Chirst the King Sunday 23 November

We will celebrate Christ the King Sunday on November 23. This particular day is one of only two Sundays in the church year that are not based on the life of Christ or an event in Jesus' life (the other being Trinity Sunday). Christ the King Sunday is the last Sunday of the church year, the last Sunday in the ordinary season that began after Pentecost and the last Sunday before Advent begins.

In his Companion to the Book of Common Worship, Peter C. Bower has this to say about our observance of Christ the King Sunday:

The day centers on the crucified and risen Christ, whom God exalted to rule over the whole universe. The celebration of the lordship of Christ thus looks back to Ascension, Easter and Transfiguration, and points ahead to the appearing in glory of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Christ reigns supreme. Christ rules in peace. Christ's truth judges falsehood. As the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, Christ is the center of the universe, and ruler of history, the judge of all people. In Christ all things began, and in Christ all things will be fulfilled. In the end Christ will triumph over all the forces of evil.

What a powerful statement of faith, as well as a concise summary of the theology implicit in our celebration of this day in the church year!

Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat

What do you think about church

I recall an article sometime ago that researched the general impressions non-church folks had of church. The rather ambiguous question was something like, "what comes to mind when you think of church?" Among the top three answers was something like, "they hate gay people." Also up there was a sense that churches fret over money too much. All of the replies were negatives: "they're against..." "they don't..." You get the idea.

There is a neat article at Church Marketing Sucks that adds another layer: "churches are tax-exempt." The imaginary dialogue goes one, "I don't ever really think about churches." The corollary is, when "they" do think about church, it's negatively.

None of those impressions of church really makes me excited about church, and I suspect that not many members of BMPCNC would claim any of these three as taking pride of place at our congregation. Yet this is the impression that all too many folks have of church. What are we doing about it? The adage, "actions speak louder than words" comes to mind. Is it time for the dramatic, extravagant expression of love of neighbor that will begin to change our public image?

No Youth Rehearsals this Sunday

I'll be away Sunday, so enjoy your afternoon off. Be ready to get back to work soon!

Facebook

I have finally caved and signed on at Facebook. I am thinking of starting a BMPCNC group there. Become my friend at Facebook and I'll add you to the group. You'll get new on church stuff first, even if you're not a part of a music group, or even a member of the church.

Presby Hymnal site

A new site for the Presbyterian hymnal committee and the hymnal project is up and running. Lots of information here. Be sure to poke around and visit often to keep up to date on developments on the committee's work and the hymnal project. Also, Adam Copeland, a member of the committee has a blog; you can keep up with his reflections on the project by checking here in the coming months (and years!). He graduated from St. Olaf in Minnesota and is currently at Columbia Seminary in Decatur. Here's a nice picture of Mel Bringle, chair of the committee.

Worship Music November 9

FirstLight worship will begin with a medley of "Father, I adore you," "Sanctuary" (including a second verse popular among youth), "As the deer," and "More love, more power." We will sing our familiar "Celtic Alleluia" at the confession. Our closing song will be Betty Pulkingham's and Donald Fishel's Easter hymn "Alleluia, give thanks to the risen Lord." Melissa C. will sing one of her own songs at the offering. At the Prophet's retreat last summer each participant shared a piece of music meaningful to them. Melissa shared this song, which she had written, and for which she accompanied herself on guitar. It's a powerful statement of faith and hopefulness. We will use the folksy Avery and Marsh Doxology.

Hymns at 11AM will include "Ye servants of God" (HANOVER); "Today we are all called to be disciples" (KINGSFOLD); and "God whose giving knows no ending" (BEACH SPRING). The choir will sing text by Isaac Watts at the introit and benediction, to the tune ST. THOMAS. Noah Allen will be the guest organist this week. He will be playing Bach's little Prelude and Fugue in C at the prelude; Walther's setting of "O God thou faithful God" at the offering, and at the prelude an improvisation on CORONATION.

Organ Informance

The Western North Carolina Chapter of the American Guild of Organists is bringing Cj Sambach to the area for an "informance" (organ education) event and a concert. The informance will be Friday November 21 at 1:15 PM at St. James Episcopal Church in Hendersonville. Sambach will present a concert on Saturday November 22 at 7PM at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Asheville.



Sambach is nationally known for his captivating, educational and unique explanations of how the pipe organ works. Kids especially will enjoy the Friday afternoon event. Sambach goes into detail about how the organ produces sounds, and the variety of sounds the organ makes.

I hope you will be able to attend. Email me for more details.