Music for 09272015

FirstLight
Gathering
Hold on Jacob

Opening
Love the Lord

Confession/Praise Response
The steadfast love of the Lord (GtG 59)

Offertory
The Potter’s hand

Closing
The summons (STF 2130)

11AM
Hymns
760, Bring Many Names (verses 1-3, 6) (WESTCHASE)
39, Great is Thy Faithfulness (FAITHFULNESS)
726, Will You Come and Follow Me (KELVINGROVE)

Confession/Praise Response
59, The steadfast love of the Lord (refrain)

Doxology OLD HUNDREDTH

Instrumental Music
Prelude: Arr. Lynn Trapp, Pescador de Hombres
A setting of the tune at GTG # 721
Offertory: Randall Stroope, The Call
Postlude: JS Bach, Prelude in A

Music for 092015

FirstLight
Gathering
Father Abraham

Opening
Forever

Confession/Praise Response
Dayenu

Prayer for Illumination
Open your ears, O faithful people

Offertory
Indescribable

Closing
The trees of the field (STF 2279)

11AM
Hymns
10, Sing glory to the name of God (LASST UNS ERFREUEN)
80, You shall go out with joy (THE TREES OF THE FIELD)

Confession/Praise Response
59, refrain, The steadfast love of the Lord (STEADFAST LOVE)

Prayer for Illumination
453, Open your ears, O faithful people (YISRAEL VORAITA)

Doxology
OLD HUNDREDTH

Instrumental Music
Prelude: James Woodman, “…a secret wrapped in smoke and fire…”
From “Meditations on Lasst Uns Erfreuen”
A musical impression of a single phrase of text from our first hymn.
Offertory: Mark L. Williams, O master let me walk with thee
A new tune for the text at GtG#738
Postlude: JS Bach, Little Prelude and Fugue in E Minor

Music for 091315

FirstLight
Gathering
How great is our God

Opening
I could sing of your love

Confession/Praise Response
Jubilate, everybody

Offertory
Beautiful things

Closing
He knows my name

11AM
Hymns
667, When morning gilds the skies (LAUDES DOMINI)
36, For the fruit of all creation (AR HYD Y NOS)
37, Let all things now living (ASH GROVE)

Confession/Praise Response
Thou art giving and forgiving (HYMN TO JOY)

Psalmody
Psalm 19
God’s glory fills the heavens (CREATION)

Doxology (FOREST GREEN)
In gratitude and humble trust

Instrumental Music
    Prelude: Edward Elgar, Andantino
    Offertory: Beethoven, The heavens are telling
    Postlude: Arr. K Lee Scott, Recessional

Music for 090615

FirstLight
Gathering
Be still and know

Opening
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord

Confession/Praise Response
As the deer

Offertory
O for a thousand tongues to sing

Closing
You are my all in all

11AM
Hymns
610, O for a thousand tongues to sing (AZMON)
797, We cannot measure how you heal (YE BANKS AND BRAES)
806, I’ll praise my maker (OLD 113TH)
Introduction by Klaas Jan Mulder

Confession/Praise Response
Halle, halle, hallelujah

Doxology (OLD HUNDREDTH)

Prelude: Klaas Jan Mulder, Fantasy on Psalm 146: I, Moderato
Offertory: Sally Ann Morris, Shall tribulation or distress
A setting of the text and tune at GtG 823, itself a setting of
text adapted from Romans 8.
Postlude: Jan Pieter Sweelinck, Ricercar Brevis in A

Summer art, part 3

We hung the third and last grouping of student artwork this week. We are completing a planned installation of works by children in our congregation. The sermon series is long-past, but we wanted to give all the artists a chance to be seen by a broad cross-section of our worshiping congregation. There for we paced the work out to last through the whole summer, and into the beginning of the school year. Here are the pieces submitted by some of our middle- and high-school students.

Music for August 23, 2015

FirstLight
Gathering Song(s)
Bless the Lord, O my soul (Ten-thousand reasons)

Opening Song
Blessed be your name

Prayer of Praise Response/Confession
Your mercy flows

Offertory
Your grace is enough

Closing Song
Blessed assurance


11AM
Hymns
839, Blessed assurance (ASSURANCE)
757, Today we all are called to be (KINGSFOLD)
761, Called as partners (BEECHER)

Confession
71, Surely it is God who saves me (FIRST SONG)

Doxology (PLEADING SAVIOR)
For the live that you have given,

Instrumental/Organ Music
Prelude: Alec Rowley, Benedictus
“I bring refreshment; I bring ease and calm…”     Christina Rossetti
Offertory:   Arr. Dennis Allen, Come thou fount of every blessing
Postlude: Johann Pachelbel, Toccata in E Minor

Organ tune

To partner with our recent sermon series, relating to questions about our faith from a child's perspective, I used John Leavitt's "Scenes of Childhood" for some of the organ music at our second service. The sermon series addressed questions about our faith that were asked by children in our congregation. The music by Leavitt seemed to me a natural choice to pair with worship during the series. The series concluded today with a sermon related to what heaven is like. I used the final movement from Leavitt's suite for the postlude.

Leavitt in turn used poetry by Robert Louis Stevenson as the inspiration for his music. The composer intended that the poems be read before/after the performance of the music; we simply print excerpts in our printed bulletins. The last piece is called "Pirate Story" drawn from a poem of the same name. The piece begins with a riff on "Sailor's Hornpipe" and concludes with a riff on the Little Prelude in C attributed to JS Bach. Folks were immediately captivated by the music, many of them associating the music with the Popeye the Sailor Man television show from several decades ago. To help put the music in perspective, I tracked down a short summary of the tune.

While this sermon series has been going on, have also utilized art work by children from our congregation in our narthex gallery area. We currently have up work by older elementary children; it was preceded by work by younger elementary children. In mid-August we'll feature work by middle- and high-school students. It's been enjoyable having so much to connect to worship, and to celebrate the earnest questions children have about our faith, and their work in the arts, and music (and poetry) for them.

(After a quick look it seems the music is out of print, else I would put a link to it..)