Music for 2016.03.20 Palm-Passion

FirstLight
Gathering
Palm Procession (narthex)

Opening
All glory, laud, and honor (4/4 time, B-flat Major, drumming)

Confession
Give me a clean heart
Take, O take me as I am

Offertory
Revelation song

Closing
To my precious Lord (GTG 704)

11AM
Hymns
196, All glory, laud, and honor (VALET WILL ICH DIR GEBEN)
Hymn setting by Trenton Durham,
written for his marriage to Brooke Alexander, 3 April 2016
704, To my precious savior (TO MY PRECIOUS SAVIOR)
197, Hosanna, loud hosanna (ELLACOMBE)

Confession/Praise Response
Call to confession: Give me a clean heart
Response after confession: 698, Take, O take me as I am

Doxology HATTON
Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Instrumental/Choral Music
Prelude:  JS Bach, Prelude in F Minor
Offertory: Edwin T Childs, My song is love unknown
A setting of a poem by Samuel Crossman (1664); follow the text at GTG 209
Postlude: JS Bach, Fugue in F Minor

Music for 2/28/2016

FirstLight
Gathering
Turn my heart

Opening
Made me glad

Confession
Give me a clean heart
Take, O take me as I am

Prayers
There is a balm in Gilead

Offertory
Arms open wide

Closing
There is a longing in our hearts

11AM
Hymns
307, God of Grace and God of Glory (CWM RHONDDA)
847, Our Hope, Our Life (O WALY WALY)
372, O For a World (AZMON)

Confession/Praise Response
Give me a clean heart
698, Take, O take me as I am

Prayers
792, There is a balm in Gilead (THERE IS A BALM)

Doxology HATTON
Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Instrumental Music
Prelude:  Gilbert Martin, There is a balm
Offertory:  Craig Curry, I heard the voice of Jesus say
Postlude: John Stanley, Voluntary in D Minor

Worship Symposium (Calvin Institute)

I went to the Calvin Institute’s worship symposium last week as part of my continuing education this year. It was a very good event and I found much to think about and felt gratified about what we have going on at BMPCNC while also perceiving areas we can grow.  Here’s a very brief summary and review

Thursday

Morning worship Reggie Smith preaching, music by Hope College musicians (band with a young organist on the hall’s pipe organ added to the mix! Awesome! All hail Christ was probably my favorite song from the event)

Seminar: Wisdom for leading through changes in worship in diverse communities (experiences with Calvin Institute grants)

Seminar: Worship in times of tension (panel discussion)

Vesper Service: Were you there (Biblical drama led by students from Northwestern College under the direction of Jeff Barker (Donna Marie Todd, a Biblical story-teller who worships with us, knows Jeff.)

Evening worship: Mary Hulst (chaplain at Calvin College) preaching and students from Calvin College's LOFT team (the bass player was my hero for the hour, giving everything he had in his performance)

Friday

Morning worship: Frank A Thomas, preaching, Rawn Harbor and Michael Burkhardt accompanying

Plenary Session: Barbara J. Newman Universal design for worship: shaping worship for people of all abilities (a video from First Church Dyer, Indiana which we saw Thursday morning was used again in this session, it consists of various members of their congregation of all ages and abilities saying the Apostles' Creed: very moving)

Seminar: Psalms from the Soul: Rawn Harbor used the group to sing through brand new settings of the psalms to get an idea of how well they “worked” in real life. He also spoke about his experience writing psalm-settings within the context of the Roman Catholic church

Seminar: Ron and Debra Rienstra. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue (drawing on various resources, old, new, global, indigenous to create authentic worship)

Seminar: Marking Time; dressing the church for the liturgical year (Deborah Sokolove, on the faculty of my alma mater, Westley Theological Seminary) I presented our model for the Advent Wreath at our FirstLight services in 2015 and 2014, which seemed well-received by the participants.

Vespers: Sandra McCracken and students from Hope College

Festival of Song and Scripture (gospel music from a variety of musicians and churches)

Saturday

Morning worship: Richard Mouw preaching musicians from East End Fellowship, Richmond, VA

Plenary session: L Gregory Jones on “traditioned innovation,” co-presented with an ad hoc jazz ensemble exploring vividly the notion of spontaneously generated expressions of faith and theology unique but grounded in our rich theological heritage

Seminar: Projection practices Becky Steel Halstead creative and tasteful methods for developing the Sunday worship projection

Seminar: From the inside out: guiding adolescents in worship leadership Eric Mathis (we do this a lot already and I wanted to see if we were doing it according to anyone else's model) I felt like what we do with youth leadership held its own in the critical light of “best practices”

Seminar: Revitalized worship spaces: architecture of renewal (we did nothing but look at pictures of some very creative spatial reconfigurations around the country) It was wonderful!

Closing Worship: Anne Zaki preaching. The end of the service and the blessing rite, in many languages and including a simple sending song from China was quite stirring.

Music for 02072016

FirstLight

Gathering

            Come into God’s presence (unaccompanied)

            Come, now is the time to worship

Opening

            Come and rejoice

Confession

            Jubilate, everybody

Offertory

            Praise his holy name

Closing

            You are holy, you are whole

 

This Sunday we are excited to welcome the Asheville Youth Choir to sing with us at the 11am service.

11AM

Hymns

            267, Come, Christians, join to sing (SPANISH HYMN)

            no middle hymn

            274, You, Lord, are both lamb and shepherd (PICARDY)

Confession/Praise Response WESTMINSTER ABBEY

Laud and honor to the Father,

Laud and honor to the Son,

Laud and honor to the Spirit,

Ever three and ever one:

One in might and one in glory, while unending ages run.

Anthem (at the readings)

            Cesar Franck, Psalm 150

Doxology LASST UNS ERFREUEN

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise God all creatures here below;

Alleluia, alleluia!

Praise God above ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, alleluia!

Benediction Response

            John Rutter, For the beauty of the earth

Instrumental Music

            Prelude:  Arr. Koerts, Creation Sings

            Offertory:  Arr. Aspass, Oba Se Je (Here comes the King)

            Postlude: Theodore Dubois, Toccata

 

The Asheville Youth Choir is a community choir offering the opportunity for

teenagers to come together to enjoy the challenge and friendship of creating

beautiful music, thereby making a positive impact in our community and

beyond. It is sponsored by the Academy for the Arts (AFTA )at First Baptist

Church and is directed by Clark Sorrells, AFTA faculty member and Robert

Waller, Arts Education Coordinator for Buncombe County Schools.

Music for 2016.01.17

Our month-long mission season begins this week...

FirstLight
Gathering
Open our eyes (2086)

Opening
We fall down with
Holy, holy, holy (NICEA)

Confession
He has made me glad

Offertory
Give me your eyes

Closing
Did you feel the mountains tremble (in A)

11AM
Hymns
396, Brethren, we have met to worship (HOLY MANNA)
154, Jesus entered Egypt (KING’S WESTON)

Confession/Praise Response
STF 2270, He has made me glad (MADE ME GLAD)

Doxology OLD HUNDREDTH

Instrumental Music
Prelude:  Arr Don Wyrtzen, Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Offertory:  K. Lee Scott, Servants of Peace
Text adapted from the Prayer of St Francis:
Jesus, our Lord, may we not seek
to be consoled, but to console,
nor look to understanding hearts,
but look for hearts to understand.

May we not look for love's return,
but seek to love unselfishly.
For in our giving we receive,
and in forgiving are forgiv'n.
Postlude: Buxtehude, Prelude and Fugue in G

Advent wreath at FirstLight

We did a different form of advent wreath again this year. Similar to 2014 we asked families to study the readings for a given Sunday and then find and/or make things from around their home to visually convey elements of the text. It was well-received last year, but I was prepared to do something different in 2015. However, I heard from several folks that they really liked this element of advent worship, and asked that we do it again.

Things were a little tricky this year because we have begun following the narrative lectionary instead of the revised common lectionary. There are fewer readings to work with and the readings presented didn't cover familiar, traditional advents themes.  I provided this year's families with the appointed reading for each week, but supplemented it with complimentary readings for the same date from the RCL. Where the NL had an Old Testament reading, I provided a psalm, gospel and epistle reading. When the NL switched to a gospel reading, I provided readings from the OT, psalm and epistle. Most families didn't need all that, but they had it as a reference. Each family brought a candle from home which remained throughout the season. They took a few moments to describe what they brought for their installation (and the relevant Bible verse(s), lit their candle and said a short prayer. Here are some pictures.

 

Legos are always a popular route for expressing the Bible story!

 

This kid made his own "grass withers" and "highway for our God" visuals!

 

A trumpet and some finger cymbals for the "restoration of true worship"

Yes, a leaf-blower, because, "prepare ye the way of the Lord."

Music for 2015.12.13

FirstLight
Gathering
Famous one

Opening
Forever

Confession/Praise Response
Canticle of the turning

Offertory
Christ in me arise

Closing
Lo, how a rose e’er blooming

11AM
Hymns
82, Come, thou long-expected Jesus (HYFRYDOL)
86, The people who walked in darkness (ISAIAH 9)
129, Lo how a rose e’er blooming (ES IST EIN ROS)

Confession/Praise Response
Canticle of the turning (STAR OF THE COUNTY DOWN)

Doxology VENI EMMANUEL
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God, all creatures here below.
Praise God above, ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Instrumental Music
Prelude:  Hermann Schroeder, Creator of the stars of night
Offertory: Anna Laura Page, Creation will be at peace
Justin Lance, music scholar, soloist
Postlude:  Louis Couperin, Offertoire, from Mass for the Convents