Sunday, September 4th, 2016
Rite II, 16th Sunday after Pentecost
Themes from the Readings: (Readings may change) Jeremiah: Repent and get those around you to repent or be destroyed; Lord you search me and you know me; Paul’s brief letter urges Philemon to treat Onesimus, once a bond-servant, as a brother; take up your cross and follow Jesus.
Sermon Title: “Dreaming in Jail”
Preacher/Sermon on: Genesis 40:1-20
Other Themes: Labor Day
Prelude: Prelude on “Lord of all hopefulness”(Slane), by: Healey Willan
Processional Hymn: 391 Before the Lord’s eternal throne (Winchester New)
Gloria: S280, Powell
First Reading: Genesis 40:1-20
Psalm: Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17 Gregorian Chant Psalter, page 295
Sung by the Choir.
1. LORD, you have searched me out and known me;*
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
2. You trace my journeys and my resting-places*
and are acquainted with all my ways.
3. Indeed, there is not a word on my lips,*
but you, O Lord, know it altogether.
4. You press upon me behind and before*
and lay your hand upon me.
5. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;*
it is so high that I cannot attain to it.
12. Darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day;*
darkness and light to you are both alike.
13. I will thank you because I am marvelously mae;*
your works are wonderful, and I know it well.
14. My body was not hidden from you,*
while I was being made in secret
and woven in the depths of the earth.
15. Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb;
all of them were written in your book;*
they were fashioned day by day,
when as yet there was none of them.
16. How deep I find your thoughts, O God!*
How great is the sum of them!
17. If I were to count them, they would be more
in number than the sand;*
to count them all, my life span would need to be like yours.
Second Reading: Philemon 1-21
Before the Gospel: 675 Take up your cross, the Savior said, stanzas 1-3 (Bourbon)
Gospel: Luke 14:25-33
After the Gospel: 675 Take up your cross, the Savior said, stanzas 4-5 (Bourbon)
Offertory Anthem: Followers of the Lamb, by: Philip Dietterich
Choir: O brethren ain’t you happy,
O brethren ain’t you happy,
O brethren ain’t you happy, ye followers of the Lamb.
Sing on, dance on, followers of Emmanuel,
Sing on, dance on, ye followers of the Lamb.
O sisters…
O I’m glad I am a Christian,
I’m glad I am a Christian,
I’m glad I am a Christian, ye followers of the Lamb.
O I mean to be obedient,
I mean to be obedient,
I mean to be obedient, ye followers of the Lamb.
-Shaker text and tune
Doxology: Hymn 380, stanza 3
Holy: S125, Proulx
Communion Anthem: Lord, Thou Hast Searched Me, arranged by: Alice Parker Tenors and Sopranos
Choir: Lord, Thou hast searched me and dost know
Where’er I rest, where’er I go;
Thou knowest all that I have planned,
And all my ways are in Thy hand.
My words from Thee I cannot hide,
I feel Thy power on every side;
O wondrous knowledge, awful might,
Unfathomed depth, unmeasured height.
Where can I go apart from Thee,
Or whither from Thy presence flee?
In Heav’n? It is Thy dwelling fair;
In death’s abode? Lo, Thou art there.
If I the wings of morning take,
And far away my dwelling make,
The hand that leadeth me is Thine,
And my support Thy power divine.
If deepest darkness cover me,
The darkness hideth not from Thee;
To Thee both night and day are bright,
The darkness shineth as the light.
-Words from the 1912 Psalter hymnal. Based on Psalm 139.
Communion Meditation: Praise the Lord through every nation (from 30 Short Chorale Preludes, Opus 135a), by: Max Reger (1873-1916)
Communion Hymn: 482 Lord of all hopefulness (Slane)
Recessional Hymn: 484 Praise the Lord through every nation (Wachet Auf)
Postlude: Praise the Lord through every nation (from Op. 78), by: Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933)
Music Notes
by: Ashley Sosis
Philip R. Dietterich described his arrangement of Followers of the Lamb as, “a vital, vibrant and boisterous musical expression of praise.” If nothing else, it is probably the only time you’ve ever heard the word “ain’t” sung in church. Followers of the Lamb is a Shaker song that was first noted in 1847 in the manuscript hymnal of Clarissa Jacobs, New Lebanon, New York. It was written to be sung while dancing, like the famous Shaker song, “Simple Gifts”. Unfortunately, our billowing choir robes hinder us from dancing vigorously during church.
So many celebrated composers and arrangers of choral music are no longer with us, and of those, a good portion did not see acclaim during their lifetime. Alice Parker, the arranger of our Communion Anthem, is not one of those unfortunate ones. If you have ever sung in a choir, chances are you have a favorite Alice Parker arrangement stuck in your head right now (mine is “I Got Shoes”). At 90, she’s still doing concerts and community sings all around the country. The choir enjoyed rehearsing her arrangement of, “Lord, Thou Hast Searched Me,” a unison melody set with gently shifting rhythmic emphasis.