​Many people have a favorite hymn and I am no different. But worship is bigger than what music we like or don't like, what might make us feel good in the moment. So while knowing my favorite hymn may be a nice thing to help you know who I am and what is important to me, it being my favorite is not a good reason to sing it every Sunday or even necessarily all that often. This week is a Sunday where the hymn that happens to be my favorite ties into the other parts of worship. Part of the middle verses even talks about footwashing, which we come to often with Maundy Thursday and the example Jesus sets in John 13. But that isn't the reason it is my favorite. 

This text by Brian Wren is my favorite because it gives us such a picture in such a deep and poetic manner of what God calls us to do in worship . The first and second verses speak to the baggage we bring -- broken trust, chosen wrong, etc. -- and how despite that baggage we are still people who are made in God's likeness and that we come to hear God's call (though that call will nearly always take us out of our comfort zone) and that we come seeking hope for all people. The third and fourth verses speak to our misplaced expectations -- looking for God in the pomp and circumstance of a heavenly throne, but instead finding God is kneeling in front of us, washing our feet. The rest of the fourth and fifth verses speak to the transformation God intends in us and the purpose with which God sends us out into the world. 

God calls us, transforms us, then sends us into the world having been changed by God's call and God's love. It isn't simply about comforting us by leaving us the way we came in. It is about growing together in community through what we learn about God, ourselves, each other, our neighbors (God's definition of neighbor), and what God calls us to do in relation to each of those entities. This growth comes through the sermons we hear, the songs we sing, and the ways we serve in worship and our willingness to let them take us out of our comfort zone and into a place of transformation. 

As you come into worship this and every week, I encourage you to acknowledge the baggage you bring, recognize God's likeness in the community, expect to be transformed rather than entertained, and go into the world ready to serve. Read the text of this hymn in your insert as a reminder and let it transform your perspective. 

Give us your Spirit's liberty
to turn from guilt and dull despair, 
and offer all that faith can do 
while love is making all things new. 
- Brian A. Wren

Marshall

You, who walk each day beside us, sit in power at God's side, 
You, who preach a way that's narrow, have a love that reaches wide. 
You, the everlasting instant; you, who are our pilgrim guide. 
- Sylvia G. Dunstan, ​"You, Lord, Are Both Lamb and Shepherd"
​

I love the phrase that repeats in every verse of Sylvia Dunstan's hymn quoted above: "You, the everlasting instant." If there's anyone who might be able to speak of an everlasting instant, it is Dunstan, considering how many deep and profound hymn texts she wrote which have reached far beyond the short instant of her 38 years on this Earth. 

God exists outside the confines of time, while we experience life teleologically (in an order of events). This idea of experiencing things without the confines of that teleological order has long been a spark for art, music, literature, and drama. In fact my dissertation piece, "Four Movements in Search of a Composer," took its inspiration from the play Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello. In that play, Pirandello explores some ideas that were far ahead of his time. In it, the six Characters don't experience their story in a teleological order and so find it difficult to try to convey that story to the Director. At the same time, Pirandello insinuates that once their story is told the Characters become real, implying that teleological order is necessary to life. Hence when trying to put this idea into music, I took a musical idea and used every part of that idea in different orders, sometimes starting in the middle of the idea and working backwards. 

And yet, Sylvia Dunstan puts this idea of God existing outside of time in a phrase that is simple (yet vast in what it encompasses), that is repeated in each verse: "You, the everlasting instant." May we continue to look beyond our own experience and reflect on these seemingly opposite aspects of God that are both true in the same everlasting instant. 

Marshall

So often with music in the church we think of the title of the text of a hymn, but there is also another name, the name of the tune. Hymn tunes are designed to be interchangeable with different texts.

For example, take the tune ST. LOUIS (which we tend to associate with the text "O Little Town of Bethlehem") and sing the lyrics of "House of the Rising Sun" to it instead -- or sing the text of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" to the tune HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN. And while sometimes a tune was written specifically for a certain text (i.e. "Here I Am, Lord"), there are times when the tune that was originally paired with a text is not the same one that has become traditionally associated with the text. There are also various regional differences. While we here in the United States will usually think of the tune MUELLER for the text "Away in the Manger," people in Great Britain are more likely to assume the tune CRADLE SONG. Interestingly enough, both of those tunes were written by composers in the U.S.

Sometimes the tune name given refers to a place. Last year, I arranged the hymn tune COPELAND for handbells, choir, and organ. (Here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/live/3PA1YbMCkT0?si=k8nhnm8AIRWibQti&t=2642). The hymn tune was written by Michael Corzine, who was the organ professor at Florida State for several decades and his office would have overlooked Copeland St. Hence, the tune name -- it was probably written in that office.

Sometimes it may refer to a person -- ST. LOUIS refers to Lewis Redner, the organist who wrote the tune for "O Little Town of Bethlehem," but he did not want the recognition, hence the change in spelling of Lewis to Louis.

One of our hymns this week is sung to the tune RATHBUN. Ithamar Conkey wrote the tune while an organist at a church in Connecticut. One Sunday it was particularly rainy and none of the choir showed, except one lone soprano. He was so discouraged he left and went home. That afternoon he wrote this tune for the text "In the Cross of Christ I Glory." The lone soprano who showed up that morning was Beriah Rathbun, and so he named the tune after her.

Marshall

​Soul, adorn yourself with gladness, 
Leave the gloomy haunts of sadness, 
come into the daylight's splendor, 
there with joy your praises render. 

This hymn text by Johann Franck has always stuck with me. It is not found in our hymnal but the tune it is paired with, SCHMUCKE DICH has been a staple in the Lutheran church and is paired with several other texts including a text by Joel Lundeen (a relative of our very own Steve Lundeen). Brahms sets this tune with this joyful inner line of sixteenth notes weaving through and around the tune. I think the world we live in can certainly be represented much of the time as the gloomy haunts of sadness. 

Similarly, the sending music is based on another tune much more well known in the Lutheran church, Thine the Amen. The hymn as a whole points to the great wedding banquet in Revelation and how it all is God's and there is much imagery of the joy of this feast throughout. However, it is genuinely a difficult one to spit out all the words in terms of congregational singing. 

So while we are not necessarily singing these wonderful hymns, I hope that knowing their context helps you to think about the images of joy that are woven into the fabric of these tunes and the texts associated with them as you hear them this Sunday. 

Marshall

The first lines of Carl P. Daw, Jr.'s hymn text give us this pattern to growth in faith. Letting go of what had seemed sure, comfortable, expected is the place where growth begins. Faith endures by recognizing our connection to those who have gone before us and holding fast to those roots while enduring change necessary to prepare us for that maturation of faith that comes with reaching out, looking beyond the limits of our minds, stretching them, and learning to live in the wideness of God's mercy with compassion. May we continue to seek growth as we learn through the ways our hymns highlight in different ways what we see in Philippians 3. Thanks be to God for those that have faithfully written hymns that continue to help us learn more about ourselves, God, our neighbors and the ways in which God calls us to live in this world. 

Marshall

God is my breath. God is my body. God is my grace.
God is my hope. God is my loving.
God is my breath. God is my body. God is my strength.
God is my peace. God is my living! 

We are joined again this week by Rev. Kimberly Salico-Diehl who will offer two of her own compositions on this Fifth Sunday in Lent. Her Call to Worship "God Is My Breath" speaks to the embodiment of God in our lives — in our breath, our physical form, our deepest yearnings, the ground of our being. As a complement, Kimberly plays "Exhale" after the benediction — sending us out into the world imbued with God's presence.

The Chancel Choir sings "One Faith, One Hope, One Lord" by Craig Courtney, an anthem praising the varied gifts of the body of Christ working together in community. Kimberly accompanies the choir with staff singer Lucas Jackson conducting.

We are joined in worship by musical artist Flamy Grant as we honor and celebrate our LGBTQ siblings this Transgender Visibility Sunday.

Flamy shares three of her original songs including "I Am Not Ashamed," "Old Religion," and "Good Day" with us. She also offers an intimate arrangement of the old Irish hymn "Be Thou My Vision" and a cover of the 1997 hit "Testify to Love" by Christian vocal quartet Avalon. Communal singing from the LGBTQ hymnal "Songs for the Holy Other" will further unite us in support and recognition of God's love for all of creation — the Holy Others. 

A new day. Living in blessed community. One body, many parts.

The Plymouth Ringers celebrate the dawning of a new spring with the beloved Natalie Sleeth composition "Hymn of Promise" arranged by Martha Thompson. The text, also written by the composer, speaks to God's promise of life emerging out of seemingly impossible circumstances utilizing the imagery of nature. Verse one beautifully expresses this notion:

In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
in cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

The Chancel Choir offers a reinterpretation of the well-known song of peace and community "Let There Be Peace on Earth" by Rollo Dilworth. Originally composed by Sy Miller and Jill Jackson-Miller in 1955, the song was inspired by Jackson-Miller's overcoming of personal hardship by the revelation of "the life-saving joy of God's peace and unconditional love." The lyrics offer a simple and potentially world-changing message for humanity: "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me."

The service concludes with a toccata on "How Firm a Foundation," an early American hymn with a text written by an anonymous author simply referred to as "K" in an 18th century hymnbook by English Baptist John Rippon. This exciting setting by Craig Phillips treats the hymn tune to several  variations before settling back into the rhythmic toccata figure that opens the work. 

Songs of the Spirit and the Christ-Light this weekend guide us on our Lenten wilderness trek. One community of fellow travelers — many gifts to share.

Violinist Harmony Tucker helps lead you into a worshipful space of centering and prayerful meditation during the Prelude with the "Adagio" from Handel's "Sonata No. 3 in F Major." Staff Singer Lucas Jackson introduces our Lenten thematic song "Broken Body of Christ" composed by Gary and Lenora Rand of The Many, a musical collective associated with the Convergence Music Project whose mission is to promote a just, generous and progressive Christianity. The Chancel Choir invites the congregation to join them for the Offertory Hymn-Anthem "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," a setting by Alfred Fedak based on the classic 19th century Lenten hymn tune "Rockingham." The organ closes worship with a stately setting by Paul Manz of the Henry Purcell hymn tune "Westminster Abbey," associated with the text "Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation."  

A blend of traditional and Celtic rock sounds will be shared at the early service this St. Paddy's Day morning. "Fiddler" Harmony Tucker and guitarist Alan Skowron join our merry band of players in the chancel.

At the later service, the Chancel Choir sings the traditional Irish hymn "Be Thou My Vision" in a setting by James Biery with violinist Harmony Tucker and cellist Aaron Dunigan-AtLee. You too can join us on this pick-up choir Sunday! Rehearsal begins at 10:10 a.m.

Flutist Aaron McGrew opens worship in a lovely duet with organ in "Celtic Hymn: The Sound of Love" by Hans-André Stamm. To commemorate J.S. Bach's 339th birthday on March 21, the organ offers "Fantasia: Bach in Ireland" in a melding of Baroque and Celtic sensibilities by Mr. Stamm, also a renowned interpreter of Bach's organ works. 

Bheith linn (join us)!

At 9:00 a.m., we are joined by guitarist/singer Bill DeMarco and bassist Con Woodall with songs by Kieran Kane, Jim Brickman, and more.

At 11:00 a.m., the Chancel Choir sings "O Love" in a gorgeous contemporary setting of the 19th century hymn text by Elaine Hagenberg. From the organ, two American tunes are creatively reinterpreted in a jazz setting of "In Christ There Is No East or West" by James Biery and the 18th century canon "When Jesus Wept" by David Schelat.

This Sunday morning, we experience songs and music reminding us of the ever-present Spirit in our own personal wilderness. 

Brooklyn McBride and Noah Kayl offer "Not in a Hurry" by Will Reagan at both services. The organ presents the sublime "My Jesus, Who Has Called Me" at 11:00 a.m. from Brahms' "Eleven Chorale Preludes," a foreshadowing of the composer's own death in 1897 similar to Jesus's allusions in the morning gospel reading. Also during the late morning service, the Chancel Choir sings the Shaker tune "Followers of the Lamb" in a setting by Robert Wetzler during communion. Finally, the organ sends you out assuredly into the world in a grand setting of the hymn tune "Westminster Abbey" (Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation) by Paul Manz. 

Eclectic songs of faith, devotion, and bountiful grace will be offered during the 9:00 a.m. service this week from the Celtic and American folk traditions and George Harrison.

From Ned Rorem's "A Quaker Reader," the organ nurtures a space for meditation and prayer before the 11:00 a.m. worship hour in "There is a spirit that delights to do no evil..." The Chancel Choir sings the traditional Shaker folk hymn "Followers of the Lamb" in a lively setting by Robert Wetzler. Lastly, the organ offers its own closing hymn in "Choral Song" by 19th century organist Samuel Sebastian Wesley, grandson of renowned hymn writer Charles Wesley. 

At 9:00 a.m., we are joined by a string quartet to usher in the Lenten season. A message of guidance and grace informs the selections offered by violinist Harmony Tucker, violist Mateo Dunigan-AtLee, cellist Aaron Dunigan-AtLee, and double bassist Ovella Huddleston.

At 11:00 a.m., the Chancel Choir with the Plymouth Ringers offer a beautifully contemplative setting of the Southern Harmony tune "Wondrous Love" by Steve Pilkington. Consider joining us for this Third Sunday "Pick-Up Choir" opportunity! Rehearsal at 10:10 a.m. From the organ comes two hymn tune settings of "Just As I Am" and "If You But Trust in God to Guide You" by Paul Rutz and Johann Sebastian Bach, respectively.