March 15th, 2015

Rite I, Fourth Sunday in Lent

Themes from the Readings: Redemption of the Penitent, God so loved the world…,

Prelude: Intermezzo founded upon an Irish Air, by: C. V. Stanford

Processional Hymn: 482 Lord of all hopefulness

Trisagion, S103, Archangelsky

First Reading: Numbers 21:4-9

Psalm: Psalm 107: 1-3, 17-22

Second Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10

Before the Gospel: 439 What wondrous love is this, Stanza 1

Gospel: John 3:14-21

After the Gospel: 439 What wondrous love is this, Stanzas 2 and 3

Offertory Anthem: God so loved the world, by: John Stainer

Offertory “God So Loved the World” By: John Stainer (1840-1901)

John 3:16-17

Choir: God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoso believeth in Him shall 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 might be saved. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoso believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

Doxology: Hymn 380, stanza 3

Holy: S114, Willan

Lamb of God: S158, Willan

Communion Anthem: Cross of Jesus, cross of sorrow, by: John Stainer

Communion Meditation: What Wondrous Love is This, by: Craig Phillips

Communion Hymn: 488 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart

Recessional Hymn: 470 There’s A Wideness in God’s Mercy

Postlude: Wondrous Love, by: Samuel Barber

Music Notes

By: Ashley Sosis

Every now and then, the choir will sing a hymn out of our 1982 hymnal as an a cappella SATB choral anthem. This practice allows us to teach the congregation a hymn that we know you do not know but we feel is worth learning. As an added bonus, it frees up rehearsal time when we are in the midst of a heavy season. Although this is certainly the case today with our Communion Anthem, “Cross of Jesus, Cross of Sorrow”, hymn number 160 in the Hymnal 1982, we are presenting this as a pairing with the offertory anthem, “God So Loved the World” which are both movements from John Stainer’s 1887 Lenten cantata The Crucifixion.

“God So Loved the World” was written as a choir or quartet piece, but “Cross of Jesus, Cross of Sorrow” was written to be sung by the congregation or concert audience. A review of the premier on February 24^th, 1887 (Ash Wednesday) The Musical Times reported, “the congregation tried valiantly to join the hymns, necessarily picking up the tunes by ear.” As we sing hymn number 160 as an anthem, please feel free to look at the hymn in the hymnal so that you may feel more comfortable with it when we sing it congregationally at another time.

We will sing only the verses printed in the Hymnal 1982, which are actually verses 1,2,3 & 10 of the hymn. Printed below is William J. Sparrow-Simpson’s entire hymn text directly out of the score of The Crucifixion.