Sunday, April 18
O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Sunday, April 18 is the Third Sunday of Easter. Find the readings here.
Dear Friends in Christ,
This week’s worship videos are now available:
Morning Prayer, Rite II
Morning Prayer, Rite II
By the time you read this, I'll be on my way to a week's vacation in Mexico. I'll be the first one to say this isn't the best time for such a thing, but I had it scheduled months before my transition came into view, so off I go. We'll have all of May to celebrate, plan, and say goodbye together — by the end of it, I think most people will have had enough of that sort of thing, and will be ready to move on.
Anyway, if you want to talk with me one-on-one before I go, please take a look at your calendar and email me to set a time. There isn't much on my calendar after I get back, but I'm sure it will fill up quickly.
Please join us for coffee hour at noon:
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83643136004
Meeting ID: 836 4313 6004
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,83643136004# US (Chicago)
+16465588656,,83643136004# US (New York)
Dial by your location
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
Meeting ID: 836 4313 6004
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbPG4poYM1
Here are Mark's music notes:
The opening Voluntary is a setting of Martin Luther’s chorale version of the “Lord’s Prayer.” In good Lutheran fashion a fairly short prayer is turned into a catechism in 9 stanzas on the meaning of the prayer. This was sung weekly in the first centuries of the establishment of the Lutheran Church in the early middle 16th century! Take a deep dive here. Buxtehude elaborates the stern, yet beautiful melody with a very simple accompaniment.
“Come, ye faithful, raise the strain” is one of those great Easter hymns which revels in the seasonal symbols of Resurrection. Music by the famous composer of Light Opera (Gilbert & Sullivan): Arthur Seymour Sullivan, who’s arguably most famous contribution to hymnody is “Onward Christian Soldiers.”
“Children of the Heavenly Father” is a popular Swedish folk hymn. Author Caroline W. Sandell Berg (1832-1903) was the daughter of a Lutheran pastor with whom she was very close. Her prolific hymn writing (650!) was, in part, a reaction to his tragic death by drowning that she witnessed. This is a well known hymn that I grew up with in the Lutheran Church. It is also part of the modern African-American singing tradition and is contained in “Lift Every Voice and Sing II” an official hymnal of TEC, but one which we don't have in the pews.
“That Easter day with joy was bright” is an ancient Latin hymn that explores much of the themes of Easter. The simple tune, mostly marching up and down the scale is very singable and grabbed by Praetorius and made its way into the hymntune use.
The closing Voluntary is based on another Lutheran tune, #205 “Good Christians all, rejoice and sing!” This performance is from last Eastertide. Indeed, several of the hymns were originally recorded months ago, yet had extra unused windows, so they’ve been “updated.” It seems wise to reuse items that were created, that took much effort to produce.
Have you made it this far, and are still awake? I’d be delighted if you might conjure up and write to me several musical things that were especially meaningful or memorable for you during our online worship. And further, if you can, what you’re looking forward to (musically) as we begin to move forward to the “new” normal, return to in person worship. Thank you so much.
Comments