Music for Pentecost: May 23, 2021

OPENING VOLUNTARY O Holy Spirit Enter In (Wie schön leuchtet)

setting, Edwin T. Childs

GATHERING HYMN Come Down, O Love Divine (Down Ampney)

ELW 804

HYMN OF THE DAY O Spirit of Life (O Heiliger Geist) ELW 405

MUSICAL OFFERING Breathe on Me

Aaron David Miller

MUSIC DURING COMMUNION O Day Full of Grace (Den signede dag) setting, Raymond H. Haan

SENDING HYMN God of Tempest, God of Whirlwind (Cwm Rhondda) ELW 400

CLOSING VOLUNTARY Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord (Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott

Music for the Fifth Sunday of Easter: May 2, 2021

OPENING VOLUNTARY Where True Love and Charity Abide (Ubi caritas)

setting, Gerald Near

GATHERING HYMN Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee (Hymn to Joy)

ELW 836

HYMN OF THE DAY Like the Murmur of the Dove's Song (Bridegroom) ELW 403

MUSICAL OFFERING I Am the Vine Allen Pote

MUSIC DURING COMMUNION Now to the Holy Spirit Let Us Pray (Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist) Dietrich Buxtehude

SENDING HYMN Awake, O Sleeper, Rise from Death (St. Anne)

CLOSING VOLUNTARY TBA

Music for the Fourth Sunday of Easter: April 25, 2021

OPENING VOLUNTARY Joyous Spirit

Valerie Stephenson 
St. Mark's Ringers

Some of our ringers at Lutheridge Handbell Weekend
pre-pandemic

GATHERING HYMN I Know That My Redeemer Lives (Duke Street)
ELW 619

PSALM The King of Love My Shepherd Is (St. Columba) ELW 502

A metrical setting of the 23rd psalm.

HYMN OF THE DAY Lord, Who the Night You Were Betrayed (Song 1)

ELW 463

MUSICAL OFFERING Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Roland E. Martin

Festival Choir

Festival Choir 2017

MUSIC DURING THE DISTRIBUTION OF COMMUNION

Thee We Adore, O Blessed Savior (Adoro te devote)
setting, Healey Willan

SENDING HYMN When in Our Music God Is Glorified (Engelberg) 

ELW 851

CLOSING VOLUNTARY Oh, That I Had a Thousand Voices
(O dass ich tausend Zungen hätte)

setting, Jeffrey Blersch

Today's service concludes with the Recognition of Music Ministers in the Church.

Music for the Second Sunday of Easter: April 11, 2021

 

OPENING VOLUNTARY Toccata in A Minor 

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)

GATHERING HYMN Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain (Gaudeamus pariter)

ELW 363

PSALM 133 Miren qué bueno 

ELW 649
The refrain is sung in Spanish and the stanzas in English.

HYMN OF THE DAY Show Me Your Hands, Your Feet, Your Side 

(Twenty-fourth)

This hymn comes from outside of ELW. The text by Sylvia Dunstan (1955-1993) is sung to familiar American tune.

MUSIC DURING THE DISTRIBUTION OF COMMUNION
Three Alleluias (based on Plainchant melodies) 
Charles Callahan (b.1951)

SENDING HYMN That Easter Day with Joy Was Bright (Puer nobis)
ELW 384

CLOSING VOLUNTARY Fugue in C Major (Jig Fugue)

Dietrich Buxtehude (ca. 1639 - 1707)

Music for the Fourth Sunday in Lent

OPENING VOLUNTARY I Want Jesus to Walk With Me
arranged by Dan R. Edwards
St. Mark's Ringers

GATHERING HYMN Praise and Thanks and Adoration (Freu dich sehr) ELW 783

HYMN OF THE DAY Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound (New Britain) ELW 779

MUSICAL OFFERING O Christ, Thou Lamb of God 

setting, Carl Schalk

MUSIC DURING THE DISTRIBUTION OF COMMUNION

Upon the Cross Extended (Innsbruck) setting, Richard Proulx

SENDING HYMN When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (Hamburg)

ELW 803

CLOSING VOLUNTARY To Jesus Christ, Our Sovereign King

setting, Lynn Trapp

Music for the Third Sunday in Lent: March 7, 2021

OPENING VOLUNTARY Solemn Prelude on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

setting, Gerald Near

Thomas Tallis

We usually sing the hymn "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say" to the well-known English folk tune Kingsfold; but Evangelical Lutheran Worship also renders it with a tune that has become popular in recent years - Third Mode Melody by Thomas Tallis (1505 - 1585), the famed English Renaissance composer.

It's probably a matter of opinion (mine) that Kingsfold is easier to sing, but Third Mode Melody has its own beauty - an introspective melody with long notes that allows the singer to feel and hear the lyrics in a way that Kingsfold does not. 

ELW presents this text with both tunes and it is the Tallis tune that appears in the "Lent" section of the hymnal, whereas the other falls under the title of "Healing."

Here is a recording of the first stanza sung to Third Mode.

GATHERING HYMN There in God's Garden (Shades Mountain) ELW 342

HYMN OF THE DAY Lord Christ, When First You Came to Earth
Instead of using the tune Mit Freuden zart as it's presented in ELW, we'll use Kirken den er et gammelt hus. You can read more about why in a previous post here: http://smljax.blogspot.com/search?q=lord+christ+when+first

Pastor Daniel leads "Litany for Lent" as part of our gathering rite.
Music by Carolyn Jennings

MUSICAL OFFERING God of Still Waiting 

Carl P. Daw, text
Alfred V. Fedak, music

MUSIC DURING THE DISTRIBUTION OF COMMUNION

Lamb of God, Pure and Sinless

Beneath the Cross of Jesus

Both settings are by David Cherwien.

SENDING HYMN Lift High the Cross (Crucifer) ELW 660

At the offices of the Florida-Bahamas Synod ELCA in Tampa, Florida

CLOSING VOLUNTARY Prelude and Chorale on "Oh God, My Faithful God"

David P. Dahl / Ahasuerus Fritsch

St. Mark's is holding in-person worship services and we would be happy for you to join us. Read more about our Covid-protocols here: https://stmarksjax.org/covid19.html

Sources:
Evangelical Lutheran Worship
Wikipedia
canva.com

Tallis portrait by Engraving by Niccolò Haym after a portrait by Gerard van der Gucht - The Musical Times (1913) H.W. Gray, New York; Novello, London (https://doi-org.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/10.2307/907708), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=101138568

Music for the Second Sunday in Lent: February 28, 2021

 

OPENING VOLUTARY Jesus Walked this Lonesome Valley with I Want Jesus to Walk with Me

setting, Thomas Keesecker

Today’s service begins and ends with arrangements by Thomas Keesecker – who is no stranger to the music of St. Mark’s. The Festival Choir has sung several his choral anthems.

Lent is a time of deep introspection, as are the spirituals that are represented here. The expressive writing has hints of jazz and lends itself nicely to a time of pre-worship contemplation.

Keesecker has recently retired from church work but continues to compose. He frequently appears in recitals around the country featuring his piano works, readings, and poetry.

GATHERING HYMN In the Cross of Christ I Glory (Rathbun) ELW 324

HYMN OF THE DAY Come, Follow Me, the Savior Spake (Machs mit mir, Gott) ELW 799

The text is by Johann Scheffler (1624-1677) whose father was a Polish nobleman that was forced to leave the country because of his Lutheran beliefs. Scheffler began writing poetry at a young age but became a Roman Catholic in 1653 as his faith and poetry began to lean towards the church’s mystics.

Most of his hymns, including this one, were written while he was still a Lutheran.

MUSICAL OFFERING Cross of Jesus

Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá

Robert Benson

sung by the Festival Choir

William J. Sparrow-Simpson (1869-1952), an Anglican priest from England, originally wrote this text as part of an oratorio by English composer John Stainer. The oratorio, The Crucifixion, contains Stainer’s beloved “God So Loved the World” – a staple of our choral repertoire at St. Mark’s.

Robert Benson has written a new tune that we sing today.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Festival Choir who have been able to sing with us since we “re-opened” in October 2020. I appreciate your dedication to our task of leading the church’s song. So, thank you to Janet, Lynette, Mark, and Ray – and to Pastor Daniel who also joins us when he can.  I look forward to the day when everyone else will be able to join us!

MUSIC DURING THE DISTRIBUTION OF COMMUNION If You But Trust in God to Guide (Wer nur den lieben Gott)

setting, Walter L. Pelz

SENDING HYMN I Want Jesus to Walk with Me (Sojourner) ELW 325

CLOSING VOLUNTARY On My Heart Imprint Your Image with Bless Now, O God, the Journey

Parrot Mountain and Gardens  Pigeon Forge, TN

Sources:
Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship
Wikipedia