Music for All Saints Sunday: November 4, 2023

All Saints celebrates the baptized people of God, living and dead, who are the body of Christ. As November heralds the dying of the landscape in many northern regions, the readings and liturgy call us to remember all who have died in Christ and whose baptism is complete. At the Lord's table we gather with the faithful of every time and place, trusting that the promises of God will be fulfilled and that all tears will be wiped away in the new Jerusalem. (From Sundays and Seasons)

OPENING VOLUNTARY Shall We Gather at the River

setting, Gordon Young

GATHERING HYMN For All the Saints (Sine nomine) ELW 422

Is it any wonder this hymn is practically REQUIRED for All Saints Day? Its images are quite in line with the vision in the first reading. (Interestingly, this a day when the first reading doesn't come from the Hebrew Scriptures, but from the book of Revelation.) The text gives us an image of the saints at rest, but also of their rising in glory - a reflection of the commendation in our funeral service.

Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive them into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of all the saints in light.

To put it succinctly, may they rest in peace and rise in glory.

HYMN OF THE DAY Sing with All the Saints in Glory (Hymn to Joy)

This hymn appears in ELW with a different tune. Today I elected to sing it with Hymn to Joy as it appears in the United Methodist hymnal.

white azaleas blooming at St. Mark's in 2021

MUSICAL OFFERING Blessed Paul Weber

The text is drawn from today's gospel reading. 
The term melisma describes a compositional device of singing several notes over a single syllable. In this case, Weber highlights the word "blessed" by creating a gently turning melody, evoking an ethereal quality that we often associate with heaven.

COMMUNION HYMN Behold the Host Arrayed in White
(Den store hvide flok) ELW 425

SENDING HYMN Oh, When the Saints Go Marching In ACS 950

This beloved spiritual has been part of the musical fabric of the American civil rights movement, funerals, and popular culture since the early twentieth century. It comes out of the oral tradition of African American song where tune, harmony, and text are shared an adapted from one community to another. The text presented here is one of many variants in widespread use, and the harmony is but one of numerous possibilities. (From Sundays and Seasons)

window at Christ Lutheran Church in Bexley, OH