Music for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost

September 20, 2026

Today we have a guest preacher, the Rev. Emily Harkins. She serves as the Lead Pastor and Founding Developer of a new community of faith, The Dwelling.
She has selected special readings for today. The hymns and other music have been selected to complement them.

OPENING VOLUNTARY Two Settings of "Thaxted" Jeffrey Blersch

These two settings, from a larger partita are a preview of the Hymn of the Day.

GATHERING HYMN Together We Serve
The author of this text, Daniel Charles Damon, is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. He wrote this text for the centennial celebration of First Presbyterian Church in San Anselmo, California. Its main point is that our service to the people around us is an extension of God's love.

HYMN OF THE DAY Let Streams of Living Justice ELW 710

William Whitla wrote this hymn as a response to things that were going on in the world:
1. The protests and subsequent massacre at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China.
2. The situation in Argentina and the plights of the Disappeared.
3. Racial disputes in Ireland and between Palestine and Israel.

Whitla's original version of the hymn included images from these events in his second stanza - a stanza that is not used in ELW and in several other hymnals. For Whitla, this action skips the bad news that leads to the good news in the following verses. I searched for a full version of the hymn, but could not find one.

The tune comes from Gustav Holst's "The Planets." The theme comes from a piece that depicts the planet Jupiter.

MUSICAL OFFERING There's a Wideness in God's Mercy  Brenda Portman

The composer wrote this piece in memory of the husband of one of her choir members. Before serving in Vietnam, he was working to become a concert pianist. Shoulder injuries during the war took that dream away. The piano interludes honor his gift at the piano. The soldiers he worked with were known as the Delta Company - so the piece is in the key of D Major throughout. 

SENDING HYMN Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart ELW 873

I chose this hymn because it has a couple echoes from the gospel reading. It names the "pure in heart" and encourages them to rejoice.

It was written as a processional hymn.  Did you know that in many liturgical churches there is no such thing as a recessional hymn? The reason is because even though we are leaving the worship space, we are still following the cross! In some church bulletins you will see "recessional hymn" but I prefer what many liturgical churches call it - the "retiring procession."

CLOSING VOLUNTARY Vineyard Haven Benjamin M. Culli, Richard W. Dirksen

Vineyard Haven appears in ELW as an option to be sung with the text of Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart. It has a modal character, appearing to be in C minor, but with lots of "accidentals" along the way. It's a grander, more sweeping tune. First, we  hear a short prelude version by Benjamin M. Culli, then Dirksen's version from the hymnal.

Sources
Hymnal Companion - Evangelical Lutheran Worship

Wikipedia
Lead Graphic from SundaysandSeasons.com

Music for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost
Year A, September 13, 2026

OPENING VOLUNTARY Two Settings of "Herzlich tut mich verlangen"
J. Walther (1684-1748), Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)

One of the most beloved Lutheran Chorales, the tune was written by Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612). He was a Lutheran, but he wrote several settings for the Roman Catholic mass and even played and conducted in the Catholic churches of Augsburg, Germany.

The tune is mostly associated with the text "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded." Today, we sing it with "Our Father, We Have Wandered" at the Hymn of the Day.

GATHERING HYMN In Thee Is Gladness ELW 867

Grace Cathedral, San Francisco

The Italian composer Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi (c. 1550-c.1622) included this tune in his balletti - dance rhythms written for vocal, rather than instrumental, music.

Evangelical Lutheran Worship credits Johann Lindemann (1549-1631) with the text, but his authorship has been called into question in recent years. 

Today's second reading says we belong to Jesus, and this hymn boldly claims that Jesus also belongs to us. 

HYMN OF THE DAY Our Father, We Have Wandered ELW 606

Kevin Nichols (1929-2006), a Roman Catholic priest, wrote this text with the parable of the prodigal son in mind. He also intended for it to be sung with this tune.

It also relates to the story that Jesus tells in today's gospel reading. The slave enjoys the mercy offered by his king, but shows no mercy in dealing with a fellow slave. 

The harmonization, by J. S. Bach, is slightly different than what we normally hear because it borrows elements from two of his harmonizations used in the St. Matthew Passion.

MUSICAL OFFERING Out of the Depths Richard Frost
The text of this song comes from Psalm 130, but it closely relates to today's gospel reading by highlighting God's boundless mercy. Instead of a God who holds our sins against us, we find a God who always forgives.

San Diego, California

COMMUNION HYMNS
Bless the Lord, My Soul
Come and Fill Our Hearts
Christ, Our Peace

Each of these hymns (two from the community of Taizé and one from Marty Haugen) are sung prayers. The first one quotes today's psalm. (We sang a metrical setting, so the quote isn't obvious.)

After singing it with the music in hand once or twice, try to set the music down and sing it from memory. This helps you focus on the act of prayer more than the act of reading.

SENDING HYMN God's Work, Our Hands
"The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America held a contest inviting hymnwriters to submit a new hymn for "God's Work. Our Hands" Sunday on September 13, 2019. Wayne Wold wrote the winning hymn, developing the denomination's tagline with other parts of the person God uses, listing concrete ways of manifesting God's presence for the world, confessing God's activity beyond the church's work, and inviting blessing on the church's work on behalf of the gospel." 

(From SundaysandSeasons.com)

 

"God's work. Our hands." is the ELCA's annual day of service . . . It is a blessed opportunity for all our congregations to celebrate who we are as a church, engaging in projects and activities that explore our convictions as Lutherans: that all life in Jesus flows from a living, daring confidence in God's grace. The ELCA is one church, freed in Christ to love and serve our neighbor every day." (from ELCA.org)

CLOSING VOLUNTARY A Trumpet Dialogue   Alfred V. Fedak

Sources:
Evangelical Lutheran Worship Hymnal Companion
Wikipedia
SundaysandSeasons.com (vine graphic)
ELCA.org (God's work. Our hands. graphic

 

Music for Creation in Christ, Year A: September 6, 2025

 Creation in Christ
A New (to us) Observance

Since the seventh century, September 1st has symbolized the day of the creation of the world in the Byzantine tradition and has been the opening feast of its liturgical year (known as the Feast of the Indiction), in parallel with Rosh Hashanah marking the Jewish New Year. Creation in Christ celebrates the ongoing creation of the world in and through Christ, who sustains, unites, and holds all created things: sun and moon, shining stars, sea monsters, creeping things and flying birds — and yes, even human beings. God-in-Christ still takes care of all things and invites us to join in as caretakers of God's good creation. (From Sundays and Season, Augsburg Fortress)

OPENING VOLUNTARY The Ashgrove arr. Dale Wood

The melody of this Welsh folk tune lilts in a way that is simply pleasing to sing. Dale Wood (1934-2003) starts with a straightforward presentation of the melody over open 5ths (perhaps honoring the bagpipes of the Celtic tradition the Welsh came from), but the last verse surprises us with lush harmonies that seem to reflect the lavishness of God's creation. 

GATHERING HYMN Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee ELW 836

When thinking about hymns that celebrate creation, this has to be one of the first ones that comes to mind. The tune is borrowed from Beethoven's ninth symphony and was originally written to carry J. C. F. von Schiller's poem "Ode to Joy." God is our light (see the Prayer of the Day) so our "hearts unfold like flowers" to sing our praise along with the rest of creation.

PSALM 148 Let the Whole Creation Cry ELW 876

I love a good metrical setting of a psalm! A metrical setting is a paraphrase of the psalm text that renders it for singing to a metered hymn tune. The text was written by an Anglican priest while the music was likely written by Jakob Hintze (1622-1695) a German composer who, in addition to holding posts as a church musician, was the court musician to the Elector of Brandenburg.

HYMN OF THE DAY Christ Is the Life ACS 927

Crafted in 1989, "Christ Is the Life" is one of the earliest texts by prolific hymnwriter Susan Palo Cherwien. She was reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship and was affected by Bonhoeffer's statement that "when Christ calls a person, he bids that person to come and die." Also drawing from Romans 6:3-9 and 14:8, the text embodies the essential form of the spiritual journey: from life, to letting go, to transformation, to new life. (From Sundays and Seasons © 2026 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved.)

The first stanza develops the name of this day beautifully: Christ is God's creative word and holds the life, and death, of all creation.

MUSICAL OFFERING All You Works of the Lord John A. Behnke
One of the fun things about going to music conferences is getting to meet composers of the music we sing. And many times I end up bringing their music home with me! Such is the case with this piece.
The text comes from a canticle, The Song of the Three Young Men. It's traditionally sung during the Easter Vigil after the story of Schadrach, Meschach, and Abednego. It shares a common theme with today's psalm.
This choral setting, which calls on all creation to bless the Lord, is fun to sing and play. It makes a delightful musical offering.

The composer, John A.. Behnke and me at the
Sacred Music Workshop in Gainesville, FL

COMMUNION HYMNS
Soul, Adorn Yourself with Gladness ELW 488
God Extends an Invitation ELW 486
My first Association of Lutheran Church Musicians conference was held in Houston in 2007. One of the main events was a hymn festival led by David Cherwien and Mark Sedio. This was the first time I was introduced to the idea of alternating hymns.

Because of the dance quality of these two tunes, they are an easy pair - even though they are far apart in their date of origin and cultural context! We sing stanza one of "Soul, Adorn Yourself," then "God Extends an Invitation." Then we go back to stanza two, alternating a repetition of "God Extends an Invitation" after each stanza - almost as if we're using the second one as a refrain of the first. 

SENDING HYMN Oh, That I Had a Thousand Voices ELW 833
The original version of this hymn had 15 stanzas!
The singer expresses joy and devotion for God, and invites all creation to join along. There is no invitation to the angels to join in, because it looks forward to a day when we join the angel throng to sing an endless chorus of hallelujahs.

CLOSING VOLUNTARY Hymn to Joy setting, Michael Burkhardt
Sometimes I like to bookend a service by reprising an earlier tune. Michael Burkhardt's setting of "Hymn to Joy" is an echo of the Gathering Hymn.

sources:
Hymnal Companion: Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Augsburg Fortress
Hymn Notes for Church Bulletins, Austin C. Lovelace, GIA Publications

Wikipedia
Creation Graphic is from SundaysandSeasons.com