “an old chestnut that proves its vitality again and again.”

Communion Hymn 253 Give us the wings of faith to rise San Rocco

Closing Hymn 293 I sing a song of the saints of God Grand Isle

Voluntary Psalm 19: The heavens declare the glory of God Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739)

Full Sermon Text:

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen

Good morning!

Many years ago I was at a historical reenactment, there was a vendor there selling various wares. One item he had was a medal of Saint Barbara, the patron saint of artillerymen. As I was looking at it the vendor said “Oh, it comes with a warranty!” What kind of warranty I asked. “If you get hit by an artillery shell I’ll replace it at no cost.”

With Barbara and many other saints in mind – Happy All Saints Sunday.

This is truly one of my favorite days in the Christian calendar. It is the day we remember the Holy Ones of God that have gone before us.

Earlier this week, during Evening Prayer, we had a moment to reflect on the Communion of Saints 1. I recalled when I was young I asked my Mom about “the communion of saints” in the Apostle’s Creed. Not a question she was expecting and it took some time to get an answer. In time she explained “when you go forward to take communion the communion of saints are all the people behind you praying for you, especially the ones you cannot see.” What she didn’t realize was that she had planted the seed in me for a fascination for all those holy women and men that have gone before, the saints, both official and….well….not so official.

On a cork board over my desk at work, amongst the various work related memos and maps, are several prayer cards featuring saints. My work day holy companions include Saint Patrick, Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres (Lord Holy Christ of the Miracles, a Portuguese devotion), Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Junipero Serra, and several cards sent to me from a friend who is an abbot at a monastery in northern Greece. Even in my wallet you will find a card for St. Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of finding things; and I find it reassuring that since picking up that particular card I have not lost my wallet once.

This morning I want share with you the stories of two saints, two of my favorites. Chances are you haven’t heard of either one of them, that’s OK. The first is one of our ancient saints and the second would never have considered himself to be saint worthy, both are Cornishmen; and both put God first, others second and themselves last2. Finally, and very important, they were sinners.

First is Piran, a 5th century abbot in Ireland3. He is from that time of legendary Celtic saints like Bridget and Patrick in Ireland, David in Wales, and Columba who was associated with Iona in Scotland, that form a large part of our Anglican tradition. Far lesser known than these, Piran is now held close to the hearts of Cornishmen everywhere as their patron saint.

Piran, Irish by birth, began his ministry in Ireland. Legend says that he was blessed with the gift of miracles and his ministry was marked by healing the sick and raising the dead as well as founding schools and churches and tending to the needs of poor. Tribal kings, fearful of his power and influence, seized Piran and, in what may be his first lesson to us today – that no good deed goes unpunished, they chained him to a millstone, took him to a cliff, and – as lightning, rain and thunder raged – threw him into the Irish Sea.

This was not to be the end of our good abbot though! The storm calmed as did the sea. And, as the millstone hit the water, the chains fell and Piran floated away from Ireland, the millstone became a raft, and he eventually landed in Cornwall in a place that now bears his name, Perranporth.

Piran built a small chapel on the sand dunes near his landing site. His first converts were a fox, a badger and a boar. Contrary to rumors this was not the first vestry in Cornwall. Locals quickly flocked to him as word of his preaching and miracles spread. And over time Piran became the driving spiritual force for the Cornish people and even an economic force as he has been given credit for rediscovering the richness of tin in Cornwall.

Now, going back to that cork board above my desk I mentioned, I want to introduce you to the second saint. Next to my daily Holy companions there is an old picture showing a gray haired man, smiling…waving, as he walks out of a hardware store; a stack of flooring tiles under his arm. He was not a priest, monk, martyr or angel; instead he was a sailor, an artist, a husband/father/grandfather, and a proud Cornishman. I would like to introduce you to Saint Fred. OK, Fred isn’t a recognized Saint in the church, so consider this in honor of All Souls Day which is the day after All Saints Day.

Fred was born in Torpoint, Cornwall in 1919 and was the son of a sailor. He moved many times with his family before settling in Indiana and starting a family following his service in World War 2. I don’t remember meeting him for the first time, I was rather young then. But I do remember, as I got older, looking up to and admiring this wise, humble, friendly man. He was my grandfather. He taught me many things – never quit learning, have plenty of hobbies, and always have a good book handy. I think in his life he mastered the philosophy of Saint Francis – Preach the gospel and when necessary use words. He had a quiet faith, a typical Anglican. He was eager to help others, including strangers and would do so anonymously if he could. His approach to church was simple “If you miss church once it’s too easy to miss is twice, so go to church – no matter what.” A unique look at dealing with the ups and downs of life “Always expect the worst and you’ll never be disappointed.” And he taught me about faith and how to pray as he stood next to an acolyte’s candle during the Gospel reading on Sunday mornings with his oxygen tank next to him.

Fred was a true blessing and gift to all who knew him. He went back to his heavenly home about a dozen years ago or so, but he left something special behind. You see, he genuinely understood how to be a wise steward of God’s gifts. He understood that in the time he was given he had to share the gifts God had given him – faithfulness, charity, wisdom, and love – so that it was said of him “Well done good and faithful servant”.

I tell you the story of these two saints for a reason; whether it’s a 5th century abbot or a 20th century grandfather, God calls us each not to goodness, but to holiness4. You and I have the same call to holiness that Piran and Fred did. One of the beautiful parts of our tradition is that we recognize and celebrate this. And even at this very moment the communion of saints, who have given us wonderful examples of faithfulness to God, are bound together with us through Christ in sacrament, prayer and praise5. But how are we called to Holiness? What are the qualities of a saint?

In the Billy Joel song, Only the Good Die Young, is the line “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints” This one line expresses very well a misconception we sometimes have about saints – that they are somehow not sinners. The first qualification of a saint is to be a sinner. We cannot move from one to the other, they are one and the same. The difference is that in seeking the holiness of being a saint of God we also seek harmony with God through reconciliation, through the price paid on the Cross, through Christ. The saints we met today understood this and were no less prone to sin than any one of us. The legend goes that Piran was rather fond of a drink and today in Cornwall one can be “as drunk as a Piranner”. My dear grandfather had a stubbornness that is now a secure part of our family’s history. And, a saint we will soon be seeing everywhere, Saint Nicholas, once struck a fellow bishop in the face in a fit of anger at the first council of Nicaea. The council that began the work that we now know as the Nicene Creed.

Second is to accept the vocation of holiness to which we’re all called. The essence of holiness can be found in Christ’s instruction to us “Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”6 And it is spelled out for us so beautifully in today’s Gospel where Christ reminds us – don’t worry about the stuff – riches, being satisfied, or whether you’re a weeping saint or laughing sinner; it won’t be easy, in fact others will hate you for it; and despite it all love, pray, bless, give.

Give…aha! You thought I forgot about the stewardship campaign! Part of the vocation of holiness involves giving with a loving heart. It is far more than pledges, although pledges are quite important. It is knowing how God has gifted us and then passing on the gift, with Christ-like love to others. We are not really the recipient of God’s gifts, we are the packaging, the caretakers. The 19th century novelist George Eliot said “’Tis God gives skill, but not without men’s hand: He could not make Antonio Stadivarius’s violins without Antonio: Get thee to thy easel.”7 This gives us insight into the wise stewardship we must practice when we seek the vocation of holiness. Piran did not work miracles for his own benefit, Fred did not encourage faithfulness in worship for his gain, and we are not called to use the gifts of God solely for our own benefit as doing so will not get us one step closer to the vocation we are called. You are gifted with time – use it to pray for your enemy, to serve those in need, or to spend with someone who is sick. You are gifted with talent – use it to sing, preach, evangelize, and teach. You are gifted with treasure – use it to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless. God has given you the gift, you are its steward, now “Get thee to thy easel”!

You and I are called to the vocation of holiness. God has given you the gifts to live this vocation. And you are not alone in this journey. Look around you, look to your right and left, look behind you your sisters and brothers, the saints of God, along with Barbara, Piran, Fred and Nicholas, are praying for you every step of the way. Through the example and the prayers of the saints we too will reach the vocation to which God calls us.

Notes

1 – Wisdom 3:1-9

2, 4 – Sheridan, William C.R., “A Gathering of Homilies” An Account of Four of “Our” Special Saints (1997)

3 – St. Piran Trust, www.stpiran.org, (2016)

5 – The Book of Common Prayer p.862

6 – Luke 10:27

7 – Eliot, George, “God Needs Antonio”, Delphi Classics (2014)

October 30, 2016 + Choral Evensong

Choral Evensong at 5:00 p.m. sung by the Youth & Adult Choirs.

Worship at Home:

Click here for the Service Bulletin, Audio and Service Details.

October 30, 2016 + The Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost

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 the Service Bulletin; scroll to read full sermon text.

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary Sonata II in C minor Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Grave – Adagio – Allegro maestoso e vivace

Mendelssohn was a skilled organist and during his visits to Britain gave a number of well-received organ recitals. These often included the improvisations for which he was famous. His sonatas take on his improvisatory style, as well as the lyric “songs without words” character for which he is well-known. After the Mendelssohn organ sonatas were publicly released, Robert Schumann described them as ‘intensely poetical, … what a perfect picture they form!’

Processional Hymn 546 Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve Siroë

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Psalm 119:137-144 Anglican Chant by Herbert Hall Woodward (1847-1909)

Sequence Hymn 640 Watchman, tell us of the night Aberystwyth

Offertory Anthem Treasures in heaven Joseph Clokey (1890-1960)
Text: Matthew 6:19-21, 7:7-8

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Ubi caritas Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978)

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.

Exsultemus, et in ipso jucundemur. Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.

Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

Where charity and love are, God is there. Christ’s love has gathered us into one.

Let us rejoice and be pleased in him. Let us fear, and let us love the living God.

And may we love each other with a sincere heart.

Gjeilo writes about this work: “The first time I sang in a choir was in high school; I went to a music high school in Norway and choir was obligatory. I loved it from the very first rehearsal, and the first piece we read through was Maurice Duruflé’s Ubi caritas. It will always be one of my favorite choral works of all time; to me, it’s the perfect a cappella piece. So when I set the same text myself a few years later, it was inevitable that the Duruflé would influence it, and it did. While Duruflé used an existing, traditional chant in his piece, I used chant more as a general inspiration, while also echoing the form and dynamic range of his incomparable setting of the text.”

Communion Hymn 301 Bread of the world, in mercy broken Rendez a Dieu

Closing Hymn 539 O Zion haste, thy mission high fulfilling Tidings

Voluntary Sonata II in C minor: Fugue Felix Mendelssohn

Full Sermon Text:

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October 23, 2016 + The Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

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

Worship at Home:

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

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary The Peace may be exchanged (from Rubrics) Dan Locklair (b. 1949)

The inspiration for Dan Locklair’s five-movement suite, Rubrics, was the italicized rubrics (instructions) found within the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. Finding power within these simple notes, Dan brings them to life in music. The peace may be exchanged is a beautiful, lyric peace-prayer, using the warm string and diapason sounds of the organ.

Introit Beatus wir Orlande de Lassus (1532-1594)

Beatus vir qui in sapientia morabitur, et qui in justitia meditabitur, et in sensu cogitabit cirumspectionem Dei.
Blest is the man who is wisdom continues through all his days, and who in his righteousness loves to meditate, and forgets not to consider how in mercy watchful God is.

Processional Hymn 665 All my hope on God is founded Michael

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 641 Lord Jesus, think on me Southwell

Offertory Anthem Come, pure hearts Ned Rorem (b. 1923)
Text: 12th c. Latin, tr. R. Campbell

Come, pure hearts, in sweetest measure; sing of those who spread the treasure
In the holy gospels shrined; blessed tidings of salvation,
Peace on earth their proclamation, love from God to lost mankind.
See the rivers four that gladden, with their streams, the better Eden
Planted by our Lord most dear; christ the fountain, these the waters;
Drink, O Sion’s sons and daughters, drink, and find salvation here.
O that we, thy truth confessing, and thy holy word possessing,
Jesus may thy love adore; unto thee our voices raising,
Thee with all thy ransomed praising, ever and forevermore. Amen.

Time Magazine called Ned Rorem “the world’s best composer of art songs,” When
speaking of his passion for writing art songs, Rorem states, “it has to do with being
obsessed with poetry as well as music.” Although best known for his art songs, Rorem
has also composed ten operas, four symphonies, chamber works, choral works, ballets,
and has also written sixteen books, many of them diaries. Rorem has received many
awards for his works including a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his suite Air Music, and was
chosen as Composer of the Year by Musical America. He currently resides in New York.

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Notre Père Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

Notre Père, qui es aux cieux, que ton nom soit sanctifié,que ton règne vienne, que ta volonté soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel. Donne-nous aujourd’hui notre pain de ce jour. Pardonne-nous nos offences comme nous pardonnons aussi à ceux qui nous ont offensés. Et ne nous soumets pas à la tentation, mais délivre-nous du mal, car c’est à toi qu’appartiennent le règne, la puissance et la gloire, aux siècles des siècles. Amen.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Closing Hymn 686 Come, thou fount of every blessing Nettleton

Voluntary Carillon Herbert Murrill (1909-1952)

Full Sermon Text:

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. …”

Woops! I’d like a different Gospel, please. St. John’s is in the middle of the Every Member Canvass, on an important stewardship drive, and in the Gospel reading we just heard, Jesus condemns a man who gives a tenth of everything he has to the temple. Surely Jesus got it backwards. Surely Jesus meant to commend the Pharisee for his generosity and to encourage us to tithe, to give 10% of our income away too — but Jesus didn’t.

The parable seems a simple enough story. The Pharisee almost pounds his chest proudly and thanks God that he is better than other people, while the tax collector beats his breast humbly and begs for mercy. Jesus concludes, “He who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

But the parable is not that simple. Jesus does not tell us parables to make elementary points about the danger of bragging. He tells us parables to get us thinking about complex questions; he tells stories so that his words will break into our hearts and challenge our minds and stir our souls. We fall into a trap if we hear this parable as the tale of a good guy (that would be the tax collector) who gets the prize for being humble versus a bad guy (the Pharisee) who gets denounced for being too big for his britches.

The Pharisee is not actually a bad man. Look. He fasts twice a week, when the law only requires once. He tithes, gives a tenth of his income to the synagogue, and he probably returns his pledge card the day it arrives in the mail (that’s a hint for you). The Pharisee knows his Scripture, and he follows the Law scrupulously. And where is he when we meet him? He’s right there in the temple saying his prayers.

Now while the Pharisee, was such not a bad guy, the tax collector, whom Jesus praises, was no saint. You have to ask yourself what he was doing there in the back, beating his breast, and actually it’s not too hard to figure out. He was a tax collector, he made his living by bleeding his people to pay the Roman overlords while keeping a bit of the proceeds for himself. No wonder he did not lift his eyes towards God. If he repented, Jewish law required him to quit his job and pay back what he had put in his own pocket and then some. The tax collector didn’t pray to change his life; he prayed only, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Yet this sinner is the one, Jesus tells us, who went home right with God.

I think Jesus is telling this story to stop us from measuring our worth by comparing ourselves with other people. Surely both parties in this year’s political campaigns could learn a lesson here, could learn that blaming the other candidate for doing something worse than you have done is not a very good defense.

I think Jesus is telling us this story to challenge our pride, to stop us from trying to persuade God that we are paragons of virtue, because God knows who we really are without being told.

I think Jesus tells us this story to lead us to recognize our sins and not thinking we can cover them up by writing a big check.

Jesus’ story insists that when we do see our failures and repent and beg for God’s help, God pours so much mercy and love and grace upon us that we finally understand that we are beloved, precious, cherished children of God – and then, knowing that we are loved, start living that way.

For when we start to believe that God loves us just as we are, when we are filled with gratitude for all the blessings we have, when we know that we actually do have enough, when we figure out that God has left the care of this world in our hands, when we know that we are one family in Christ … well, then we start being good stewards of our blessings and start using our blessings to heal God’s world. So one way or another we get back to stewardship, and the question of how we should use our gifts.

To start doing that, I am going to tell you some stories about Pharisees and tax collectors that I have know.

Mary and John, I will call them, have a good income, but they are recently retired and careful about their spending because they want enough money to leave to their children. Mary and John love their church, and they love their boat too. When their church had a capital campaign, they wanted to be a part of building classrooms for the kids that were filling the church school. But they didn’t know if they could make a significant gift and still meet their expenses. And then it dawned on them. They could sell their boat. John came to church to say a prayer about that decision. Now John says he had never, in his whole life, never ever been in his church except for funerals, weddings, and Sunday services. But when he went there alone for the first time and said the Lord’s Prayer, it came clear to him that he’d get more joy from being a part of something big than from taking care of his boat. And so they sold it. Mary and John delight in sailing on other people’s boats now, and they BOTH volunteer in the church school. “Never been happier,” says John.

Tom, we’ll say, also delights in helping churches. He often goes on driving trips in the South, and when he does, he looks for the church most in need of paint. On Sundays, Tom goes to the service there with a twenty-dollar bill in his pocket. “Their eyes are going to bug out when they see this one,” he says and then he puts the bill on the top of the alms basin and looks to see if the usher noticed. Tim doesn’t do this because he is a Pharisee, beset by pride. He wants to make a contribution where it counts, he says, where his gift matters, not at some cathedral where they have more silver candlesticks than they can use.

Larry grew up poor, the tenth of eleven children, and he was financially successful in later life. Shortly before he died, Larry asked his wife for the checkbook, and with a trembling hand signed his name. “Fill out the rest of it,” he said, “and give a big gift to help poor kids. Don’t give it to the church because they’ll waste half of it, and don’t give it to Boys’ Town because they’re corrupt. Just find someplace that takes care of poor kids and give it to them.” Larry was neither Pharisee nor tax collector in his last days. All he knew was that where his heart was, his treasure had to follow.

Finally, a story about a young woman who has just moved into her own apartment: Ann is actually going to her local church, and this fall she received a pledge card. And she pledged. “I can’t believe how grown up I feel,” she laughs. “Pledging is something my parents did, and now I’m doing it too. I feel a part of things. I feel a responsibility for this church. And I feel like God is smiling at me.”

Sometimes we give to look good; sometimes we give to meet a great need. Sometimes we give because our heartstrings are pulled. Sometimes we give because we remember that we were once needy. Sometimes we figure out that because of St. John’s support, kids at a little school in Haiti will learn to read, and without our support, they won’t. Sometimes we stop and say a prayer and remember that giving has a lot to do with being faithful to God.

Sometimes we don’t give at all because we think what we can afford is too small to matter, or we don’t give because we are saving for a rainy day, or because we are mad at the Every Member Canvass chair or let down by the church. Sometimes we are too proud to give; sometimes we are too humble to give. So Jesus told us a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector and asked us to think about it. He told us that the Pharisee was missing out because he prayed to tell God that he was doing everything right. Then Jesus told us that the tax collector was made right with God, because, knowing he was doing wrong, he begged God’s mercy on his selfishness and greed – and when he received it, his life changed forever.

Those who have ears to hear let them hear.

October 16, 2016 + The Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

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

Assisting Organist: Kari Miller

Worship at Home:

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

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary Introduction-Choral Leon Boellmann (1837-1897)
Morning Song Joe Utterback (b. 1944)

Processional Hymn 372 Praise to the living God! Leoni

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 630 Thanks to God whose Word was spoken Wylde Green

Offertory Anthem Come Sunday Duke Ellington (1899-1974)

Famous jazz musician and composer Duke Ellington didn’t like categories of any kind. He resisted the designation of “jazz” as too narrow for his compositions and preferred that his works be known just as “music.” This applied to other areas of his life as well. He once said, “I don’t believe in categories of any kind, and when you speak of problems between races in the U.S.A., you are referring to categories again.” The song is ultimately about the providence of God in all our lives. The refrain addresses God directly, “Lord, dear Lord above, God Almighty, God of love,” and then makes a petition, “please look down and see my people through.” The stanzas point to hope and heaven, concluding that “With God’s blessing we can make it through eternity.” (notes courtesy C. Michael Hawn)

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks Herbert Howells (1892-1983)

A powerful, pleading “where is my God” is the central message of the Howells Psalm setting, but even more powerful is the imagery of the deer in placid fields, yet thirsty. From the first notes of the introduction, the listener is drawn into a musical landscape, which sounds as if it was already in progress long before we began hearing it.

Closing Hymn 530 Spread, O spread, thou mighty word Gott sei Dank

Voluntary Fantasia in C Major, BWV 570 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Full Sermon Text:

Check back soon.

October 9, 2016 + The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

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

Guest organist/choirmaster: Douglas Johnson

Worship at Home:

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

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary Aria; Pastorale from BWV 590 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Processional Hymn 1 Father, we praise thee, now the night is over Christe sanctorum

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn No saint on earth lives to self alone Song 1

Offertory Anthem Since by man came death (from Messiah) George Frederick Handel (1685-1759)

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876)

Samuel Sebastian Wesley seemed destined for the life of a church musician, as his middle name was taken from Johann Sebastian Bach. He did not disappoint: in a time that English church music had become less than satisfactory, Wesley was largely responsible for raising this standard through his own work as a composer and organist. In all his music, Wesley strived for an expressive and accessible sound, as evidenced in the three works presented in today’s worship. The exquisite Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace remains one of the most-loved anthems in the repertoire.

Closing Hymn 493 O for a thousand tongues to sing Azmon

Voluntary Larghetto; Allegro moderato from op. 6, No. 2 Samuel Wesley (1766-1837)

The Wesley family contributed three generations of master musicians to British music. John the Anglican divine and reformer, his brother Charles, the “celebrated hymn writer” (per the Grove Dictionary), and his son Samuel Wesley, who in turn was the father of Samuel Sebastian Wesley, the composer of today’s communion anthem.

Full Sermon Text:

They were ten desperate people. They had leprosy, the incurable and dreaded disease of the ancient world. It separated them from their families and friends and turned them into outcasts and beggars. Then one day these ten lepers crossed paths with Jesus and were healed. Their skin suddenly became clear and whole, and they were outcasts no longer. All they had to do was show themselves to the priests, and they could return home. Imagine their joy and their relief. Life could begin again!

In the midst of the celebration, one of the former lepers leaves the party to fall at Jesus’ feet and say thank you. “Were not ten cleansed?” asks Jesus. “Why has only one returned to give thanks to God? Where are the other nine?”

What about us? Are we more like the thankful leper or are we more like those nine lepers who went on their way and never said thank you?

What was going on with the nine who were cleansed of their disease but did not return to give thanks? Why didn’t they return? Well perhaps they were simply swept away by the surprise and sheer joy of not being lepers anymore, giddy at the thought of not having to ring a bell and shout “unclean” wherever they went, free to return to their families and friends and resume their old lives. It was like being b born again or rising from the dead. Perhaps the nine said to themselves, “We’ll find Jesus later and say thank you. But first we’ve got to get to those priests in the temple and get certified as cured. Then we can go home and see our loved ones.”

And when the nine cleansed lepers had done all that, they just got caught up in one thing and another. In a while they forgot about Jesus in the midst of their new life at home. Maybe they began to think they’d just been lucky, that they were going to get well anyway and it was just a coincidence that Jesus had happened by. Or maybe they began to think that they never had leprosy in the first place, not real leprosy; they just had a skin problem that would have healed on its own.

Today’s Gospel story is a striking reminder of the ingratitude of which we are all capable. How often we fail to express our thanks to those to whom we owe so much – a friend, a teacher, a doctor perhaps. We thought we’d never forget what that person did and the difference it made in our lives; but we did forget, because it is all too easy as time goes by to take people’s kindness for granted. It is all too easy to forget how much we owe to others and thing we have done it all ourselves. The truth is that there are not really any self-made men or women: we have all got where we are because of the help we have received along the way.

We are also ungrateful to God. How easy it is to take God’s gifts to us for granted:

– every breath we take

– the wonderful intricacy of our bodies

– the splendor of autumn leaves

– the starry heavens above us

– the people we love and the people who love us

– the Good News of God’s faithful love in Christ.

All of these are gifts that God has given us. We have done nothing to earn them.

But without gratitude we miss the gift. If someone gives me a present and all I do is consider its face value – how it looks, how much it may have cost, what I am going to do with it – and fail to appreciate the kindness, the thoughtfulness, the generosity that lie behind the present, have I actually received the gift intended? So it is with God’s gifts.

In the Gospel story, the only leper to whom Jesus says, “Your faith has made you well” is the one who returns to give thanks and praise to God. All ten are cleansed of leprosy; only one is made whole. He is the leper who recognizes that God has touched him – not luck, not coincidence, but God. Bowled over by the wonder of it all, that he a leper and a Samaritan, a double outcast, should have been visited and been healed by God, he bows low at Jesus’ feet. The former leper can do no other because he knows that God has reached out and blessed him. He has been made whole.

Gratitude opens up a whole new way of looking at life.

If I take my existence for granted, never marveling at the mysterious complexity of my humanity, never wondering why I am here on this planet, have I ever truly lived? Gratitude, the sense of giftedness, opens the door to delight in the experience of living and to the discovery that life has immense value and that God has a purpose for me.

If I do not appreciate the beauty and wonder of creation, I could become a selfish exploiter of earth’s resources, but if I see the hand of the Creator in the world around me, a crisp fall day will fill me with joy and make me want to preserve earth’s beauty.

If I take my family and friends for granted, I will grow indifferent and selfish in my relationships. But if I see my family and friends as gifts of God’s love to me, gratitude will move me to cherish these relationships.

If I see my money as simply the result of my good fortune or my talent or my hard work, then I will consider my money as mine, all mine, to do with as I please. If I come to see that whatever I have is a gift, the result not just of my efforts but of opportunities, abilities, and advantages beyond my efforts, then my attitude will change. Gratitude will transform possessions into blessings and selfish indulgence into responsible stewardship.

This past week my wife and I were in Ireland exploring the origins of the Eakins family. We located the house in which my great-great-grandfather was born and from which he emigrated to New York in 1837. We met far-distant Eakins cousins still living in that part of Ireland. The whole experience has left me with a feeling of connectedness not only with my Eakins forbears but with all the people who have gone before me and are a part of me. I am particularly conscious of my parents and grandparents and a host of other people whose affection for me and whose good examples have shaped my life. I have been blessed by all these people, and I am grateful not only to them but to God.

Today’s Gospel reminds us that true gratitude requires action. The grateful leper doesn’t just feel grateful; he moves his feet, returns to Jesus, falls on his knees and says, “Thank you” and “Praise God” in a loud voice. We need to put our gratitude into action. When someone gives us a gift, we need to send an email, write a thank you note, make a phone call. We need to express our thanks to God by coming here to God’s house and offering our prayers and by singing out lustily. We need to offer our time and our abilities and our money to do God’s work in the world. We need to respond generously when our brothers and sisters need help, like our friends in hurricane devastated Haiti.

Don’t let today go by without thanking someone. Don’t let today go by without thanking God. But once we have caught a glimpse of the abundant generosity both human and divine that has gotten us where we are, it would be wise to keep on saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.

October 2, 2016 + The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult 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 in D Major, BWV 532 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Prelude Johann K. F. Fischer (1665-1746)

Bach biographer Philipp Spitta (1841-1894) considered the Prelude and Fugue D Major, BWV 532 to be “one of the most dazzlingly beautiful of all the master’s organ works.” Composed in Weimar during Bach’s early years, the work is notable for its charm, drama, and virtuosity of the pedal line. Obviously wanting to demonstrate his skill at the organ, Bach shows his youth in this fugue in other ways as well (the closing Voluntary today) – the relentless repetition inherent in the main theme is reminiscent of a child pulling on a parent’s shirttail, trying to go home!

Processional Hymn 541 Come, labor on Ora Labora

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 660 O Master, let me walk with thee Maryton

Offertory Anthem O Lord, increase my faith Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Draw us in the Spirit’s tether Harold W. Friedell (1905-1958)

The hymn-tune ‘Union Seminary’, named after the institution in New York City, was written by Harold W. Friedell when he was organist of Calvary Church in New York and then set as an anthem after he became organist of St. Bartholomew’s Church on Park Avenue. The matched Percy Dearmer text ‘Draw us in the Spirit’s tether’ is a powerful message of our common gathering as disciples, offering our lives as sacrifice to God.

Closing Hymn Great is thy faithfulness Faithfulness

Voluntary Fugue in D Major, BWV 532 Johann Sebastian Bach

Full Sermon Text:

Check back soon.

September 25, 2016 + Choral Evensong: The Ninteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Choral Evensong at 5:00 p.m. sung by the choir of St. James’s Church, West Hartford.

Vaughn Mauren, organist/choirmaster

Worship at Home:

Click here for podcast and printed program.

Full Service Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary Psalm Prelude Set 1, No 2 Herbert Howells (1892-1983)

Preces and Responses Philip Radcliffe (1905-1986)

Canticles (in D) Charles Wood (1866-1926)

Psalm 119: 81-96 (Coverdale)

Anthem Evening Hymn Balfour Gardiner (1870-1950)

Hymn Christ, mighty Savior Mighty Savior

Voluntary Postlude in D minor Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)

September 25, 2016 + The Ninteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, 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:

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary Prelude on Forest Green Richard Purvis (1917-1992)

From 1947 through 1971, Richard Purvis held the position of Organist and Master of Choristers at Grace Cathedral, where he helped to form a cathedral school for boys. Upon his retirement from Grace Cathedral, he continued to compose, teach and give recitals into his 70’s. He died on December 25, 1994 at the age of 81. He left a legacy of over 200 works and an uncounted number of choristers, students and satisfied listeners. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and his 7 Choral Preludes, including this work, were composed while he was in a foxhole under enemy fire.

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

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 Anglican Chant by Thomas Pavlechko (b. 1962)

Sequence Hymn 705 As those of old their first fruits brought Forest Green

Offertory Anthem Zion’s walls Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

In the 1930s and ‘40s, Brooklyn-born and Paris-trained Aaron Copland produced orchestral ballets such as
Billy the Kid, Rodeo, and especially Appalachian Spring, which illustrated his firm belief that American composers should write on American themes. To aid him in fashioning a uniquely “American” sound, the
definition of which is still argued by musicologists today, Copland extensively researched nineteenth-century musical Americana such as minstrel-show songs, traditional ballads, children’s songs, political campaign tunes, and Revivalist hymns such as Zion’s Walls. Copland sets Zion’s Walls—a gathering-song which first appeared in the 1855 tune-book Sacred Harp—as alternately raucous or contemplative, but always heartfelt.

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Teach me, O Lord William Byrd (c. 1540-1623)

Closing Hymn 552 Fight the good fight with all thy might Pentecost

Voluntary Procesión Algre Garry Cornell (b. 1940)

Full Sermon Text:

“Help us, Lord, to be masters of ourselves that we may become the servants of others. Take our minds and think through them; our lips and speak through them; and our hearts and set them on fire for Thee.” Amen. (Theodore Parker Ferris)

Do you remember The New York Times best-seller entitled Tuesdays with Morrie? Written by Detroit sports journalist, Mitch Albom, the story reveals the author’s own radical shifts in life attitudes and habits by way of Tuesday visits with his former Brandeis University sociology professor, Morris Schwartz. In his last days suffering from ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Morrie Schwartz should have been a barely-whispering shell; instead his was the strong voice of a prophet, for in learning how to cross death’s chasm, Morrie was gaining new-life in double-time to his painfully losing earthly life minute-by-minute. Widely interviewed by the international media, Morrie explained his fame and the millions impacted by his philosophy: “I’m on the last great journey here”, he exclaimed, “and people want me to tell them what to pack.”

St. Luke’s Gospel could not be more definitive about what God expects US to pack for OUR last great journey. Jesus’ parable highlights two dueling dimensions: on one side, there’s Dives’ tormented existence WITHOUT God. On the other side, there’s Lazarus’ heavenly life WITH God. And what did Dives pack for the journey? Worldly icons: access to the material, not the heart; character formed by shallow sound bites; spiritual values jettisoned for comfortably expedient ones. Dives and his five brothers, indulging themselves in the protective environment of their life station, were totally unconscious to God’s mission right at their very feet: LAZARUS. God’s eternal principles weren’t on their minds, The Dives Company was…set for life but not eternity. What are you and I packing for the journey?

Shedding some wisdom on this what-to-pack question, NPR and PBS commentator David Brooks distinguishes between “resume virtues”, talents developed for external success, and “eulogy virtues”, the deeper ones formed at our core. “Resume virtues” start with the self and end there; “eulogy virtues” reverse our typical self-questioning: “What do I want from life?” with “What does life want from me?” (“The Road to Character”) Life, as Morrie Schwartz proclaimed, is a morality play, and we each have a part. What is yours? Mine?

Startling, Jesus’ parable illustrates there IS continuity between our lives now and our lives on the other side. No, we can’t take the proverbial “it” with us, but Jesus warns we DO take ourselves. If we choose not to do inner, “eulogy virtues” work; develop spiritual practices that strengthen relationship with the Lord; discern the spirits as to whether presenting values are of God or “resume virtues”; we too shall be stuck on the dark side of fleeting, earthly mediocrity. What ARE we packing for the journey?

We live in a tumultuous time; lightning-fast shifts are blowing our minds; it’s as if we’re straddling the San Andreas Fault, paralyzing us as either the powerless victim or the passive observer but NOT victors in Christ Jesus. It seems we’re caught in secular demise, a slow-death dilemma that really necessitates deep inner change. Deep Change means stepping outside human-made safety nets and humbly surrendering control to the Lord God Almighty. Deep Change frightens; yet God’s promise of steadfast presence can enable us to overcome habitual resistance and stagnation to walk naked into what feels a land of uncertainty but is, in fact, the land of promise. Deep Change by the Holy Spirit of God removes the old layers, revealing the divinely-created-resume, the potential to transform our little corner of God’s Vineyard…prayer, humility, and vulnerability…all keys to The Kingdom. What ARE we going to pack for the journey?

Jesus strongly warns that what we stake out, we live out. Even in a punitive after-life, Dives will not bend. Dives. Dives: resume hubris in tact, STILL demanding: “Father Abraham, send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.” But Father Abraham forces Dives into eternal truth “… between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to there cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” Salvation, God’s transformational cycle, only comes through real repentance and the fruit of our actions, never from ancestral or earned privilege.

“I’m on the last great journey here,” exclaimed Morrie, “and people want me to tell them what to pack.” You and I need to prayerfully live life now in a way that is on good speaking terms with the life-to-come. Dying to self is the gateway to rising. But, no matter what’s in our suitcases today, our loving God awaits, enabling us to re-pack with unending grace and mercy. You and I are called into the dynamic process of God’s gift of eternal Salvation in Christ Jesus. Whatever fills us, controls us; but through the power of the Holy Spirit, by Grace, we can store up within our souls eternal virtues…set for earth or set for eternity? So, St. John’s Church, what shall we pack for the journey? Amen.

September 18, 2016 + The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult 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 Cortège et Litanie Marcel Dupré (1886-1971)

Dupré, the composer of this Voluntary, was organist at Saint-Sulpice, Paris, following the great Charles-Marie Widor. In fact, those two organists presided over that great organ for just over 100 years (1870-1971), with a 28 year overlap during which Dupré was Widor’s assistant. Dupré was a master improvisor, having famously played what would later be his “Symphonie-Passion” in concert at the Philadelphia Wanamaker organ, making up those 30 minutes of music on the spot! Dupré was the most beloved teacher of Clarence Watters, who was organist/choirmaster here at St. John’s for many years, as well as professor and college organist at Trinity College.

Processional Hymn 390 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty Lobe den Herren

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 583 O holy city, seen of John Morning Song

Offertory Anthem O how amiable Dudley Buck (1839-1909)

Dudley Buck grew up in St. John’s – the Hartford version – and learned how to play the organ while there, assisting the main organists on a regular basis. Buck went on to become the most well-known and popular church music composer of the late 1800s, writing hundreds of pieces for choir and organ.

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Bread of the World Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525-1594)

Communion Hymn 676 There is a balm in Gilead Balm in Gilead

Closing Hymn 345 Savior, again to thy dear Name we raise Ellers

Voluntary Toccata (Symphony No. 5) Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937)

The “Widor Toccata” is arguably the second-famous of all organ works (just behind the Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor), and has traditionally been played as the Easter postlude since well before anyone can remember. The first of the great French toccatas to take literally the title (meaning “touch”), it is a whirlwind of chords and arpeggios with a pedal melody that travels through many keys. And, it is pure joy!

Full Sermon Text:

Check back soon.

September 11, 2016 + The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by the Rev’d Walter McKenney.

Worship at Home:

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

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary Praeludium in G Major Nicolaus Bruhns (1665-1697)

Bruhns is one of the tragic figures of the organ world. He died aged just 31, and there are only four surviving authenticated organ works. Praeludium in G is one of the finest examples of the mature 17th century North German High Baroque organ school — having the feeling of a mini opera, with its sudden changes of mood and character. Bruhns was a young master of the north German stylus phantasticus style, having studied with Buxtehude in Lübeck. A highly talented performer, he was known to play violin while accompanying himself with the organ pedals. (courtesy Andrew Benson-Wilson)

Processional Hymn 410 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven Lauda anima

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn This is my song Finlandia

Offertory Anthem Ev’ry time I feel the spirit arr. Moses Hogan (1957-2003)
Nicholas Filippides, soloist

In addition to being an obvious moment of praise, this beloved spiritual is full of traditional images and code words referencing the Underground Railroad and the escape from slavery. The Jordan River was most often code for the Ohio River, which had to be crossed to get to the free states. Many of the references to water in spirituals also refer to the practice of walking in the rivers and streams at night. That way, the tracking dogs that were used to hunt them down would lose the scent. (courtesy Reginald Unterseher)

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

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

Communion Hymn 439 What wondrous love is this Wondrous Love

Closing Hymn 708 Savior, like a shepherd lead us Sicilian Mariners

Voluntary Fugue in G Major Nicolaus Bruhns

Full Sermon Text:

Check back soon.

June 12, 2016 + The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by the Rev’d John Gedrick.

Click here for Service Bulletin. Scroll to read full sermon text.

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary Carillon de Westminster Louis Vierne (1870-1937)

Processional Hymn 665 All my hope on God is founded Michael

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 470 There’s a wideness in God’s mercy Beecher

Offertory Anthem The secret of Christ (1980) Richard Shephard (b. 1949)

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Lead me, Lord Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876)
Katherine Foust and Naomi Cipriano, soloists

Communion Hymn 301 Bread of the world, in mercy broken Rendez a Dieu

Closing Hymn To God be the glory To God Be the Glory

Voluntary Prelude in G Major, BWV 550 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

June 5, 2016 + The Third Sunday after Pentecost

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

Click here for Service Bulletin. Scroll down to read the full sermon text.

Full Service Audio:

Sermon-only Audio:

Service Music:

Voluntary Allegro Cantabile (Symphony V) Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937)

Processional Hymn 390 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty Lobe den Herren

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 685 Rock of ages, cleft for me Toplady

Offertory Anthem Be not afraid from “Elijah” Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Ein Blümmlein wenn’s die Sonne spüret Jan Berger (1909-2002)

Closing Hymn Great is thy faithfulness Faithfulness

Voluntary Fantasy on Lobe den Herren (1967) Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927)

Below is an exhaustive listing of service music from 2010. Using your browser \”search\” function is very helpful for locating specific hymns, anthems, and organ music. Links to podcast recordings are generally active. Links to service bulletins are less reliable.

June 12, 2016 + The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by the Rev\’d John Gedrick.

Voluntary Carillon de Westminster Louis Vierne (1870-1937)

Processional Hymn 665 All my hope on God is founded Michael

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 470 There\’s a wideness in God\’s mercy Beecher

Offertory Anthem The secret of Christ (1980) Richard Shephard (b. 1949)

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Lead me, Lord Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876)
Katherine Foust and Naomi Cipriano, soloists

Communion Hymn 301 Bread of the world, in mercy broken Rendez a Dieu

Closing Hymn To God be the glory To God Be the Glory

Voluntary Prelude in G Major, BWV 550 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

June 5, 2016 + The Third Sunday after Pentecost

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

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

Voluntary Allegro Cantabile (Symphony V) Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937)

Processional Hymn 390 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty Lobe den Herren

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 685 Rock of ages, cleft for me Toplady

Offertory Anthem Be not afraid from \”Elijah\” Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Ein Blümmlein wenn\’s die Sonne spüret Jan Berger (1909-2002)

Closing Hymn Great is thy faithfulness Faithfulness

Voluntary Fantasy on Lobe den Herren (1967) Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927)

May 29, 2016 + The Second Sunday after Pentecost

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by the Rev\’d Gedrick.

Voluntary Brother James\’s Air M. Searle Wright (1918-2004)

Processional Hymn 718 God of our fathers, whose almighty hand National Hymn

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 676 There is a balm in Gilead Balm in Gilead

Offertory Anthem Let us with a gladsome mind Alan Ridout (1934-1996)

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Brother James\’s Air arr. Gordon Jacob (1895-1984)

Closing Hymn 719 O beautiful for spacious skies Materna

Voluntary Toccata in F Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)

Words of comfort and memory combine in this Memorial Weekend service. The paraphrase of Psalm 23 that fits with beautiful Brother James\’s Air is a familiar hymn of comfort. \”Brother James\” is the familiar name ascribed to the spiritual leader James Macbeth Bain, born in Scotland in 1860. A somewhat eccentric personality of great popularity, he worked among the poor in London and wandered in nature for refreshment. He has been compared to St. Francis for his mystic insights combined with an irresistible charm and childlike trust of one who loves all people and all creatures. The tune upon which the communion anthem is based is one of many beautiful melodies which came to him spontaneously. It has, in its simplicity, something of that rare quality of appeal which Maurice Baring describes as \”a wonderful tune–a tune that opened its arms.\”

May 22, 2016 + The First Sunday after Pentecost + Trinity Sunday

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

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

Voluntary Andante quasi allegretto (Symphony V) Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937)
Promenade on Nicaea (2015) June Nixon (b. 1942)

Processional Hymn 362 Holy, holy holy! Lord God almighty! Nicaea

Gloria in excelsis S278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Canticle S236 Glory to you John Rutter (b. 1945)

Sequence Hymn 367 Round the Lord in glory Rustington

Offertory Anthem You are the center (1997) Margaret Rizza (b. 1929)

Sanctus S128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Agnus Dei (2010) Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978)

Closing Hymn 368 Holy Father, great Creator Regent Square

Voluntary Carillon de Longpont Louis Vierne (1870-1937)

The music of Margaret Rizza is fascinating, as she only began composing in 1997, at the age of 68. In those ten years, the compelling, clearly God-led works that have come from her pen have become very popular, both for the serious choral musician, and the seeker of quiet and meditation. + Composed for the Phoenix Chorale, Gjeilo\’s Agnus Dei is symphonic in nature, and is one of those pieces where the text is a servant of the music, not the opposite. Images of the Arizona desert bring the text to life, similar to works by Samuel Barber (Adagio) and Elgar (Nimrod from Engima Variations). This work is a little taste of this afternoon\’s concert, and the choir has been hard at work on its complexities for several months.

May 15, 2016 + The Day of Pentecost + Youth Sunday

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth Choir, sermon by our young people.

Processional Hymn 225 Hail thee, festival day! Salve festa dies

Song of Praise S236 Glory to you John Rutter (b. 1945)

Sequence Anthem This is the Day (Trad., arr. Mary Scripko)

Offertory Anthem Gracious spirit, dwell with me K. Lee Scott (b. 1950)

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Fraction Anthem Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Veni Creator Spiritus Gregorian Chant

Closing Hymn 405 All things bright and beautiful Royal Oak

May 8, 2016 + The Seventh Sunday of Easter

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

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

John Gedrick.

Organ Jesu, Joy of man\’s desiring Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Processional Hymn 435 At the name of Jesus King\’s Weston

Song of Praise S236 Glory to you John Rutter (b. 1945)

Sequence Hymn 483 The head that once was crowned with thorns St. Magnus

Offertory Anthem Christ is our cornerstone Noel Rawsthorne (b. 1929)

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Fraction Anthem Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Oculi omnium Charles Wood (1866-1926)

Communion Hymn 328 Draw nigh and take the body of the Lord Song 46

Closing Hymn 494 Crown him with many crowns Diademata

Organ Trumpet Voluntary Jeremiah Clarke (1674-1707)

Charles Wood was an influential Irish composer and folksong collector. Among his pupils were the British musical luminaries Ralph Vaughan Williams and Herbert Howells. His setting of the Latin motet Oculi omnium dates to the period after 1889, when he taught as a Fellow at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and exercised the role of Director of Music and Organist there. He was deeply involved in the reflorescence of music at the college, and also composed chamber music and edited collections of Irish folk songs. + The organ music framing the service on this Mother\’s Day are the two most-often used wedding processionals, melodies that are both timeless and familiar, prayerful and triumphant.

May 1, 2016 + The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

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

Organ Prelude on Hyfrydol Peter Niedmann (b. 1960)

Processional Hymn 657 Love divine, all loves excelling Hyfrydol

Song of Praise 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Sequence Hymn 550 Jesus calls us; o\’er the tumult Restoration

Offertory Anthem You are my God Bob Chilcott (b. 1955)

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Fraction Anthem Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem A Gaelic blessing John Rutter (b. 1945)

Communion Hymn 510 Come Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove St. Agnes

Closing Hymn 387 We sing of God, the mighty source Magdalen College

Organ Jerusalem Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918)

Bob Chilcott, described by The Observer as “a contemporary hero of British Choral Music”, has become one of the most widely performed composers of choral music in the world. HisYou are my God is indicative of his style: melodic and singable, yet with a new and fresh twist + Today\’s Closing Voluntary celebrates one year of the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton\’s ministry with us. Far from just an Aglophilic anthem, Hubert Parry\’s Jerusalem is a powerful and dramatic musical setting of the poem with the same title by William Blake that imagines a visit to England by Christ himself during a time of great strife and tumult.

April 24, 2016 + The Fifth Sunday of Easter

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir, sermon by Stacey Kohl.

Piano Largo (from Xerxes) Georg Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Prelude on Let Us Break Bread H. Thomas Manning, 1999

Processional Hymn 477 All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine Engelberg

Song of Praise 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Sequence Hymn 487 Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life The Call

Offertory Anthem And I saw a new heaven Edgar Bainton (1880-1956)

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Fraction Anthem Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Sing my soul, his wondrous love Ned Rorem (b. 1923)

Communion Hymn 325 Let us break bread together on our knees Let Us Break Bread

Closing Hymn 544 Jesus shall reign where\’er the sun Duke Street

Organ Toccata Brevis Daniel Gawthrop (b. 1949)

Edgar Bainton’s most iconic anthem, And I saw a new heaven, is a tone-poem of ecstatic beauty. Borne aloft by the composer’s wonderfully wrought harmonization, it brings the story of creation to its ordained climax – that ultimate moment when “the former things are passed away” – and evokes St. John’s vision of heaven, one so sublime as to ease the pain and sorrow of even the saddest heart. + Ned Rorem\’s plaintive Sing my soul uses a simple hymn-like texture combined with modern harmonies to create a beautiful lullaby.

April 17, 2016 + The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by the Rev\’d Walter McKenney.

Organ Sheep may safely graze Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Processional Hymn 366 Holy God, we praise thy Name Grosser Gott

Song of Praise 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Sequence Hymn 645 The King of love my shepherd is St. Columba

Offertory Anthem The Lord is my shepherd John Rutter (b. 1945)
with Marilyn Krentzman, oboe

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Fraction Anthem Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Bread of the world, in mercy broken John Abdenour (b. 1962)

Closing Hymn 522 Glorious things of thee are spoken Austria

Organ Grand Choeur on Austria Richard Purvis (1913-1994)

Quiet and serene, this pastoral setting of Psalm 23 offers a sweeping Rutter melody and a gorgeous oboe solo that hovers gently above the choir. It creates an ethereal moment that so capably interprets the peaceful assurance of the beloved text. + Richard Purvis was for many years organist/choirmaster at Grace Church, San Francisco, and was adept at playing the organ in both classic and theatrical styles. He clearly focuses on the first word of the text here: ‘Glorious.’

April 10, 2016 + The Third Sunday of Easter

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

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

Organ Trumpet Voluntary Henry Heron (1725-1795)
Priere à Notre Dame (Suite Gothique) Léon Boëllmann (1862-1897)

Processional Hymn 205 Good Christians all, rejoice and sing! Gelobt sei Gott

Song of Praise 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Sequence Hymn 204 Now the green blade riseth Noël nouvelet

Offertory Anthem This joyful Eastertide arr. Charles Wood (1866-1926)

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Fraction Anthem Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem God be in my head Walford Davies (1869-1941)

Closing Hymn 535 Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim Paderborn

Organ Gelobt sei Gott Healey Willan (1880-1968)

The tune of popular Easter carol This joyful eastertide is Dutch and fist showed up in the 1680s. This arrangement from 1901 is by the Irish composer Charles Wood. He studied with Stanford at the Royal College of Music in London, and he would himself become a Professor of Music there, where his pupils would include Ralph Vaughan Williams and Herbert Howells. + The apparent simplicity of God be in my head, with its repetition of the key phrase, suddenly gives way to very effective harmonic sophistication on the word ‘heart’ that lays the path for the twilit ambience of the final phrase. H. Walford Davies was composer and musical director at the University of Wales as well as Organist at, among others, Temple Church, where his student Leopold Stokowski (later one of the leading conductors of the 20th century) assisted him.

April 3, 2016 + The Second Sunday of Easter

Link to: Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by vocal quartet, sermon by the Rev\’d John Gedrick.

Organ Overture and Peace (Suite for the Royal Fireworks) Georg Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Processional Hymn 208 Alleluia! The strife is o’er Victory

Song of Praise 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Sequence Hymn 178 Alleluia, Alleluia! Give thanks to the risen Lord Alleluia No. 1

Offertory Anthem O how amiable Dudley Buck (1839-1909)

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Fraction Anthem Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem O sons and daughters, let us sing! O filii et filiae

Closing Hymn 180 He is risen, he is risen! Unser Herrscher

Organ Menuet Finale (Suite for the Royal Fireworks) Georg Frideric Handel

March 27, 2016 + The Sunday of the Resurrection: Easter Day

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 8:00 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir,

and at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs, with brass and tympani; sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton.

Organ Allegro Vivace (Symphonie V) Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937)

Processional Hymn 207 Jesus Christ is risen today Easter Hymn

Song of Praise 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Sequence Hymn 199 Come, ye faithful, raise the strain St. Kevin

Offertory Anthem Hallelujah (Messiah) George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Fraction Anthem Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Alleluia Randall Thompson (1899-1994)

Communion Hymn 305 Come, risen Lord Rosedale

Closing Hymn 210 The day of resurrection Ellacombe

Organ, brass and tympani: Toccata (Symphonie V) Charles-Marie Widor

Our opening Easter music is the opening movement from Widor’s Fifth Symphony (from which the famous Toccata comes). The work is a set of variations on a relentless theme, stated in the background. All of the emotions of death and resurrection are felt throughout the fiery build up and heroic culmination. + Ever-popular Easter Hymn was among the first hymns of a new popular style (for the early 1700s), in which more movement and spirit was attained by using more than one note per syllable. + The traditional St. John’s pairing of two great choral “Alleluias” continues this year, from the triumphal Handel chorus at the Offertory to the prayerful and so beautiful Randall Thompson during communion. Both works are rightly sung by almost every choir – symbols of choral singing and spiritually powerful to singer and listener alike.

March 25, 2016 + Good Friday

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Service Bulletin

Good Friday Liturgy at 7:00 p.m., sung by the combined Youth and Adult Choirs of St. James\’s and St. Johns, and messages by the clergy of both parishes, at St. John\’s.

Hymns: Were you there when they crucified my Lord; What wondrous love is this; O sacred head, sore wounded

Anthem The crown of roses Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Anthem God so loved the world Bob Chilcott (b. 1955)

March 24, 2016 + Maundy Thursday

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Maundy Thursday Eucharist at 7:00 p.m. sung by the Youth Choir, sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinterton.

Organ Were you there? Charles Callahan (b. 1951)

Kyrie Eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 325 Let us break bread together on our knees Let us break bread

Anthem at the Maundy Ubi caritas Jacques Berthier (1923-1994)

Offertory Anthem Pie Jesu (Requiem) John Rutter (b. 1945)

Madeline Green, soprano

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Hymn 458 My song is love unknown Love unknown

Sunday, March 20, 2016 + The Sunday of the Passion – Palm Sunday

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by the Rev\’d John Gedrick.

Palm Procession from the Cloister Garden

Hymn in Procession 154 All glory, laud, and honor Valet will ich dir geben

Kyrie Eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 158 Ah, holy Jesus! Herzliebster Jesu

Offertory Anthem Sanctus (Requiem) John Rutter (b. 1945)

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem The crown of roses Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Communion Hymn 315 Thou, who at thy first Eucharist didst pray Song 1

Closing Hymn 168 O sacred head, sore wounded Passion Chorale

The origin of Crown of roses is a poem of 1857, ‘Roses and Thorns’ written by the American Richard Henry Stoddard. Twenty years later it was translated into Russian by Aleksey Pleshcheyev and set by Tchaikovsky in what has since been recognized as a minor masterpiece. It was performed by a cappella choir under Tchaikovsky at the opening of Carnegie Hall in New York in 1891, where, according to the New York Times “it made a great hit.” It has since been retranslated into English.

Sunday, March 13, 2016 + The Fifth Sunday in Lent

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

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

Organ O man, bewail thy grievous sin Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Kyrie Eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 474 When I survey the wondrous cross Rockingham

Offertory Anthem Surely he hath borne our griefs Carl Graun (1704-1759)

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem God so loved the world Bob Chilcott (b. 1955)

Closing Hymn 473 Lift high the cross Crucifer

Organ We believe in one God J. S. Bach

The short text of God so loved the world is so well-known because it explains the whole Easter story, encapsulating the essence of the Christian Gospel in under 30 words. Bob Chilcott’s setting is an unsentimental and profoundly beautiful alternative to the familiar movement by John Stainer. + This morning’s service is framed by two monumental chorale settings by Bach. The poignant, ornamented treatment of O man, bewail thy grievous sin is interrupted with slow, long tones during the text that refers to Christ’s passion and death. We believe in one God is a setting of our Nicene Creed, with a repeated figure in the bass that illustrates the strength of our faith.

Sunday, March 6, 2016 + The Fourth Sunday in Lent

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by Paul Shaker.

Organ Passacaglia: The prodigal son James Biery (b. 1957)

Kyrie Eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 470 There\’s a wideness in God\’s mercy Beecher

Offertory Anthem And I saw a new heaven Edgar Bainton (1880-1956)

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem Precious Lord Traditional Spiritual, arr. Arnold Sevier (b. 1969)

Closing Hymn 690 Guide me, O thou great Jehovah Cwm Rhondda

Organ Agincourt Hymn John Dunstable (1390-1453)

A passacaglia is a musical work in which a single line of music is repeated over and over, usually in the bass, and continuous themeatic development happens in the upper parts – much like the famous Pachelbel Canon. James Biery\’s Passacaglia takes the listener through all of the emotions of the Prodigal Son story – questioning, loss, pain, quiet resolution. + Edgar Bainton’s most iconic anthem, And I saw a new heaven, is a tone-poem of ecstatic beauty. Borne aloft by the composer’s wonderfully wrought harmonization, it brings the story of creation to its ordained climax – that ultimate moment when “the former things are passed away” – and evokes St. John’s vision of heaven, one so sublime as to ease the pain and sorrow of even the saddest heart.

Sunday, February 28, 2016 + The Third Sunday in Lent

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir, sermon by Michael Corey.

Organ Choral Phrygien, Choral Dorien Jehan Alain (1911-1940)

Kyrie Eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn Blessed Assurance Assurance

Offertory Anthem There is a season Alfred Fedak (b. 1953)

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Music Choral Cistercien pour une elevatión Jehan Alain
Ave verum corpus William Byrd (1543-1623)

Closing Hymn 525 The church\’s one foundation Aurelia

Organ Litanies Jehan Alain

Jehan Alain, a Parisian composer whose life was cut short when his plane was shot down during WWII, wrote this morning’s organ music. The opening voluntary is two hauntingChorals that explore modal tonalities. Litanies is a breathless and relentless prayer. The desperation of prayer in time of deep need is illustrated by a repetitive litany and rhythms written while travelling on a train – all building to a frenzy. Alain writes, “When the Christian soul in its despair can no longer find any new words to implore the mercy of God, it repeats the same incantation over and over again in blind faith. The limits of reality are surpassed and faith alone continues upward.”

Sunday, February 21, 2016 + The Second Sunday in Lent

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, with Kathy Schiano, cello; sermon by the Rev\’d John Gedrick.

Organ Cello Suite Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Kyrie Eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 685 Rock of ages, cleft for me Toplady

Offertory Anthem Out of the deep (Requiem) John Rutter (b. 1945)

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem Hide not thou thy face from me Richard Farrant (c. 1525-1580)

Closing Hymn 688 A mighty fortress is our God Ein feste Burg

Organ Ein feste Burg Calvin Hampton (1938-1984)

John Rutter is a mainstay of the choral tradition, as his melodic writing is equally beautiful and accessible. His Requiem was written in 1985, in memory of his father, and is his most serious work. Out of the deep is the most pleading movement, prominently featuring the solo cello. The full Requiem will be presented here in concert with orchestra on May 22. + Calvin Hampton was one of the most prolific twentieth century church music composers; his music is featured in almost every church hymnal. This arrangement of Ein feste Burgsuccessfully blends the well-known rhythms of the hymn with the isometric original version.

Sunday, February 14, 2016 + The First Sunday in Lent

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir, sermon by Rabbi Stephen Fuchs.

Organ Short Prelude & Fugue in E minor, BWV 555 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Kyrie Eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 635 If thou but trust in God to guide thee Wer nur den lieben Gott

Offertory Anthem Surely He hath borne our griefs (Messiah) Georg Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem Call to remembrance Richard Farrant (c. 1525-1580)

Closing Hymn 529 In Christ there is no East or West McKee

Organ Wer nur den lieben Gott J. S. Bach

Lent brings us an opportunity for deeper reflection, as we take a break from musical fanfares and descants, and replace them with a silent procession and meditative chant. The service music that we will sing during Lent is all from the Gregorian Missal; both the Sanctus and Agnus Dei were famously set in Maurice Duruflé\’s Requiem. + You will find other liturgical changes at St. John’s during Lent. Each Sunday, the choir and clergy enter in silent procession, recognizing the solemnity of our journey with Christ to the cross. There is a new acclamation, recognizing our sin and God’s great mercy. Alleluia is neither said nor sung, and the praises of the Gloria are replaced by the cry, \”Lord, have mercy.\” We know that death is around us and we wait. We wait for Easter.

Sunday, February 7, 2016 + The Last Sunday after the Epiphany

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by the Rev\’d John Gedrick.

Organ Fanfare March Thomas Donohue, 1991
Prelude on Slane Scott Lamlein (b. 1972)

Processional Hymn 126 The people who in darkness walked Dundee

Gloria in Excelsis S-280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 488 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart Slane

Offertory Anthem Christ whose glory fills the skies T. Frederick H. Candlyn (1892-1964)

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem O nata lux Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943)

Closing Hymn 460 Alleluia! sing to Jesus! Hyfrydol

Organ Fanfare John Cook (1918-1984)

The Light of Christ is shared in different ways, and today is remembered most vividly in his transfiguration on the mountain. This morning’s music portrays that magnificence, and also one last bit of Alleluia and celebration before we enter the Lenten Season. T. Fredrick H. Candlyn was a Briton who emigrated to the U.S. to undertake church music in New York, first at St. Paul\’s, Albany and later at St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue. His style is in lines with the Wesley family and other very \”tuneful\” composers. One of his most beloved works, Christ, whose glory fills the skies uses a soaring melody for the first and final stanzas, while the second stanza is a completely different four-part texture. Text painting occurs at words such as \”unaccompanied\” when the organ stops playing.

Sunday, January 31, 2016 + The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Due to a technical issue, there is no podcast of this service.

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

Organ Short Prelude & Fugue in F, BWV 556 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Prelude Robert Paoli (b. 1937)

Processional Hymn 569 God the Omnipotent! Russia

Gloria in Excelsis S-280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 440 Blessed Jesus, at thy word Liebster Jesu

Offertory Anthem Psalm 23 Howard Goodall (b. 1958)

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem The call Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Closing Hymn Lord, you give the great commission Down Ampney

Organ Short Prelude & Fugue in C, BWV 553 J. S. Bach

This morning\’s service music is sung by the Youth Choir in celebration of our Parish Annual Meeting. \”The Call\” by Vaughan Williams is one of the more familiar and moving melodies by this composer, found in his 1911 collection, \”Five Mystical Songs.\” Michael wrote that it \”Is one of those simple tunes which came naturally to Vaughan Williams…and are entirely personal to him yet sound as if they had always existed.\” + Goodall\’s setting of Psalm 23 is better known as the theme to the BBC show, \”The Vicar of Dibley.\” His intent to write a piece of church music that could have a life of its own beyond the TV show was successfully realized with this very popular anthem.

Sunday, January 24, 2016 + The Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by the Rev\’d John Gedrick.

Organ Ave Maria Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
Heidi Tummescheit, violin

Processional Hymn 427 When morning gilds the skies Laudes Domini

Gloria in Excelsis S-280 Robert Powell

Psalm 19 Anglican Chant Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876)

Sequence Hymn 539 O Zion, haste, thy mission high fulfilling Tidings

Offertory The Spirit of the Lord Philip Stopford (b. 1977)

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem The Lord\’s prayer Scott Lamlein (b. 1972)

Communion Hymn 531 O Spirit of the living God Melcombe

Closing Hymn 438 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord Woodlands

Organ Trumpet Voluntary in D Major David N. Johnson (1922-1988)

This morning’s Psalm will be chanted by the choir, with the whole congregation responding by singing a common Antiphon. A very traditional style of Anglican psalmody, the chant serves the text by presenting it in a way that magnifies the meaning behind the words. Not a time to “sit and listen”, the congregation is encouraged to follow the words in the bulletin while experiencing the sounds and and inspiration that the choir provides. + Scott\’s setting of the Lord\’s Prayer was written in 2003 and premiered by the Wesley Methodist Church choir, Worcester, Mass., in 2005. It was composed in about two hours while his young boys were running through the house on an otherwise quiet Saturday, and he was providing a soundtrack to that activity at the piano. Eventually that frivolousness gave way to inspiration and music that (hopefully) invokes the mystery of prayer.

Sunday, January 17, 2016 + The Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

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

Organ Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele, BWV 654 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Processional Hymn 423 Immortal, invisible, God only wise St. Denio

Gloria in Excelsis S-280 Robert Powell

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

Offertory Thou God of truth and love Malcolm Archer (b. 1952)

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem Bread of heaven, on thee we feed Peter Niedmann (b. 1960)

Closing Hymn 599 Lift every voice and sing Lift Every Voice

Organ Marching to Zion Gordon Young (1919-1998)

The great master Johann Sebastian Bach composed a series of eighteen so-called \”great\” choral preludes, sort of a \”greatest hits\” of Lutheran chorales, close to the mid-point of his career. This setting of today\’s sequence hymn contains a highly ornamented melody line, which, although a common stylistic practice of the time, beautifully \”decks the tune with gladness.\” + Malcolm Archer\’s setting of this Charles Wesley text contains a highly lyrical melody and emotional connection. Pay special attention to the dramatic treatment of the middle verse: \”Didst Thou not make us one, that being one we must remain? Together, travel on, and bear each others\’ pain.\” The text and tune lift up a universal message of following Christ, serving others, and God being with us in times of trouble. + Bread of heaven, an early work by Newington composer Peter Niedmann, prepares us for communion with this timeless prayer: ‘Jesus, may we ever be grafted, rooted, built in thee.’

Sunday, January 10, 2016 + The First Sunday after the Epiphany

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by the Rev\’d Gordon Bates.

Organ Adagio from Symphonie No. 5 Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937)

Processional Hymn 76 On Jordan\’s bank, the Baptist\’s cry Winchester New

Gloria in Excelsis S-280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 513 Like the murmur of the dove\’s song Bridegroom

Offertory Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks Herbert Howells (1892-1993)

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem Jesu, joy of man\’s desiring Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Closing Hymn Shall we gather at the river Hanson Place

Organ Fugue in D minor Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)

The Bach communion anthem, a perennial favorite, is from a cantata (No. 147) written originally in Weimar in 1716 for the fourth Sunday of Advent. Later in Bach\’s career he found it impossible to perform in Leipzig, because that city observed silence for the last three Sundays of Advent. Thus he revised it for the feast of the Visitation, where it was first performed in Leipzig in July, 1723. On many occasions Bach recycled and revised his own music, sometimes as a result of genuine inspiration, sometimes to create meaningful connections between pieces, and sometimes simply to find a way to be sure something as beautiful as \’Jesu, joy of man\’s desiring’ didn’t simply disappear. + Buxtehude’s Toccatas are very different from the French Toccatas, made famous by Widor. Written in a free style in many tiny sections, each passing phrase brings on higher and more intense emotion. Presented today is the final fugue from one of these great works. Buxtehude was one of Bach’s mentors, and, after travelling to North Germany to study with him, Bach was nearly fired from his own church position for playing music that was too “out there.”

Sunday, January 3, 2016 + The Second Sunday after Christmas

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Bulletin

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

Organ Nativity Suite Wilbur Held (1915-2015)
Veni Emmanuel – Silent Night – Shepherds – The Three Kings

Processional Hymn 94 While shepherds watched their flocks Winchester Old

Gloria in Excelsis S-280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 124 What star is this Puer nobis

Offertory The first nowell Stephen Paulus (1949-2014)

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem The shepherds\’ farewell Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)

Closing Hymn 109 The first nowell The First Nowell

Organ Joy to the world (Nativity Suite) Wilbur Held

Sunday, December 27, 2015 + The First Sunday after Christmas

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. with Margaret Beers, soprano, and Douglas Johnson, organ; sermon by the Rev\’d John Gedrick.

Organ Noel: Joseph est bein marié Claude Balbastre (1724-1799)

Opening Hymn 89 It came upon a midnight clear Carol

Gloria in Excelsis S-280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 324 Let all mortal flesh keep silence Picardy

Offertory Solo He shall feed his flock (Messiah) George Frederic Handel (1685-1759)

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Music Prayer for a new mother Richard Shephard (b. 1949)

Closing Hymn 93 Angels from the realms of glory Regent Square

Organ From heaven above Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)

Claude Balbastre was a phenomenally successful organist and composer, whose playing attracted crowds to church. His compositions on the humble Noel tunes are the late flowering of the genre. Though he served at the highest courts both secular and ecclesiatical, he managed to keep his head during the French revolution by playing popular songs at the organ. + Johann Pachelbel was a cousin to the Bachs. He developed a variety of South German approaches to composing on chorale tunes. In this morning\’s selection, the tune is in the pedal, while the hands weave fanfares and flourishes, as if to announce the joyous birth of our Savior, the lowly-born child who is the King.

Friday, December 25, 2015 + Christmas Day

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:00 a.m. with congregational Carols, sermon by the Rev\’d John Gedrick.

Organ When Christmas morn is breaking Elmer Arne Hovdesven (1893-1994)

Opening Hymn 96 Angels we have heard on high Gloria

Sequence Hymn 79 O Little town of Bethlehem St. Louis

Offertory Go tell it on the mountain Robert Powell (b. 1932)

Closing Hymn 100 Joy to the world! Antioch

Organ Carillon Scott Lamlein (b. 1972)

Thursday, December 24, 2015 + 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

Music Listing:

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

Once in royal David\’s city arr. Paul Halley (b. 1952)

O little one sweet Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Nativity carol John Rutter (b. 1945)

O holy night Adolphe Adam, arr. West, Berton
Madeline Green, soloist

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

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Leaflet

Processional Hymn 83 O come, all ye faithful Adeste fideles, arr. David Willcocks

Gloria S280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 115 What child is this Greensleeves

Offertory Anthem Mary\’s lullaby Max Reger (1873-1916)
Britt Emerick, soloist

Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert

Fraction anthem S164 Jesus, lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem No small wonder Paul Edwards (b. 1955)

Communion Hymn 112 In the bleak mid-winter Cranham, arr. Jane Penfield

Postcommunion Hymn 111 Silent night Stille nacht

Closing Hymn 87 Hark the herald angels sing Mendelssohn, arr. David Willcocks

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

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

Once in royal David\’s city arr. Paul Halley (b. 1952)

O little one sweet Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Organ: In Dulci Jubilo J. S. Bach and Marcel Dupré (1886-1971)

Rejoice in the Lord alway Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Nativity carol John Rutter (b. 1945)

Organ and Strings: Greensleeves Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

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

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Service Leaflet

Processional Hymn 83 O come, all ye faithful Adeste fideles, arr. David Willcocks

Gloria S280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 115 What child is this Greensleeves

Offertory Anthem Christmas lullaby Dan Forrest (b. 1978)

Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert

Fraction anthem S164 Jesus, lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem No small wonder Paul Edwards (b. 1955)

Communion Hymn 101 Away in a manger Cradle Song

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

Closing Hymn 87 Hark the herald angels sing Mendelssohn, arr. David Willcocks

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

December 20, 2015 + The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Link to: Service Leaflet

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

Organ and trumpets: Voluntary for two trumpets Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Choral Prelude: Ave Maria Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)

Opening Hymn 83 O come, all ye faithful Adeste fideles

With traditional pageant carols and the following Anthems:

The friendly beasts Traditional French Carol

Torches John Joubert (b. 1927)

Organ and trumpets: My spirit be joyful (Cantata 146) Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. E. Power Biggs

December 13, 2014 + Candlelight Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

Sung by the St. John\’s Choirs at 3:00 p.m. Link to: Poster – Event Details – Service Leaflet

December 13, 2015 + The Third Sunday of Advent

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir; sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton.

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

Processional Hymn 66 Come, thou long-expected Jesus Stuttgart

Kyrie Eleison from Litany of the Saints adapt. Richard Proulx, 1991

Sequence Hymn 76 On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry Winchester New

Offertory Anthem Rejoice in the Lord alway Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Sanctus from Missa Emmanuel Richard Proulx, 1991

Fraction Anthem Agnus Dei from Missa Emmanuel Richard Proulx, 1991

Communion Anthem E\’en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come Paul Manz (1919-2009)

Communion Hymn 104 A stable lamp is lighted Adújar

Closing Hymn 72 Hark! the glad sound! the Savior comes Richmond

Organ Carillon-Sortie Henri Mulet (1878-1967)

The great choral anthem E\’en so, Lord Jesus is a collaborative effort of Paul and Ruth Manz. Here is the story behind it: Early in Paul\’s career, one of the Manz\’s children, their 3 year old son, came down with a childhood illness that threatened to end his life. \”And at one point he was given up by the doctor as well as the staff,\” Paul says. Paul and Ruth Manz took turns at their son\’s bedside – Ruth by day, Paul by night. During their vigil Ruth brought Paul some words she\’d crafted based on a text in Revelation. \”It is just a compilation of the theme in Revelation, Revelation 22, where it speaks of the longing of the Advent, actually, the coming of the Christ\” she adds. \”I think we\’d reached the point where we felt that time was certainly running out so we committed it to the Lord and said, \’Lord Jesus quickly come,\’\” Ruth says. \”I made a sketch that night at the bedside and miraculously through prayer by a lot of people John survived,\” Paul says. Ruth and Paul Manz\’s son John is now in his 50s and has the original score of the hymn written while he was ill.

December 6, 2015 + Late Church & Early Supper

Link to: Full Service Podcast

Holy Eucharist at 5:30 p.m., with meditative music and prayers with candlelighting.

December 6, 2015 + The Second Sunday of Advent

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs; sermon by the Rev\’d John Gedrick.

Organ Pastorale Louis Lefebvre-Wely (1817-1869)
Veni Emmanuel Pietro Yon (1886-1943)

Opening Hymn 56 O come, O come, Emmanuel Veni Emmanuel

Kyrie Eleison from Litany of the Saints adapt. Richard Proulx, 1991

Sequence Hymn 67 Comfort, comfort ye my people Psalm 42

Offertory Anthem Tomorrow shall be my dancing day John Gardner (1917-2011)

Sanctus from Missa Emmanuel Richard Proulx, 1991

Fraction Anthem Agnus Dei from Missa Emmanuel Richard Proulx, 1991

Communion Anthem I wonder as I wander arr. John Rutter (b. 1945)

Closing Hymn 601 O day of God, draw nigh St. Michael

Organ Veni Emmanuel Wilbur Held (1915-2015)

November 29, 2015 + The First Sunday of Advent

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Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir; sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton.

Organ Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Opening Hymn 412 Earth and all stars Earth and All Stars

Kyrie Eleison from Litany of the Saints adapt. Richard Proulx, 1991

Sequence Hymn 61 \”Sleepers, wake!\” Wachet auf

Offertory Anthem O little one sweet Johann Sebastian Bach

Sanctus from Missa Emmanuel Richard Proulx, 1991

Fraction Anthem Agnus Dei from Missa Emmanuel Richard Proulx, 1991

Communion Anthem No small wonder Paul Edwards (b. 1955)

Closing Hymn 436 Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates Truro

Organ Prelude in G Major, BWV 550 Johann Sebastian Bach

Paul Edwards began his career as a young chorister at St. Paul\’s Cathedral, London. His text writer, Paul Wigmore, relays the story of No small wonder, which eventually was included in the famous service of Lessons and Carols at King\’s College, Cambridge: \”One November morning in 1983 the young composer, Paul Edwards, gathered up his week’s bundle of laundry and was about to leave for the local launderette when he remembered the envelope. It had come in the post that morning. He quickly opened it and scanned the letter. It was from me. The letter ended with a new work – a carol for Advent and Christmas, just three short verses. Paul Edwards had already set a number of my lyrics for choir and this was a new one. He slipped it into his pocket. It would be something to read while he waited for the machine to do the washing, he thought. Then, as an afterthought, he picked up a sheet of music manuscript as well. He just might get an idea while he waited for his laundry. In the launderette he loaded the machine and sat down. He took out the envelope and read the poem. He grabbed the scrap of manuscript paper and began writing. Trying to imagine how any composer could write this profound music while surrounded by the noise of washing machines is practically impossible.\” God at work!

November 26, 2015 + Thanksgiving Day

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Holy Eucharist at 10:o0 a.m. with hymns; sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton.

Organ Variations on Simple Gifits Noel Goemanne (1926-2010)

Opening Hymn 291 We plow the fields and scatter Wir Pflugen

Sequence Hymn 433 We gather together Kremser

Offertory Music Great is thy faithfulness William Runyan (1870-1957)
Cleveland Williams, soloist

Closing Hymn 290 Come ye thankful people St. George\’s, Windsor

November 22, 2015 + Interfaith Thanksgiving Service

Service at 4:00 p.m., sung by the combined choirs of St. John\’s and Congregation Beth Israel.

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Organ Trumpet Tune Aaron David Miller (b. 1949)

Opening Hymn O be joyful in the Lord Rock of Ages

Anthem (combined choirs) For the beauty of the earth John Rutter (b. 1945)

Anthem (St. John\’s Choir) The Spirit of the Lord Philip Stopford (b. 1977)

Anthem (Beth Israel Choir) Hinei ma tov arr. Sargon

Closing Hymn 397 Now thank we all our God Nun danket alle Gott

Organ Processional William Mathias (1934-1992)

November 22, 2015 + The Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King

Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir; sermon by the Rev\’d John Gedrick.

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Organ Two Pieces Gordon Young (1919-1998)
Trumpet voluntary – Chanson religieuse

Opening Hymn 290 Come, ye thankful people, come St. George\’s, Windsor

Gloria S-278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 397 Now thank we all our God Nun danket alle Gott

Offertory Anthem The last words of David Randall Thompson (1899-1984)

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem For the beauty of the earth John Rutter (b. 1945)

Communion Hymn 433 We gather together Kremser

Closing Hymn 288 Praise to God, immortal praise Dix

Organ Marche triomphale: Nun danket alle Gott Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933)

Randall Thompson was a 20th Century composer, best known for his Alleluia, often sung here on Easter Day. Educated at Harvard, he was initially rejected from the Harvard Glee Club, but later rose to teach such luminaries as Leonard Bernstein and Samuel Barber. His setting of this poetic text from 2 Samuel is vivid in its tone painting, taking the listener to many places in a brief period of time. + We gather together is a Christian hymn of Dutch origin written in 1597 by Adrianus Valerius as Wilt heden nu treden to celebrate the Dutch victory over Spanish forces in the Battle of Turnhout. In the United States, it is popularly associated with Thanksgiving Day and is often sung at family meals and at religious services on that day. + Sigfrid Karg-Elert struggled to gain recognition in native Germany as a composer, often supplementing his income by playing piano in bars and wearing a fake beard to conceal his identity. Finally, late in life, his 66 Chorale Improvisations for organ were published, from which this well-known setting of Nun danket is drawn.

November 15, 2015 + The Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs; sermon by the Rev\’d Helen Moore.

Organ Cantabile César Franck (1822-1890)

Opening Hymn 405 All things bright and beautiful Royal Oak

Gloria S-278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn Oh, let the Son of God enfold you Spirit Song

Offertory Anthem The Spirit of the Lord Philip Stopford (b. 1977)

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem O taste and see Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Madeline Green, soloist

Communion Hymn 439 What wondrous love is this Wondrous Love

Closing Hymn 632 O Christ, the Word Incarnate Munich

Organ Processional William Mathias (1934-1992)

Cesar Franck premiered his Trois Pièces in recital on the great Trocadéro Exhibition organ in 1878. They are the first pieces by this great Parisian master that show the dramatic influence of Richard Wagner. The only three published works of his that have no printed dedication, the Trois Pièces were written for recital only, not religious use. However, the faithful undertones of Cantabile are undeniable. Later, French composer Charles Tournemire wrote of the work: ‘The soul’s unsatisfied desire—a saint’s inner supplication—incessant pleas—faith in divine mercy.’ + Philip Stopford is a contemporary English composer who began his career as a youth chorister at Westminster Abbey, singing under Simon Preston and Martin Neary. Those formative years are the backbone of his current life as a full-time choral composer, conductor, and clinician. His music is equally popular with American choirs as it is with English ones, due to his accessible yet thought-provoking compositional style. Our choirs enjoyed singing under Philip at the Trinity Church Festival Evensong in October.

November 8, 2015 + The Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir; sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton.

Organ Prelude on Forest Green Richard Purvis (1917-1992)

Opening Hymn 705 As those of old their first fruits brought Forest Green

Gloria S-278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 686 Come, thou fount of every blessing Nettleton

Offertory Anthem Pilgrims\’ Hymn Stephen Paulus (1949-2014)

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem The Lord\’s Prayer John Tavener (1944-2013)

Closing Hymn 57 Lo, he comes with clouds descending Helmsley

Organ Procésion Alegre Garry Cornell (b. 1940)

Stephen Paulus and John Tavener are two recent choral composers that have brought us a wealth of musical inspiration – American and British, respectively. + Stephen Paulus passed away just a year ago, a tragic loss to the choral community. He was quite prolific, having over 450 works in his opus list, and was nonimated for a Grammy award last December. As you’ll hear in his Pilgrims\’ Hymn (which has been sung at presidential funerals), his style is very accessible, romantic, and inspiring. + John Tavener was one of the leading British composers of recent history. His predominantly religious and contemplative music – called “holy minimalism” by some critics – has an unmistakable resonance. The repetition of musical phrases becomes its own spirit.

November 1, 2015 + All Saints\’ Day

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Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs with assisting organist David Chrzanowski; sermon by the Rev\’d John Gedrick.

Organ Suite Gothique Léon Boëllmann (1862-1897)
Introduction/Choral – Menuet Gothique – Priere à Notre Dame

Opening Hymn 287 For all the saints, who from their labors rest Sine Nomine

Sequence Hymn 293 I sing a song of the saints of God Grand Isle

Offertory Anthem Requem aeternam – Kyrie (Requiem) John Rutter (b. 1945)

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Lux aeterna (Requiem) John Rutter
Teddy Babbitt, soloist

Closing Hymn 286 Who are these like stars appearing Zeuch mich, zeuch mich

Organ Toccata (Suite Gothique) Léon Boëllmann (1862-1897)

Two movements from John Rutter’s Requiem form the choral music for this All Saints\’ Sunday. Premiered in Dallas, TX, in 1985, this Requiem has become a favorite of choirs everywhere, and holds up to the Requiem standards set by Mozart, Brahms, and Fauré. While there are necessary dark moments in this setting of the burial rite, the message of hope, paradise, and eternal light are the overall musical themes that shine through, with melodies that captivate and inspire. It is presented this day in honor and memory of those who have gone before us.

October 25, 2015 + The Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir with assisting organist Charlotte Beers Plank; sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton.

Organ Aria Flor Peeters (1903-1986)

Opening Hymn 410 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven Lauda anima

Gloria S-278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 671 Amazing grace! how sweet the sound New Britain

Offertory Anthem Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace

Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876)

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Lay up for yourselves Ned Rorem (b. 1923)

Communion Hymn 411 O bless the Lord, my soul St. Thomas

Closing Hymn 535 Ye servants of God, your master proclaim Paderborn

Organ Allegro con Brio (Sonata IV) Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

With the message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of sins committed and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,Amazing Grace is one of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world. Its writer, John Newton, wrote the text out of personal experience: After being been forced into service in the English Royal Navy, Newton found work in the slave trade. A huge storm battered his trade ship in 1779, and in his despair Newton had a profound conversion experience, and wrote the now-famous hymn as soon as he reached shore.later dedicated his life to Christian theology. He later dedicated his life to Christian theology. + The text of today’s Communion anthem are words of Jesus: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” These are powerful words, and remind us that our earthly things are but temporary, and life in Christ is eternal. It also reminds us that our treasure should be in alignment with our hearts. Jesus calls us to be generous, and to invest in things that are meaningful and powerful.

October 18, 2015 + The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth Choir; sermon by the Rev\’d John Gedrick.

Organ Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 555 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Opening Hymn 518 Christ is made the sure foundation Westminster Abbey

Gloria S-278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Anthem Psalm 150 John Harper (b. 1947)

Sequence Hymn 644 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds St. Peter

Offertory Anthem I am the bread of life Simon Lole (b. 1957)

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Adoro te devote Gregorian Chant, arr. Paul Halley (b. 1952)

Closing Hymn 665 All my hope on God is founded Michael

Organ Alleluyas Simon Preston (b. 1938)

This morning’s worship music is ably led by our Youth Choir, leading the hymn singing, and presenting three choral anthems in varying styles. The Psalm setting by John Harper is an exciting call to praise. Simon Lole’s I am the bread of life is a successful blend of popular and classic writing. Paul Halley’s arrangement from Missa Gaia is the source of the accompaniment and final English verse for the timeless Gregorian Chant Adoro te devote, sung during communion. + The closing voluntary by Simon Preston is an unusual acclamation of praise. Preston, for many years music director at Westminster Abbey and well-known as a concert organist, uses a tension-building 4-note theme and jazz harmonies to set the word “Alleluia” with a strong emphasis on the third syllable.

Thursday, October 15, 2015 + A Renewal of Ministry: Installation of the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton as Rector of St. John\’s Church

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Holy Eucharist at 6:30 p.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs.

Organ Prelude on Abbot’s Leigh Carl D.N. Klein, 1991

Opening Hymn 473 Lift high the cross Crucifer

Sequence Hymn 529 In Christ there is no East or West McKee

Hymn 482 Lord of all hopefulness Slane

Offertory Anthem The Lord is my shepherd Howard Goodall, 1994

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Ubi caritas Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

Closing Hymn Lord, you give the great commission Abbot’s Leigh

Organ Jerusalem C. Hubert. H. Parry (1848-1918)

October 11, 2015 + The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir with Douglas Johnson, guest organist/choirmaster; sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton.

Organ Toccata in F Franz Xaver Murschhauser (1663-1738)

Opening Hymn 475 God himself is with us Tysk

Gloria S-278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 684 O for a closer walk with God Caithness

Offertory Anthem Lord, Lead us still Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem O send out your light Scott Lamlein (b. 1972)

Closing Hymn 601 O day of God, draw nigh St. Michael

Organ Herzlich tut mich erfreuen, op. 122, #4 Johannes Brahms

Franz Xaver Murschhauser was born in Alsace and studied in the cathedral school in Munich. From 1683 on, he served as music director of the Munich Frauenkirche. His music exemplifies the florid South German organ style, which was influenced by the music of Italian virtuosi such as Frescobaldi. + Johannes Brahms composed the Eleven Chorale Preludes, op. 122 in May and June 1896, while staying in Bad Ischl, a resort town in Upper Austria. Perhaps he worked them out at the organ in the parish church there. In any case, when he was so near the end of his life, Brahms left us these miniature organ pieces, examples of his ripest compositional style.

October 4, 2015 + The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir; sermon by the Rev\’d John Gedrick.

Organ Now pray we all, God the comforter Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)

Opening Hymn 400 All creatures of our God and King Lasst uns erfreuen

Gloria S-278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn Love divine, all loves excelling Blaenwern

Offertory Anthem O sacrum convivium Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Silent, surrendered Margaret Rizza (b. 1929)

Communion Hymn 301 Bread of the world in mercy broken Rendez à Dieu

Closing Hymn 482 Lord of all hopefulness Slane

Organ Fantasy on Lasst uns erfreuen David Schack, 1971

The organ works of Buxtehude are especially beautiful and, knowing that Bach drew much inspiration from his works, we can trace the lineage of so much music that we hold dear back to this great master. These two ornamented chorale preludes form a great contrast to some of the more heroic works, and they naturally lift the spirit heavenward with each harmonic step. + The well loved John Wesley hymn text Love divine, all loves excelling is sung to a different tune today. The hymntune Blaenwern has long been associated with that text in England, having been sung famously at the wedding of Prince William and Princess Kate. Don’t worry, I love Hyfrydol also, and it will be back in the rotation. + The music of Margaret Rizza is fascinating, as she only began composing in 1997, at the age of 68. In those ten years, the compelling, clearly God-led works that have come from her pen have become very popular, both for the serious choral musician, and the seeker of quiet and meditation.

September 27, 2015 + The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs; sermon by the Rev\’d Linda Criddle.

Organ Cantilena Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901)

Opening Hymn 390 Praise to the Lord, the almighty Lobe den Herren

Gloria S-278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn Great is thy faithfulness Great is thy faithfulness

Offertory Anthem Amazing Grace arr. Jack Shrader, 1998

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem He watching over Israel (from Elijah) Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Communion Hymn 668 I to the hills will lift mine eyes Burford

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

Organ Fantasy on Lobe den Herren Emma Lou Diemer, 1967

This morning’s Psalm will be chanted by the choir, with the whole congregation responding by singing a common Antiphon. A very traditional style of Anglican psalmody, the chant serves the text by presenting it in a way that magnifies the meaning behind the words. Not a time to “sit and listen”, the congregation is encouraged to follow the words in the bulletin while experiencing the sounds and and inspiration that the choir provides. + Jack Shrader’s arrangement of Amazing Grace is written in Blues/Gospel style that brings this familiar hymn to life with high drama. Let’s see if our English-style choir can make that happen!

September 20, 2015 + The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir; sermon by Stacey Kohl.

Organ Fugue in C Major, BWV 545 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Opening Hymn 477 All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine Engelberg

Gloria S-278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 602 Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love Chereponi

Offertory Anthem O for a closer walk with God Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Lord, make me to know Thy ways William Byrd (1540-1623)

Communion Hymn 325 Let us break bread together on our knees Let Us Break Bread

Closing Hymn 660 O Master, let me walk with thee Maryton

Organ Prelude in C Major, BWV 545 Johann Sebastian Bach

The great Johann Sebastian Bach frames our service today, with a Prelude and Fugue from his early days as court musician in Wiemar. Bach’s genius and faith are evident in all of his works, and each is signed Soli Deo gloria – “to the glory of God alone.” + Tom Colvin, the writer of the hymn Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love, was a pastoral missionary from Scotland to Ghana and a longtime member of the Iona Community. He successfully adopted many African tunes for use with Christian texts, in this case making loving connections between all races and classes as well as our service to God and each other. + Born around 1540, William Byrd studied music in his youth with the great Thomas Tallis, with whom he shared the position of organist at the Chapel Royal. Probably the most intellectual and varied of all of the British Renaissance composers, Byrd wrote not only Latin but also English language religious works as well as madrigals and a significant amount of great keyboard music. Today’s motet Lord, make me to know thy ways is a simple, direct prayer.

September 13, 2015 + The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs; sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton.

Organ Préambule Louis Vierne (1870-1937)

Opening Hymn 427 When morning gilds the skies Laudes Domini

Gloria S-278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 455 O Love of God, how strong and true Dunedin

Offertory Anthem I was glad C. Hubert. H. Parry (1848-1918)

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem Ubi caritas Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

Communion Hymn 345 Savior, again to thy dear Name we raise Ellers

Closing Hymn 522 Glorious things of thee are spoken Austria

Organ Carillon de Longpont Louis Vierne

As we begin anew today, our choir brings two uplifting messages to our worship: “I was glad! Glad when they said unto me: we will go into the house of the Lord.” This Psalm text was set to music by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry in 1902, and has been sung at every English Coronation since, as well as at the wedding of Prince William and Princess Kate. There is a middle section of the work that can only be performed in the presence of the reigning monarch. + Ubi caritas is perhaps the best known work of french composer Maurice Duruflé, and the most moving and finely wrought harmonization of this ancient Gregorian Chant. The beautiful harmonies and repeated moment on the word “sincerity” make it a perfect reminder that God’s central message is one of love. + Two organ voluntaries of french composer Louis Vierne bookend our worship service. A master of fantasy and tone-painting, Vierne invokes visions of a slow and beautiful sunrise inPréambule, and of church bells pealing after a celebration in Carillon de Longpont.

September 6, 2015 + The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist and Baptism at 9:00 a.m. sung by the Summer Singers; sermon by the Rev\’d William J. Eakins.

Organ Adagio (Sonata I) Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Opening Hymn 408 Sing praise to God who reigns above Mit freuden zart

Sequence Hymn 470 There\’s a wideness in God\’s mercy Beecher

Baptism Hymn 296 We know that Christ is raised Engelberg

Offertory Anthem As we gather at your table Skinner Chávez-Melo, 1989

Sanctus S-125 Richard Proulx, 1971

Closing Hymn 493 O for a thousand tongues to sing Azmon

Organ Postlude in G G. F. Handel (1685-1759)

August 30, 2015 + The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. sung by the Summer Singers; sermon by Stacey Kohl.

Organ Slow Air for Organ Samuel Wesley (1766-1837)

Opening Hymn 423 Immortal, invisible, God only wise St. Denio

Sequence Hymn 660 O Master, let me walk with thee Maryton

Offertory Anthem Taste and see James E. Moore, 1992

Sanctus S-125 Richard Proulx, 1971

Closing Hymn 436 Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates Truro

Organ Choral Song Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876)

August 23, 2015 + The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. sung by the Summer Singers; sermon by the Rev\’d Timothy Hodapp.

Organ Canzona on Liebster Jesu Richard Purvis (1917-1992)

Opening Hymn 321 My God, thy table now is spread Rockingham

Sequence Hymn 440 Blessed Jesus, at thy word Liebster Jesu

Offertory Anthem I am the bread of life Jack Warren Burnam (b. 1946)

Sanctus S-125 Richard Proulx, 1971

Closing Hymn 563 Go forward, Christian soldier Lancashire

Organ Rondeau Jean Joseph Mouret (1682-1738)

August 16, 2015 + The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. with hymns and solo music by Caitlyn Semanie, harp; sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton.

Harp Prelude The Nightingale Deborah Henson-Conant (b. 1953)

Opening Hymn 460 Alleluia! Sing to Jesus! Hyfrydol

Sequence Hymn All who hunger gather gladly Holy Manna

Offertory Music Prelude on Slane Robert Edward Smith, 1996

Sanctus S-125 Richard Proulx, 1971

Communion Music Prelude in C Major Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Closing Hymn 488 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart Slane

Organ Toccata in F Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)

August 9, 2015 + The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. with hymns and solo music by Elizabeth Proteau, soprano; sermon by the Rev\’d William Eakins.

Organ Rhosymedre Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1920

Opening Hymn 48 O day of radiant gladness Es flog ein kleins Waldvogelein

Sequence Hymn 674 Forgive our sins as we forgive Detroit

Offertory Anthem If with all your hearts (from Elijah) Felix Mendelssohn

Sanctus S-125 Richard Proulx, 1971

Closing Hymn 344 Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing Sicilian Mariners

Organ Andante Largo in D for Trumpet John Stanley (1713-1786)

August 2, 2015 + The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. with hymns and solo music by Margaret Beers, soprano; sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton.

Organ Aria from the 12th Concerto George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Opening Hymn 527 Singing songs of expectation Ton-y-Botel

Sequence Hymn 302 Father, we thank thee who hast planted Rendez à Dieu

Offertory Anthem Domine Deus (from Gloria) Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Sanctus S-125 Richard Proulx, 1971

Communion Anthem The Twenty-Third Psalm Albert Hay Malotte, 1937

Closing Hymn 690 Guide me, O thou great Jehovah Cwm Rhondda

Organ Processional Robert Paoli, 1991

July 26, 2015 + The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. with hymns, sermon by the Rev\’d William Eakins, guest organist Douglas Bruce Johnson.

Opening Hymn 635 If thou but trust in God to guide thee Wer nur den lieben Gott

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

Sanctus S-125 Richard Proulx, 1971

Closing Hymn 309 O food to pilgrims given O Welt, ich muss dich lassen

July 19, 2015 + The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. with hymns, sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton, guest organist Douglas Bruce Johnson.

Opening Hymn 537 Christ for the world we sing Moscow

Offertory Hymn 343 Shepherd of souls, refresh and bless St. Agnes

Sanctus S-125 Richard Proulx, 1971

Closing Hymn 708 Savior, like a shepherd lead us Sicilian Mariners

July 12, 2015 + The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

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Holy Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. with hymns, sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton, guest organist Douglas Bruce Johnson.

Opening Hymn 372 Praise to the living God Leoni

Offertory Hymn 671 Amazing Grace! how sweet the sound New Britain

Sanctus S-125 Richard Proulx, 1971

Closing Hymn 686 Come, thou font of every blessing Nettleton

July 5, 2015 + The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. with hymns, sermon by the Rev\’d William Eakins, guest organist Douglas Bruce Johnson.

Opening Hymn 718 God of our fathers, whose almighty hand National Hymn

Offertory Hymn 599 Lift every voice and sing Lift Every Voice

Sanctus S-125 Richard Proulx, 1971

Closing Hymn 719 O beautiful for spacious skies Materna

June 28, 2015 + The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. with hymns, sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton.

Organ: Prelude on Cwm Rhondda Paul Manz

Opening Hymn 594 God of grace and God of glory Cwm Rhondda

Psalm 130 Anglican Chant, Henry Walford Davies

Sequence Hymn 705 As those of old their first fruits brought Forest Green

Offertory Anthem: The Lord is my shepherd Howard Goodall
Daaé Ransom, soloist

Sanctus S-125 Richard Proulx, 1971

Communion Hymn: Nothing can trouble Taizé Chant, Jacques Berthier

Closing Hymn 707 Take my life, and let it be consecrated Hollingsdale

Organ: Trumpet Voluntary in D Major Jeremiah Clarke

June 21, 2015 + The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. with hymns, sermon by the Rev\’d William J. Eakins.

Organ: Berceuse Louis Vierne

Opening Hymn 565 He who would valiant be Monk\’s Gate

Sequence Hymn 636 How firm a foundation Foundation

Offertory Anthem: Pie Jesu (Requiem) Gabriel Fauré
Madeline Green, soloist

Sanctus S-125 Richard Proulx, 1971

Communion Anthem: God so loved the world John Stainer
Madeline Green, soloist

Closing Hymn 608 Eternal Father, Strong to Save Melita

Organ: Psalm 19 Benedetto Marcello

June 14, 2015 + The Third Sunday after Pentecost

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. with hymns, sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton.

Organ: Pastorale in F J.S. Bach

Opening Hymn 524 I love thy kingdom, Lord St. Thomas (Williams)

Sequence Hymn 209 We walk by faith, and not by sight St. Botolph

Offertory Anthem: God is my shepherd Antonín Dvo?ák
Nicholas Filippides, soloist

Sanctus S-125 Richard Proulx, 1971

Closing Hymn I love to tell the story Hankey

Organ: Short Prelude & Fugue in F Major J. S. Bach

Hymn Sing in the Chancel follows the service, at approximately 10:00 a.m.

June 7, 2015 + The Second Sunday after Pentecost

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m., sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, with Youth Choir recognition and promotion, sermon by the Rev\’d Willam J. Eakins.

Organ: Carillon de Westminster Louis Vierne (1870-1937)

Opening Hymn 410 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven Lauda anima

Gloria S-278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 620 Jerusalem, my happy home Land of Rest

Offertory Anthem: Ev\’ry time I feel the Spirit arr. Moses Hogan

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Fraction anthem: S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem: Set me as a seal René Clausen

Closing Hymn 525 The church\’s one foundation Aurelia

Organ: Prelude in G Major, BWV 550 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

After the loss of his child, Rene Clausen, composer of Set me as a seal wrote: \’Normally, when I am asked about the \”inspiration\” process, I laugh and deny inspiration in favor of work and effort. In this case, however, I just sat down and wrote the piece. I don\’t know what is wrapped up inside these few, simple notes. I can say actually very little about the piece. Whenever I return to it, however, I am struck by the phrase \”for love is strong as death\”, because when I wrote it my actual feeling was \”for love is stronger than death\”; abiding, all-encompassing love absorbs even the pain of death. If the piece is about anything, it is about the simple but powerful conviction of permanent love that seeks to overflow the boundary between life and death. I can\’t imagine a choir singing it without open hearts.\’

May 31, 2015 + Trinity Sunday

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m., sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton.

Organ: Prelude on Nicaea Thomas Canning, 1955
Prelude on Picardy James Southbridge, 1969

Opening Hymn 362 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty Nicaea

Gloria S-278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Canticle S236 Glory to you John Rutter

Sequence Hymn 324 Let all mortal flesh keep silence Picardy

Offertory Anthem: In the year that King Uzziah died David McK. Williams

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Fraction anthem: S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem: God so loved the world Bob Chilcott

Closing Hymn 473 Lift high the cross Crucifer

Organ: Allegro maestoso e vivace (Sonata II) Felix Mendelssohn, 1845

In 325 AD, Church leaders convened in the town of Nicaea in Bithynia to formulate a consensus of belief and practice amongst Christians. What resulted was the Nicene Creed, a document passed on through the ages as one of the pillars of church doctrine. The primary function of this creed was to establish a firm belief in the Trinity, countering the heresy of Arius, who believed that Jesus was not fully divine. It was this creed that inspired Reginald Heber to write his great hymn, Holy, holy holy, with the intent that the hymn be sung on Trinity Sunday – eight weeks after Easter. + The prophet Isaiah had a remarkable vision of the heavenly realm, beginning In the year that King Uzziah died. His celestial vision depicts the highest order of angels, Seraphim. The name Seraphim is associated with the Hebrew verb which means “to burn”, suggesting that the Seraphim burn with devotion for God. The Seraphim, from Isaiah’s vision, have six wings. In the choral arrangement heard today, tone painting is used to dramatic effect, depicting the angels flying around the throne of God, using the lowest 32’ tones of the organ for quasi-tympani effects, and presenting the familiar Sanctus text with great emotion – here heard within its original context. The work ends plaintively, with Isaiah answering God’s call. + The short text ofGod so loved the world is so well-known because it explains the whole Easter story, encapsulating the essence of the Christian Gospel in under 30 words. Bob Chilcott’s setting is an unsentimental and profoundly beautiful alternative to the familiar movement by John Stainer.

12:30 p.m. Pipes Alive! Organ Concert: The Trumpet Shall Sound

with Jacob Humerick, trumpeter. Click here for details.

May 24, 2015 + The Day of Pentecost

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m., sung by the Adult Choir, sermon by the Rev\’d Willam J. Eakins.

Organ: Fugue in D Major, BWV 532 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Opening Hymn 225 Hail thee, festival day Salve festa dies

Gloria S-278 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 513 Like the murmur of the dove\’s song Bridegroom

Offertory Anthem: Hark, I hear the harps eternal Southern Harmony tune, arr. Alice Parker, 1967

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias (1934-1992)

Fraction anthem: S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem: Veni Creator Spiritus Gregorian Chant

Closing Hymn 516 Come down, O Love divine Down Ampney

Organ: Toccata on Veni Creator Spiritus Maurice Duruflé, 1931

Part two of the Bach organ series brings us the Fugue in D Major. Obviously wanting to demonstrate his skill at the organ, especially with the pedals, Bach here shows his youth in other ways as well – the relentless repetition inherent in the main theme is reminiscent of a child pulling on a parent’s shirttail, trying to go home! + Hark, I hear the harps eternal is a perfect combination of the dancing Holy Spirit and the comforting Holy Spirit, as it presents a rhythmic, joyful image of our souls’ joyful entrance into heaven. + Veni Creator Spiritus is believed to have been composed by Rabanus Maurus in the 9th century. An invocation of the Holy Spirit, it has been included in many musical arrangements, including Gustav Holst’s 8th Symphony, as well as in the Duruflé set of variations for organ, the final movement of which we hear as this morning’s postlude.

May 17, 2015 + The Seventh Sunday of Easter + Youth Sunday

Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m., sung by the Youth Choir, reflections by Youth Group (YAC), homily by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton. Liturgical Dance choreographed by Susan Thaxton; Ray Palagy, percussionist.

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Prelude: Sonata No. 1 (Six Canonic Sonatas) Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
The Tummescheit Family Musicians

Opening Hymn 494 Crown him with many crowns Diademata

Pascha nostrum: Hymn 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Sequence Hymn Here I am, Lord Here I Am, Lord

Gospel Response: Deep River Allan Bevan, 1998

Offertory Anthem: Jubilate Deo Richard Purvis, 1943

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx, 1977

Fraction Anthem: Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard, 1986

Communion Hymn: Bless the Lord, my soul Taizé song

Closing Hymn 400 All creatures of our God and King Lasst uns erfreuen

Postlude: Nocturne in E-flat Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Britt Emerick, piano

Heidi Tummescheit writes: A Canonic Sonata is one in which the players play the exact same music, but one or more measures apart, and that it forms a duet that sounds much like a conversation with a common vocabularly. + Susan Thaxton writes: Every culture throughout history has used dance to express faith and spirituality. The focus of Liturgical Dance is to deepen the worship experience and to express oneself through movement. Children are natural “movers” and including Liturgical Dance in the Youth Sunday service is another way that children can express their faith and spirituality. + Britt Emerick writes: Frédéric Franciszek Chopin was a Polish composer of mainly piano solo pieces in the Romantic era. He wrote the Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2, at the age of 20. The piece is reflective in mood but turns passionate near the end, subsiding to a calm finish.

May 10, 2015 + The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m., sung by the Adult Choir, Sermon by the Rev\’d William Eakins.

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Organ: Rhosymedre (\”Lovely\”) Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1920

Opening Hymn 412 Earth and all stars Earth and All Stars

Pascha nostrum: Hymn 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Sequence Hymn 657 Love divine, all loves excelling Hyfrydol

Offertory Anthem: Cantate domino Hans Leo Hassler

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx, 1977

Fraction Anthem: Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard, 1986

Communion Anthem: If ye love me Thomas Tallis

Closing Hymn 594 God of grace and God of glory Cwm Rhondda

Organ: Prelude in D Major, BWV 532 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Today’s prelude shows the God-given talent of Vaughan Williams at work: Though the hymntune Rhosymedre is remarkably simple (basically a collection of quarter notes), Vaughan Williams’ organ setting is remarkably lyrical and beautiful, employing a moving singing obligato and running bassline that all contribute to a soaring musical landscape. + The two anthems shared by our adult choir today are well-known pillars of the choral repertoire. Hans Leo Hassler often wrote in the polychoral style, meaning that two groups of singers trade off parts, but sometimes sing together as well. That device, along with alternation between a feeling of two and three to the bar really bring alive the “Sing to the Lord a new psalm” text. + Thomas Tallis wrote choral music under four different monarchs with widely differing religious practices. Under Edward VI (1547-1553), it was decided that all sacred choral music should be in English and be succinctly composed. Thus, If ye love me is one of the earliest examples of an anthem written in the vernacular. + Bach biographer Philipp Spitta (1841-1894) considered the Prelude and Fugue D Major, BWV 532 to be “one of the most dazzlingly beautiful of all the master\’s organ works.” Composed in Weimar during Bach’s early years, the work is notable for its charm, drama, and virtuosity of the pedal line. The full work is presented in a “postlude series”… You’ll need to wait for Pentecost to hear the Fugue!

May 3, 2015 + The Fifth Sunday of Easter

Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m., sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs.
Sermon by the Rev\’d Susan Pinkerton: \”Connections\”

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Organ: Trumpet Voluntary Gordon Young, 1969
Meditation on Abbott\’s Leigh Carl D.N. Klein, 1991

Opening Hymn 379 God is Love: let heaven adore him Abbott\’s Leigh

Pascha nostrum: Hymn 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Sequence Hymn 602 Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love Chereponi

Offertory Anthem: Thou God of truth and love Malcolm Archer

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx, 1977

Fraction Anthem: Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard, 1986

Communion Anthem: Send out your light Scott Lamlein, 2009

Communion Hymn 315 Thou, who at thy first Eucharist didst pray Song 1

Closing Hymn 438 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord Woodlands

Organ: Toccata Flor Peeters, 1955

The familiar hymntune Abbott\’s Leigh appears in over 75 hymnals, and is considered to be the Rule Brittania of hymns. It was composed by Cyril Taylor (d. 1991), who was director of the BBC\’s Religious Broadcasting department during World War II, while stationed at Abbot\’s Leigh in England. + Malcolm Archer\’s setting of this Charles Wesley text contains a highly lyrical melody and emotional connection. Pay special attention to the dramatic treatment of the middle verse: \”Didst Thou not make us one, that being one we must remain? Together, travel on, and bear each others\’ pain.\” The text and tune lift up a universal message of following Christ, serving others, and God being with us in times of trouble.

April 26, 2015 + The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. An African liturgy sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by the Rev\’d Hope H. Eakins.

Congregational Rehearsal: African songs for the liturgy

Processional Hymn: Hallelujah! We sing your praises! African Tune

Psalm Response: The Lord is my shepherd African Tune

Sequence Hymn: Christ is risen, Alleluia Tanzanian Tune

Offertory Anthem: The Lord is my shepherd Thomas Matthews, 1956

Sanctus Betty Carr Pulkingham, based on African melodies

Communion Hymns: Thuma mina Zulu Hymn
665 All my hope on God is founded Michael

Closing Hymn: We are marching in the light of God South African Hymn

In celebration of the ministry of Interim Rector Hope Eakins, this service is a compilation of African songs and prayers, with a slightly modified prayer of Bishop Desmond Tutu.

12:30 p.m. Pipes Alive! Organ Concert: Monumental Mendelssohn

April 19, 2015 + The Third Sunday of Easter

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m., sung by the Adult Choir, sermon by the Rev\’d William J. Eakins.

Organ: The peace may be exchanged (Rubrics) Dan Locklair, 1988

Opening Hymn 195 Jesus Lives! Mowsley

Pascha nostrum: Hymn 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Sequence Hymn 296 We know that Christ is raised Engelberg

Offertory Anthem: Be not afraid (Elijah) Felix Mendelssohn, 1846

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx, 1977

Fraction Anthem: Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard, 1986

Communion Anthem: There is a season Alfred Fedak, 1988

Closing Hymn 182 Christ is alive! Let Christians Sing Truro

Organ: Andante Largo in D for Trumpet John Stanley (1713-1786)

The inspiration for Dan Locklair\’s five-movement suite, Rubrics, was the italicized rubrics (instructions) found within the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. Finding power within these simple notes, Dan brings them to life in music. The peace may be exchanged is a beautiful, lyric peace-prayer, using the warm string and diapason sounds of the organ. + Be not afraid is a brief, yet forcefully effective, reminder that God is with us at every moment, found halfway though the epic oratorio describing the vivid story of Elijah. + There is a season: It is difficult to hear this comforting text from Ecclesiates without calling to mind the popular 60\’s song Turn, turn, turn. Seeing a far greater need to inspire the hearing of these powerful words, Albany, New York composer Al Fedak has crafted a melody that allows the choir to communicate the deep meaning of the text clearly and with great feeling.

April 12, 2015 + The Second Sunday of Easter

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m., with hymns and youth soloists, sermon by the Rev\’d Borden Painter.

Organ: Basse de Trompette Jean-Adam Guilain (d. 1703)

Organ and Harp: Sanctus (Requiem) Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Jia-Lin Koh, harp

Opening Hymn 208 Alleluia! The strife is o\’er Victory

Pascha nostrum: Hymn 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Sequence Hymn 180 He is risen, he is risen! Unser Herrscher

Offertory Anthem: I want to walk as a child of the light Kathleen Thomerson, 1970
Jia-Lin and Kay-Lin Koh, soloists

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx, 1977

Fraction Anthem: Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard, 1986

Communion Hymn Give peace to every heart (Taizé)

Closing Hymn 205 Good Christians all, rejoice and sing! Gelobt sei Gott

Organ: Good Christians all, rejoice and sing! Healey Willan, 1950

April 5, 2015 + The Sunday of the Resurrection: Easter Day

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 8:00 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir,

and at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult and Youth Choirs, with brass and tympani; sermon by the Rev\’d Hope E. Eakins.

Prelude: Sonata III in A Major Felix Mendelssohn

Opening Hymn 207 Jesus Christ is risen today Easter Hymn

Pascha nostrum: Hymn 417 This is the feast Festival Canticle

Sequence Hymn 199 Come, ye faithful, raise the strain St. Kevin

Gospel Response: Hallelujah (from Messiah) George Frideric Handel

Offertory Anthem: Christ the Lord hath triumphed over death Raymond Weidner

Sanctus S125 Richard Proulx

Fraction Anthem: Christ our Passover Jeffrey Rickard

Communion Anthem: Alleluia Randall Thompson

Communion Hymn 305 Come, risen Lord Rosedale

Closing Hymn 210 The day of resurrection Ellacombe

Organ, brass and tympani: Toccata (from Symphonie V) Charles-Marie Widor

Music Notes: Worship begins this Easter with a “resurrection” Sonata by Felix Mendelssohn. It’s opening fugal theme builds in turmoil and intensity, set on top of the hymntune Aus tiefer not (Out of the depths). In the end, however, the clouds are parted in a triumphal hymn, and our antiphonal Trompette en Chamade (which has been silent in worship during the Lenten season) herald a bright new day. + Ever-popular Easter Hymnwas among the first hymns of a new popular style (for the early 1700s), in which more movement and spirit was attained by using more than one note per syllable. + The traditional St. John’s pairing of two great choral “Alleluias” continues this year, from the triumphal Handel chorus as a choral response to the Gospel, to the prayerful and so beautiful Randall Thompson during communion. Both works are rightly sung by almost every choir – symbols of choral singing and spiritually powerful to singer and listener alike.

April 3, 2015 + Good Friday

Click here for program and podcast.

Good Friday Liturgy at 12:00 p.m. messages by the clergy of St. John\’s and St. James\’s Church, at St. John\’s

April 2, 2015 + Maundy Thursday

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Maundy Thursday Eucharist at 7:00 p.m. sung by the Youth Choir

Organ: Choral dorien Jehan Alain

Opening Hymn 315 Thou, who at thy first Eucharist didst pray Song 1

Sequence Hymn 325 Let us break bread together on our knees Let us break bread

Offertory anthem: Ubi caritas Maurice Duruflé

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion anthem: Ubi caritas Jacques Berthier

March 29, 2015 + The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist Rite II sung by the Adult Choir. The Liturgy begins in the Cloister at 10:30 a.m.

Processional Hymn 154 All glory, laud, and honor Valet will ich dir geben

Sequence Hymn 168 O sacred head, sore wounded Passion Chorale

Offertory Anthem: Sing me to heaven Daniel E. Gawthrop

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem: Fragrant the prayer Curt Oliver

Closing Hymn 158 Ah, holy Jesus! Herzliebster Jesu

Sing me to heaven is perhaps the most written-about choral work of the 20th century, as many different meanings can be derived from the beautiful text. Composed by American Dan Gawthrop, he says of its commission: \”The director said she wanted something which speaks to the way that we, as singers, feel about music in our lives.\” Choral director Dan Wagner sums it up best: \”I believe the Sing me to heaven text is really about music\’s ability best express life\’s deepest mysteries, greatest joys, and deepest sorrows. It is an ode to musical mysticism, in my opinion. I listen to it and am moved from my own point of view. My personal life experience – too much talking, not enough music! – leads me to affirm this piece and its text…when I die, I hope there\’s more singing than talking!\”

12:30 p.m. Pipes Alive! Organ Concert: Bach to Basics

Thursday, March 25, 5:30 p.m. + Stop, Rest Pray: A Time for Lenten Reflection and Meditation

Officiants: The Rev\’d Hope and Bill Eakins

Piano: Scott Lamlein

Taizé Songs: Bless the Lord, my soul; Bring peace to every heart

Sunday, March 22, 2015 + The Fifth Sunday in Lent

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs

Organ: Partita Diverse Sopra: Christ, you are the light of day Johann Sebastian Bach

Kyrie Eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 474 When I survey the wondrous cross Rockingham

Offertory: I hear a voice a-prayin\’ Houston Bright, 1955

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem: Ave verum corpus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Closing Hymn 699 Jesus, Lover of my soul Aberystwyth

Organ: Prelude in E minor, \”Cathedral\” Johann Sebastian Bach

Music Notes: On March 31st, we wish Johann Sebastian Bach a happy 330th birthday! Unlike the “partitas” of Bach and others, the “partite diverse” is a set of variation on a chorale tune. This set of variations, written in Bach’s youth, is a beautiful, colorful reminder of the light of Christ – always in our lives, even in darkness. Also written during his younger years, the “cathedral” prelude is improvisational in style. Both works employ a tension-building figure utilizing a single repeated note in the theme.

Sunday, March 15, 2015 + The Fourth Sunday in Lent

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir

Organ: Variations on Wondrous Love Samuel Barber, 1959

Kyrie Eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 439 What wondrous love is this Wondrous Love

Offertory: God so loved the world (The Crucifixion) John Stainer, 1887

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem: A Gaelic blessing John Rutter, 1978

Communion Hymn 440 Blessed Jesus, at thy word Liebster Jesu

Closing Hymn 473 Lift high the cross Crucifer

Organ: Fugue (Sonata VI) Felix Mendelssohn, 1845

Well-loved hymn What wondrous love is this has its roots in the shape-note tradition of the early 1800s. The hymnal titled The Southern Harmony includes the hymn, written in 3-part harmony, with notes whose shapes (triangles, squares, circles) indicated the distance between the notes. Samuel Barber\’s variations on the tune are very engaging, beginning with a statement of the hymn much the same as the shape-note version, and then moving into expressive tone-painting. While the final verse of our sung version leaves us with a profound sense of hope, the final Barber variation keeps us at the Cross: a haunting descending figure depicts the downward stretch of crucifixion. + John Stainer\’s choral setting of the famous John 3:16-17 text is a standard of the choral repertoire, and part of a larger work, The Crucifixion, that was written as a meditation to aid in the understanding of the passion and death of Christ. The work is still performed annually at St. Marylebone in London, which commissioned it in 1887.

4:00 p.m. Concert: Choral Music for the Soul

St. John\’s Youth and Adult Choirs and Orchestra: Click here for details.

Thursday, March 12, 5:30 p.m. + Stop, Rest Pray: A Time for Lenten Reflection and Meditation

Officiants: The Rev\’d Hope and Bill Eakins

Piano: Scott Lamlein

Taizé Songs: Bless the Lord, my soul; O Lord, hear my prayer

Sunday, March 8, 2015 + The Third Sunday in Lent

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Organ: Introitus and Kyrie (Organoedia ad missam lectam) Zoltán Kodály, 1942

Kyrie Eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Anthem (Youth Choir): My eyes for beauty pine Herbert Howells

Sequence Hymn 372 Praise to the living God Leoni

Offertory: You are the center Margaret Rizza
Violin: Douglas Bruce Johnson

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem: Agnus Dei (Mass in G) Franz Schubert
Soloists: Margaret Beers, soprano; Aaron Krerowicz, bass

Closing Hymn 488 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart Slane

Organ: Ite, missa est (Organoedia ad missam lectam) Zoltán Kodály, 1942

Margaret Rizza is a relative newcomer to the choral music scene, and her music has quickly taken its place among that of the Taizé community (Jacques Berthier) and Iona (John Bell). As those, Rizza\’s music is meditative and prayerful, and hauntingly repetitive, bringing the listener into a new place of prayer and connection to God. + The organ prelude and postlude are by Zoltán Kodály, who revolultionized the method by which we teach theory and especially ear training to students of music. Though most of his music is based in the hungarian folk tradition, this organ mass is in a late romantic style, with many moods and dramatic tone painting. This work was later transformed into a Missa Brevis for choir, organ, and orchestra.

Thursday, March 5, 5:30 p.m. + Stop, Rest Pray: A Time for Lenten Reflection and Meditation

Officiants: The Rev\’d Hope and Bill Eakins

Piano: Scott Lamlein

Taizé Songs: Bless the Lord, my soul; Nothing Can Trouble

Sunday, March 1, 2015 + The Second Sunday in Lent

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir; Sermon by Rev\’d William Eakins.

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Organ: Deo gratias John Dunstable
Lonesome valley Robert Powell

Kyrie Eleison S-84 Gregorian Chant, Orbis factor

Sequence Hymn 441 In the cross of Christ I glory Rathbun

Offertory: Lord, lead us still Johannes Brahms

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem: Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks Herbert Howells

Closing Hymn 237 Let us now our voices raise Gaudeamus pariter

Organ: Chaconne Louis Couperin (1626-1661)

The organ music this morning spans several centuries, from the early 1400\’s (John Dunstable), 1600\’s (Louis Couperin), 1800\’s (Brahms), and on up through the 20th century and still living today (Howells and Powell, respectively). Music is a timeless and powerful connection to God through the ages. + In his Lord, lead us still, Brahms has taken a simple German folk-melody and woven the verse together with his trademark inner voice lines and beautiful harmony. + A powerful, pleading \”where is my God\” is the central message of the Howells Psalm setting, but even more powerful is the imagery of the deer in placid fields, yet thirsty. From the first notes of the introdction, the listener is drawn into a musical landscape, which sounds as if it was already in progress long before we began hearing it.

Thursday, February 26, 5:30 p.m. + Stop, Rest Pray: A Time for Lenten Reflection and Meditation

Officiant: Stacey Kohl, Postulant for Holy Orders in the Diocese of Connecticut

Piano: Scott Lamlein

Taizé Songs: Bless the Lord, my soul; Stay with me

Sunday, February 22, 2015 + The First Sunday in Lent

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs; sermon by Rev\’d Hope Eakins.

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Organ: Prelude au Kyrie Jean Langlais, 1952

Procession: The Great Litany The Rev\’d William Eakins, celebrant

Sequence Hymn 150 Forty days and forty nights Aus der Tiefe rufe ich

Offertory: O for a closer walk with God George Villiers Stanford

Sanctus Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Agnus Dei Gregorian Chant, Deus Genitor alme

Communion Anthem: Kyrie Eleison (Mass in G) Franz Schubert

Closing Hymn 688 A mighty fortress is our God Ein feste Burg

Organ: A mighty fortress Calvin Hampton, 1979

Lent brings us an opportunity for deeper reflection, as we take a break from musical fanfares and descants, and replace them with a silent procession and meditative chant. The service music that we will sing during Lent is all from the Gregorian Missal; both the Sanctus and Agnus Dei were famously set in Maurice Duruflé\’s Requiem. + Schubert\’s Mass in G is the most famous of his shorter mass settings. It was composed in less than a week in March of 1815, and creates an over-all devotional mood in his musical style. + Calvin Hampton (1938-1984) was one of the most prolific twentieth century church music composers; his music is featured in almost every church hymnal. This arrangement of Ein feste Burg successfully blends the well-known rhythms of the hymn with the isometric original version.

12:30 p.m. Pipes Alive! Organ Concert: Organ Fireworks

Wednesday, February 18, 2015 + Ash Wednesday

Holy Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes at 7 a.m. (spoken) and 7 p.m. (with hymns)

Organ: Antiphon Marcel Dupré, 1921

Hymn 144 Lord Jesus, Sun of Righteousness Cornhill

Hymn 674 Forgive our sins as we forgive Detroit

Sunday, February 15, 2015 + The Last Sunday after Epiphany

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. with hymns and organ music, sermon by Rev\’d William Eakins. (Choir was cancelled due to inclement weather.)

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Organ: La Paix (Suite for the Royal Fireworks) G. F. Handel (1685-1759)

Processional Hymn 137 O wondrous type! O vision fair Wareham

Gloria in Excelsis S-280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 129 Christ upon the mountain peak Mowsley

Offertory: Overture (Suite for the Royal Fireworks) G. F. Handel

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Closing Hymn 460 Alleluia! Sing to Jesus! Hyfrydol

Organ: Fanfare John Cook, 1952

Sunday, February 8, 2015 + The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

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

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Organ: Méditation Maurice Duruflé, 1964

Processional Hymn 135 Songs of thankfulness and praise Salzburg

Gloria in Excelsis S-280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 411 O bless the Lord, my soul St. Thomas

Offertory: Let all the world in every corner sing Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem: Ubi caritas Maurice Duruflé, 1960

Closing Hymn 529 In Christ there is no East or West McKee

Organ: Toccata on Veni Creator Spiritus Maurice Duruflé, 1931

This morning we share three works by Parisian composer Maurice Duruflé. A powerfully spiritual impressionist, Duruflé’s music is almost all based in ancient chant, yet all of music has a mystical, “music for the soul” feel. Ubi caritas is perhaps his most cherished work, and perhaps the most moving setting anywhere of the so-important words: “from a sincere heart let us love one another.” See if you can hear the importance of the word “sincero” in that thought. + A completely different take on “mystical” is the Vaughan Williams setting of Let all the world in every corner sing. The final work in the composer’sFive Mystical Songs, it is a joyful song of praise, with a bell-ringing and cymbal-crashing mood.

Sunday, February 1, 2015 + The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir, sermon by Bishop Laura Ahrens

Link to: Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Organ: Processional Robert Paoli, 1991
Air for organ Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876)

Processional Hymn 381 Thy strong word did cleave the darkness Ton-y-Botel

Sequence Hymn 348 Lord, we have come at your invitation O quanta quallia

Offertory: Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace Samuel Sebastian Wesley

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem: Sing, my soul, his wondrous love Ned Rorem, 1962

Closing Hymn 438 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord Woodlands

Organ: Choral Song Samuel Sebastian Wesley

Samuel Sebastian Wesley seemed destined for the life of a church musician, as his middle name was taken from Johann Sebastian Bach. He did not disappoint: in a time that English church music had become less than satisfactory, Wesley was largely responsible for raising this standard through his own work as a composer and organist. In all his music, Wesley strived for an expressive and accessible sound, as evidenced in the three works presented in today’s worship. The exquisite Thou wilt keep him in perfect peaceremains one of the most-loved anthems in the repertoire.

Sunday, January 25, 2015 + The Third Sunday after Epiphany

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth Choir, Sermon by Hope Eakins

Organ: Berceuse Louis Vierne, 1914

Processional Hymn 408 Sing praise to God who reigns above Mit Freuden zart

Gloria in Excelsis S-280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 660 O Master, let me walk with thee Maryton

Offertory: O God, my heart is ready Peter Niedmann, 2005

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem: Bread of the world, in mercy broken John Abdenour, 1992

Closing Hymn 539 O Zion haste, thy mission high fulfilling Tidings

Organ: Carillon de Longpont Louis Vierne, 1914

O God, my heart is ready was written by two friends of St. John’s: Jane Penfield wrote the text, and Newington composer Peter Niedmann was commissioned to write the music in 2005. As all of Peter’s works, it is characterized by a beautiful, accessible melody and accompaniment. + Louis Vierne was one of the long line of geniuses that were organist at Notre Dame de Paris, and made glorious music to the glory of God despite being blind.Berceuse (\”Lullaby\”) and Carillon de Longpont are from a collection of pieces written for home organ, and can be played with or without pedals. However, the repetitive carillon theme in the bass lends itself well to those largest pipes in the organ.

Sunday, January 18, 2015 + The Second Sunday after Epiphany

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir, Sermon by Bill Eakins

Organ: Two settings of Liebster Jesu
Richard Purvis, 1949; George Thalben-Ball (1896-1987)

Processional Hymn 7 Christ, whose glory fills the skies Ratisbon

Gloria in Excelsis S-280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 549 Jesus call us, o\’er the tumult St. Andrew

Offertory: Thou art the way Robert Edward Smith, 2005

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem: Agnus Dei (Mass for four voices) William Byrd (1674-1744)

Communion Hymn 440 Blessed Jesus, at thy word Liebster Jesu

Closing Hymn 535 Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim Paderborn

Organ: Rondeau (Symphonies de Fanfares) Jean Joseph Mouret (1682-1738)

Robert Edward Smith, a prolific composer of works for choir and organ, has been Composer-in-Residence at Trinity College, Hartford, since 1979. As evidenced by today’s setting of Thou art the way, his music has been described as “enthusiastically tonal and melodic.” + Richard Purvis and George Thalben-Ball provide two unusual settings of the german chorale Liebster Jesu in the prelude. Purvis was organist/choirmaster at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, for many years, where he combined his talents as an Anglican musician with his theatre organ stylings, the latter of which is heard clearly in this beautiful arrangement.

Sunday, January 11, 2015 + The First Sunday after Epiphany

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs, sermon by Hope Eakins

Organ: Short Prelude & Fugue in G Major, BWV 557 J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Prelude on Stuttgart Malcolm Archer, 1991

Processional Hymn 76 On Jordan\’s bank the Baptist\’s cry Winchester New

Sequence Hymn 295 Sing praise to our Creator Christus, der ist mein Leben

Baptism Hymn: Child of blessing, child of promise Stuttgart

Offertory: Beati quorum via Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem: Gracious spirit, dwell with me K. Lee Scott, 1984

Closing Hymn 616 Hail to the Lord\’s Anointed Es flog ein kleins Waldvögelein

Organ: Rigoudon André Campra, 1712

The eight “Short” Preludes and Fugues of Johann Sebastian Bach are often attributed to one of his students, Ludwig Krebs, as compositional exercises or teaching works. However, they remain among the most accessible and popular of the Bach opus list. + Our choirs aid us in worshiping God this morning with two beautiful melodies: Beati quorum via is perhaps the most perfect of English choral compositions, with a coda that invokes wonder and delight. Gracious Spirit, dwell with me matches the familiar chant,Adoro te devote, with a modern text and mystical accompaniment.

Sunday, January 4, 2015 + The Second Sunday after Christmas

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Sermon Podcast – Printed Sermon – Service Leaflet

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir, sermon by Bill Eakins

Organ: Kings of Orient, Puer Nobis Alex Wyton, 1964

Processional Hymn 109 The first Nowell The First Nowell

Gloria in Excelsis S-280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 124 What star is this Puer nobis

Offertory What cheer? Good cheer! Peter Warlock

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem Saw you never in the twilight Harold Friedell, 1955

Closing Hymn 119 As with gladness men of old Dix

Organ: Fugue on From heaven above Johann Pachelbel

Sunday, December 28, 2014 + The First Sunday after Christmas

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. with Margaret Beers, soprano, and Douglas Bruce Johnson, organ

Organ: Pastorale J. S. Bach

Processional Hymn 82 Of the Father\’s love begotten Divinum mysterium

Gloria in Excelsis S-280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 89 It came upon a midnight clear Carol

Offertory Gesù Bambino Pietro Yon

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Jesus, Lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem He Shall Feed His Flock Like a Shepherd G. F. Handel

Closing Hymn 107 Good Christian friends, rejoice In dulci jubilo

Organ: In dulci jubilo J. S. Bach

Thursday, December 25, 2014 + Christmas Day

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:00 a.m. with congregational Carols, and Jia-Lin Koh, harp

Organ: Good Christian friends, rejoice (In dulci jubilo) Marcel Dupré

Opening Hymn 96 Angels we have heard on high Gloria

Sequence Hymn 79 O Little town of Bethlehem St. Louis

Offertory: Noel nouvelet, Away in a manger

Communion: Let all mortal flesh keep silence, Silent night

Closing Hymn 100 Joy to the world! Antioch

Organ: Joy to the World! Wilbur Held

Wednesday, December 24, 2014 + 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

Music listing:

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

O holy night Adolphe Adam, arr. West, Berton

Torches John Joubert

Away in a manger Normandy Tune

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 4:00 p.m. with Youth Choir

Processional Hymn 83 O come, all ye faithful Adeste fideles, arr. David Willcocks

Gloria S280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 115 What child is this Greensleeves

Offertory anthem: In the bleak mid-winter arr. Robert Hugh

Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert

Fraction anthem S164 Jesus, lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem: Nativity Carol John Rutter

Communion Hymn 112 In the bleak mid-winter Cranham, arr. Jane Penfield

Postcommunion Anthem: Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light

(Choral from the Christmas Oratorio) Johann Sebastian Bach

Postcommunion Hymn 111 Silent night Stille nacht

Closing Hymn 87 Hark the herald angels sing Mendelssohn, arr. David Willcocks

Carillon-Sortie Henri Mulet

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

Link to: Service Podcast – Prelude Podcast

Once in Royal David’s City arr. Paul Halley

Torches John Joubert

Sussex Carol arr. David Willcocks

Away in a Manger Normandy Tune

Glory to God (Messiah) George Frideric Handel

Pastoral Symphony (Messiah) Handel

O holy night Adolphe Adam, arr. West, Berton

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 11:00 p.m. with Adult choir and string quartet

Processional Hymn 83 O come, all ye faithful Adeste fideles, arr. David Willcocks

Gloria S280 Robert Powell

Sequence Hymn 115 What child is this Greensleeves

Offertory anthem: Sing of a girl Peter Niedmann

Sanctus S130 Franz Schubert

Fraction anthem S164 Jesus, lamb of God Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem: Nativity Carol John Rutter

Communion Hymn 101 Away in a manger Cradle Song

Postcommunion Anthem: Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light

(Choral from the Christmas Oratorio) Johann Sebastian Bach

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

Closing Hymn 87 Hark the herald angels sing Mendelssohn, arr. David Willcocks

Carillon-Sortie Henri Mulet

December 21, 2014 + The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Link to: Full Service Podcast

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

Prelude: Sung by the Choirs

Come, thou long-expected Jesus German Tune

Ave Maria Tomas de luis Victoria

People, look east Besançon Carol

Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light Johann Sebastian Bach

Opening Hymn 83 O come, all ye faithful Adeste fideles

With traditional pageant carols and the following Anthems:

Ding dong! merrily on high arr. Charles Wood

The friendly beasts Traditional French Carol

Torches John Joubert

Offertory Anthem: Glory to God (Messiah) George Frideric Handel

Closing Hymn 87 Hark, the herald angels sing Mendelssohn

Organ and trumpets: My spirit be joyful (Cantata 146) Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. E. Power Biggs

December 14, 2014 + Advent Procession of Lessons & Carols

Link to: Full Service Podcast – Printed Program – Event Details

December 14, 2014 + The Third Sunday of Advent

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs

Organ: Nun komm der Heiden Heiland J. S. Bach

Processional Hymn 66 Come, thou long-expected Jesus Stuttgart

Kyrie S-89 James McGregor, after Hans Leo Hassler

Sequence Hymn 65 Prepare the way, O Zion Breden bag for Herran

Offertory Anthem: The Lamb John Tavener

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Franz Schubert

Communion Hymn 104 A stable lamp is lighted Adújar

Closing Hymn 72 Hark! the glad sound! the Savior comes Richmond

Organ: Carillon Scott Lamlein

Music Notes: Nun komm der Heiden Heiland is a Lutheran chorale from 1524. The tune is presented here in a highly ornamented and emotionally charged setting by the master Bach as we prepare for worship. + “The Lamb” is a setting of a poem by William Blake, depicting the innocence of the Christ child, the beautiful creation of God. Part of Blake’s collection “Songs of Innocence” of 1789. Although the original poems were meant to be sung, Blake’s original tunes are lost to the ages. Sir John Tavener set the poem to music, explaining, “ ‘The Lamb’ came to me fully grown and was written in an afternoon and dedicated to my nephew Simon for his 3rd birthday.”

December 7, 2014 + The Second Sunday of Advent

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir

Organ: Three Settings of Veni Emmanuel

Paul Manz – Pietro Yon – Wilbur Held

Processional Hymn 56 O come, O come, Emmanuel Veni Emmanuel

Kyrie S-89 James McGregor, after Hans Leo Hassler

Sequence Hymn 76 On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry Winchester New

Offertory Anthem: A spotless rose Herbert Howells

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem: While all things were in quiet silence Ned Rorem

Closing Hymn 67 Comfort, comfort ye my people Psalm 42

Organ: Prelude in C Major (“9/8”), BWV 547 J. S. Bach

Music Notes: The origins of “O come, O come, Emmanuel” date to medieval times. In the 800s, a series of Latin hymns were sung, called the “O” Antiphons. Over time, these were restructured, and the first draft of the beloved hymn we know came from Anglican priest John Mason Neale, in 1851. Born to a family of clergy, Neale wanted to become a parish minister, but his poor health prevented this. He instead became the director of Sackville College, a home for elderly men. This proved to be a good match, as Neale was compassionate with a great heart for the needy. A traditionalist, he was outspoken against the change that other hymn writers like Isaac Watts stood for, but today we find Neale and Watts side-by-side in our hymnals. We owe Neale our gratitude for this great hymn, as well as “Good King Wenceslas,” “Good Christian Men, Rejoice,” and “All Glory, Laud, and Honor.”

November 30, 2014 + The First Sunday of Advent

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs

Organ: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Processional Hymn 57 Lo! he comes, with clouds descending Helmsley

Kyrie S-89 James McGregor, after Hans Leo Hassler

Sequence Hymn 61 “Sleepers, wake!” A voice astounds us Wachet auf

Offertory Anthem: People, look east Besancon Carol

Sanctus S-130 Franz Schubert

Fraction Anthem S-164 Franz Schubert

Communion Anthem: A new heaven Robert Prizeman, 2004

Closing Hymn 601 O day of God, draw nigh St. Michael

Organ: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme Paul Manz, 1987

Music Notes: As we begin the season of advent, our music encourages us to watch, wait, and most importantly, keep awake! Two very different settings of the German chorale that forms the tune of our Sequence Hymn show the timelessness of both text and tune, with a dancelike, rhythmic prelude paired with a triumphant fanfare postlude. + Robert Prizeman’s choral setting of “A New Heaven,” written for the famous English choral ensemble Libera, reminds us of a different kind of waiting and watching… transporting us beautifully to a new heaven right here on earth.

November 27, 2014 + Thanksgiving Day

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:00 a.m.

Prelude: All Things Bright and Beautiful Scott Lamlein, 2014

Opening Hymn 397 Now thank we all our God Nun danket

Sequence Hymn 433 We gather together Kremser

Offertory: Gratitude John Purifoy, 2000

Closing Hymn 290 Come, ye thankful people, come St. George\’s, Windsor

Organ: Nun Danket Alle Gott Robert Edward Smith, 1996

November 23, 2014 + The Last Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir

Organ: Now thank we all our God Russell Schultz-Widmar (1944-)
Prelude on Kremser John Ferguson, 2001

Processional Hymn 290 Come, ye thankful people, come St. George\’s, Windsor

Gloria S-278 William Mathias

Sequence Hymn 291 We plow the fields and scatter Wir pflugen

Offertory Anthem: The Old Hundredth Psalm Tune Ralph Vaughan Williams

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction anthem: S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near

Communion Anthem: Eternal Light Leo Sowerby, 1958

Communion Hymn 433 We gather together Kremser

Closing Hymn 494 Crown him with many crowns Diademata

Organ: Processional William Mathias (1934-1992)

Music Notes: Perhaps it will feel like the longest ever introduction to the Presentation Doxology, but the full setting of Ralph Vaughn Williams “Old Hundredth” is one of the most powerful acts of gratitude in the choral repertoire, originally written for choir, congregation, organ and orchestra for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. + \”We Gather Together\” is a Christian hymn of Dutch origin written in 1597 by Adrianus Valerius as \”Wilt heden nu treden\” to celebrate the Dutch victory over Spanish forces in the Battle of Turnhout. In the United States, it is popularly associated with Thanksgiving Day and is often sung at family meals and at religious services on that day. + Our closing organ work celebrates the music of William Mathias, composer of the Gloria and Sanctus settings in use for the last several months. As the seasons change next Sunday and new music graces our service, we give thanks for the composer of these uplifting pieces.

November 16, 2014 + The Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs

Organ: Trumpet Tune Henry Heron (1727-1789)
Prelude on Cwm Rhondda Julia Calkins, 2002

Processional Hymn 477 All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine Engelberg

Gloria S-278 William Mathias

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

Offertory Anthem: How can I keep from singing arr. Edward Tyler, 1995

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction anthem: S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near

Communion Anthem: Oculi omnium Charles Wood (1866-1926)

Closing Hymn 594 God of grace and God of glory Cwm Rhondda

Organ: Trumpet Tune David N. Johnson (1922-1981)

Music Notes: “God of grace and God of glory” was written in 1930 for the dedication of the famous Riverside Church in New York City by its pastor, Harry Emerson Fosdick. Its petitions reflected the trials of the day, and are still relevant in this age. Originally paired with the familiar tune Regent Square, the Welsh tune we use, Cwm Rhondda, was paired with the hymn by the Methodist Church in 1935 and gained huge popularity. Fosdick, however, disapproved of this, saying, “My views are well known – you Methodists have always been a bunch of wise guys.” Fortunately, such denominational competition is a thing of the distant past.

November 9, 2014 + The Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir

Organ: Voluntary in F Eric Thiman, 1943
Prelude on Land of Rest George Shearing (1919-2011)

Processional Hymn 436 Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates Truro

Gloria S-278 William Mathias

Sequence Hymn 68 Rejoice! Rejoice, believers Llangloffan

Offertory: Let all mortal flesh keep silence Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction anthem: S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near

Communion Anthem: Jesu, Joy of Man\’s Desiring J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Closing Hymn 620 Jerusalem, my happy home Land of Rest

Organ: Toccata in F Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)

Music Notes: 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 Bach Communion anthem, a perennial favorite, is from a cantata (No. 147) written originally in Weimar in 1716 for the fourth Sunday of Advent. Later in Bach\’s career he found it impossible to perform in Leipzig, because that city observed silence for the last three Sundays of Advent. Thus he revised it for the feast of the Visitation, where it was first performed in Leipzig in July, 1723. On many occasions Bach recycled and revised his own music, sometimes as a result of genuine inspiration, sometimes to create meaningful connections between pieces, and sometimes simply to find a way to be sure something as beautiful as \’Jesu, joy of man\’s desiring’ didn’t simply disappear. + Buxtehude’s Toccatas are very different from the French Toccatas, made famous by Widor. Written in a free style in many tiny sections, each passing phrase brings on higher and more intense emotion. Buxtehude was one of Bach’s mentors, and, after travelling to North Germany to study with him, Bach was nearly fired from his own church position for playing music that was too “out there.”

November 1, 2014 + All Saints\’ Sunday

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs

Organ: Adagio in G minor Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751)

Processional Hymn 287 For all the saints Sine Nomine

Gloria S-278 William Mathias

Youth Choir Anthem: I sing a song of the saints of God Michael Bedford, 2004

Sequence Hymn 705 As those of old their first fruits brought Forest Green

Offertory Anthem: Souls of the righteous T. Tertius Noble (1867-1953)

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction anthem: S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near

Communion Music: Holy, holy, holy! arr. Sylvia Wood – Jia-Lin Koh, harp
White\’s Air William Churchill Hammond

Closing Hymn 293 I sing a song of the saints of God Grand Isle

Organ: Psalm 19 Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739)

Music Notes: This morning’s choral music contrasts our Adult Choir’s a capella singing of the emotional setting of this Wisdom text with our Youth Choir’s joyful new tune for an old Episcopal favorite. The original text and tune for “I sing a song of the saints of God” was written in England, but never gained popularity there. Its inclusion in the 1940 Episcopal hymnal brought it to attention in the United States, and attempts to remove it from The Hymnal 1982 prompted a passionate letter-writing campaign. + Albinoni and Marcello were contemporaries during the Italian Baroque period, and Marcello was an aristocrat who wrote music as a hobby. “The heavens declare the glory of God” is the inspiration for this opening transcription of a larger choral work. + The person that served my home church as organist for 60 years arranged “White’s Air” in the mid-20th century. Played at almost all parish funerals, the inscription on the score reads: “Nobody knows where the original tune came from – it must have come from heaven.”

October 26, 2014 + The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir

Organ: Pastorale in F, S. 590 (Sec. 1 & 2) J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Prelude on St. Anne Robert Edward Smith, 1996

Processional Hymn 680 O God, our help in ages past St. Anne

Gloria S-278 William Mathias

Sequence Hymn 707 Take my life, and let it be consecrated Hollingside

Offertory anthem: Christ is our cornerstone Noel Rawsthorne, 1993

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction anthem: S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near

Communion anthem: Lord, make me to know Thy ways William Byrd (1540-1623)

Communion Hymn 314 Humbly I adore Thee Adoro devote

Closing Hymn 609 Where cross the crowded ways of life Gardiner

Organ: Fugue in E-flat Major, S. 552 (“St. Anne”) J. S. Bach

Music Notes: Johann Sebastian Bach is famous for weaving numbers into his works, adding deeper meaning for the theologian and scholar, and amazingly having beautiful music come forth at the same time, or even resulting from, the math. The Fugue in E-flat is loaded with 3s – three sections with distinct themes, representing the strength of God the Father, the youth of God the Son, and the joyful dancing of God the Holy Spirit. There are three distinct meters, yet they all “work together”, suggesting unity of the three parts. It gets much more complicated than that, and I’ll be happy to show you some very daunting formulas that show how Bach literally embedded theological meaning into the notes. It is a coincidence (or is it?) that the Father section echoes the hymn-tune for O God, our help in ages past.

October 19, 2014 + The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs

Organ: Sonata II in C Minor Felix Mendelssohn, 1841
Grave – Andante

Processional Hymn 718 God of our fathers, whose almighty hand National Hymn

Gloria S-278 William Mathias

Anthem: You are my God Bob Chilcott, 2005

Sequence Hymn 591 O God of earth and altar King’s Lynn

Offertory anthem: Bread of heaven, on thee we feed Peter Niedmann, 1996

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction anthem: S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near

Communion Hymn 685 Rock of ages, cleft for me Toplady

Closing Hymn 665 All my hope on God is founded Michael

Organ: Fugue from Sonata II in C Minor Felix Mendelssohn, 1841

Music Notes: Our choirs share two contrasting anthems this morning: You are my God, written by Bob Chilcott of the King’s Singers, combines a haunting melody with a dramatic piano accompaniment. It was composed for AIDS victims in Scotland. + Bread of heaven, an early work by Newington composer Peter Niedmann, prepares us for communion with this timeless prayer: ‘Jesus, may we ever be grafted, rooted, built in thee.’ + After the Mendelssohn organ sonatas were publicly released, Robert Schumann described them as ‘intensely poetical, … what a perfect picture they form!’

October 12, 2014 + The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir, with Douglas Bruce Johnson, guest organist/choirmaster

Organ: Miserere. 3 parts & 4 parts William Byrd

Processional Hymn 645 The King of love my shepherd is St. Columba

Gloria S-278 William Mathias

Sequence Hymn 683 O for a closer walk with God Caithness

Offertory anthem: Oculi omnium Charles Wood (1866-1926)

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction anthem: S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near

Communion anthem: O taste and see Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
with Daaé Ransom, soprano soloist

Communion Hymn 316 This is the hour of banquet and of song Canticum refectionis

Closing Hymn 569 God the omnipotent! Russia

Organ: Tiento XXVII Francisco Fernández Palero

Music notes: Music has a way of drawing people and things together, and connecting what appears to be disparate, drawing us into circles of relationship and connectedness. This morning’s selections illustrate this phenomenon quite well.

In his long career, William Byrd (ca 1540-1623) served in both the courts and the chapels of three English sovereigns. Byrd’s two settings of the plainchant Miserere come down to us in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, a manuscript collection of pieces for keyboard that encompasses music from the long time-span of 1562-1612. The music of the 3-part settings is full of variety, exploiting the technique of rhythmic variation; the 4-part setting builds large phrases in the style that has its origin in the motets of the 15th century masters.

Charles Wood (1866-1926) was an influential Irish composer and folksong collector. Among his pupils were the British musical luminaries Ralph Vaughan Williams and Herbert Howells. His setting of the Latin motet “Oculi omnium” dates to the period after 1889, when he taught as a Fellow at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and exercised the role of Director of Music and Organist there. He was deeply involved in the reflorescence of music at the college, and also composed chamber music and edited collections of Irish folk songs.

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) is regarded as the greatest English composer since Purcell (who died in 1695—a long time in between “greats”). His compositions span the entire breadth of styles and genres, from symphonies and oratorios to folksong collections. He served as editor of the 1906 English Hymnal, with Percy Dearmer. The spirit of the Sussex folksongs he knew and loved permeates the music of the brief motet, “O Taste and See,” which has become a perennial favorite.

Today is Columbus Day, and the postlude offers an aural glimpse of music that the explorer may himself have heard in church, either in his native Italy or in Spain. The music of Francisco Fernández Palero (? – 1597) is found in several important 16th century Spanish and Portuguese manuscript collections, alongside that of Antonio Cabezon. Together they are regarded as the founders of the Spanish school of organ playing, and may have influenced contemporary English keyboard composers (such as Byrd) in developing a widely imitated variation technique. The full title of this Tiento, “sobre Cum sancto spiritu de la missa De beata virgine de Jusquin,” alludes to its own musical heritage as a variation of a movement from a mass by the 15th century Flemish master Josquin des Prez (ca. 1450-1521), whose music influenced composers for more than a century after his death.

October 5, 2014 + The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs

Organ: Partita on In Babilone Michael Burkhardt

Processional Hymn 495 Hail, thou once despised Jesus! In Babilone

Gloria S-278 William Mathias

Sequence Hymn 628 Help us, O Lord, to learn St. Ethelwald

Offertory anthem: I Hear a Voice A-Prayin\’ Houston Bright

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction anthem: S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near

Communion anthem: O nata lux Morten Lauridsen

Closing Hymn 546 Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve Siroe

Organ: Carillon Herbert Murrill

Music Notes: Houston Bright, son of a Methodist minister and long-time professor of music at what is now West Texas A&M University, composed over a hundred choral works, but ‘I Hear a Voice’ is by far his most famous, and one of the few pieces written in this Gospel style. + ‘O nata lux’ is has been described as ‘eerily beautiful’… This motet is a moment in a larger orchestral work of Morten Lauridsen, in which the orchestra just falls away and the choir alone offers a poignant prayer.

September 28, 2014 + The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir

Organ: Aria Flor Peeters

Opening Hymn 435 At the Name of Jesus King’s Weston

Gloria S-278 William Mathias

Sequence Hymn 564 He who would valiant be St. Dunstan\’s

Offertory anthem: Cantate Domino Hans Leo Hassler

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction anthem: S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near

Communion anthem: Set Me as a Seal Rene Clausen

Communion Hymn 309 O Food to pilgrims given O Welt, ich muss dich lassen

Closing Hymn 690 Guide me, O thou great Jehovah Cwm Rhondda

Organ: Postlude on Cwm Rhondda Paul Manz

Music Notes: After the loss of his child, Rene Clausen, composer of \”Set Me As a Seal\” wrote: \’Normally, when I am asked about the \”inspiration\” process, I laugh and deny inspiration in favor of work and effort. In this case, however, I just sat down and wrote the piece. I don\’t know what is wrapped up inside these few, simple notes. I can say actually very little about the piece. Whenever I return to it, however, I am struck by the phrase \”for love is strong as death\”, because when I wrote it my actual feeling was \”for love is stronger than death\”; abiding, all-encompassing love absorbs even the pain of death. If the piece is about anything, it is about the simple but powerful conviction of permanent love that seeks to overflow the boundary between life and death. I can\’t imagine a choir singing it without open hearts.\’

September 21, 2014 + The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Youth and Adult Choirs

Organ: Offertorio in G G.F. Handel
Trio on St. Agnes Richard Blake

Opening Hymn 522 Glorious things of thee are spoken Austria

Gloria S-278 William Mathias

Sequence Hymn 660 O Master, let me walk with thee Maryton

Offertory anthem: O How Amiable Ralph Vaughan Williams

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction anthem: S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near

Communion anthem: Day by Day (Youth Choir) Martin How

Communion Hymn 343 Shepherd of souls St. Agnes

Closing Hymn 541 Come, labor on Ora Labora

Organ: Grand Choeur on Austria Richard Purvis

Music Notes: ‘O How Amiable’ is a staple of Anglican choral music; its pastoral imagery reflection on God’s glory culminate in a statement of one of our most beloved hymns, ‘O God our help in ages past.’ + Richard Purvis was for many years organist/choirmaster at Grace Church, San Francisco, and was adept at playing the organ in both classic and theatrical styles. He clearly focuses on the first word of the text here: ‘Glorious.’

September 14, 2014 + The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Link to: Sermon Podcast

Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir

Organ: Nun danket alle Gott Georg Friedrich Kaufmann
Adagio (Sonata I) Felix Mendelssohn

Opening Hymn 390 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty Lobe denn Herren

Gloria S-278 William Mathias

Sequence Hymn 674 Forgive our sins, as we forgive Detroit

Offertory anthem: Dear Lord and Father of Mankind C. Hubert H. Parry

Sanctus S-128 William Mathias

Fraction anthem: S-166 Agnus Dei Gerald Near

Communion anthem: Draw Us in the Spirit\’s Tether Harold W. Friedell

Closing Hymn 397 Now thank we all our God Nun danket alle Gott

Organ: Postlude on Lobe denn Herren Emma Lou Diemer

Music Notes: The hymn-tune \’Union Seminary\’, named after the institution in New York City, was written by Harold W. Friedell when he was organist of Calvary Church in New York and then set as an anthem after he became organist of St. Bartholomew\’s Church on Park Avenue. The matched Percy Dearmer text ‘Draw us in the Spirit’s tether’ is a powerful message of our common gathering as disciples, offering our lives as sacrifice to God. + Emma Lou Diemer’s setting of the favorite hymn-tune ‘Lobe denn Herren’ is a fantastic act of praise, using rock rhythms in the middle section and ending with a climactic gesture of sound.

September 7, 2014 + The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost