We the Lord's People

We the Lord’s people

In each generation throughout history God has raised up poets and musicians who have given us hymns reflective of our time and place.  Hymnody throughout the ages has helped us sing the whole story of our faith.  Even if you don’t fancy yourself a singer, I encourage you to pick up the hymnal and follow along with the texts and tunes we sing, for it could be a step to a deeper relationship with Christ.

Sunday’s communion hymn is a concise statement of purpose for why we gather each Sunday for worship.  It’s text, written by Canon John Edward Bowers, reflects an often-used teaching device in the 1960’s and 1970’s in the Church of England: “The Lord’s People in the Lord’s House on the Lord’s Day for the Lord’s Service.”  The tune (one of my favorites) was written by the former long-time organist at the National Cathedral, Richard Wayne Dirksen.  Dirksen changed the rhythm to his tune INISFREE FARM (“Christ mighty Savior” – one of my top five) and named it DECATUR PLACE, after the street in Northwest Washington D.C. where Dirksen’s predecessor, Paul Callaway, lived.

This hymn is a great reminder of the importance of worship and that it is the absolute center of what we do. The primary reason for our community.  In times when I find it much easier to put other things before my own and my children’s faith and worship practices, I appreciate such hymns that help me refocus on that which is important to the Christian way of life.

We sing to be transformed and because we are transformed people in Christ.  As you sing or read this text, I hope you not only find it a reminder of the centrality and importance of our worship, but truly transformational. I get excited just reading it, let alone singing it.  The beautiful word pairings, the unfolding theology, the tune which beautifully carries the weight of text…this is good and exciting stuff, my friends!  Perhaps your reaction won’t be the same as mine, but may this hymn remind you of the beauty of our Christian faith and worship, the excitement of doing God’s work together, and the centrality of God’s all-embracing love and the sacraments we share together in our worship.  God is indeed good! How can we not come together and give praise?

We the Lord’s people, 
heart and voice uniting,
praise him who called us 
out of sin and darkness
into his own light, 
that he might anoint us
a royal priesthood.

This is the Lord’s house, 
home of all his people,
school for the faithful, 
refuge for the sinner,
rest for the pilgrim, 
haven for the weary;
all find a welcome.

This is the Lord’s day, 
day of God’s own making,
day of creation, 
day of resurrection,
day of the Spirit, 
sign of heaven’s banquet,
day for rejoicing.

In the Lord’s service 
bread and wine are offered,
that Christ may take them, 
bless them, break and give them
to all his people, 
his own life imparting,
food everlasting.

Soli Deo Gloria!  

Dr. Ben Keseley, Minister of Music

• Text reprinted with permission. Onelicense.net A-717214

Evening rites to offer...holy hymns to praise you

“Evening rites to offer, joyfully chanting holy hymns to praise you” (Hymn 34)

As a child, I loved going to church in evening.  Somehow it was different than going in the morning.  Maybe it was because I got to stay up a bit later, or maybe it was the interplay of the evening light and shadow in the nave.  Maybe it was the music that was different. Whatever it was, some of my most vivid memories of worship as a child are of evening liturgies. 

I recently read an article that suggested several reasons why it was important to bring your children (and grandchildren) to worship on Christmas Eve.  One of the main reasons given was that it was simply important to go to church in the evening and other times during the week. (The second, incidentally, was the powerful experience of singing our hymns of faith together with our children in worship.)  The article went on to explain how it is good to attend worship on different days and times, because worship is fundamental to our faith. Worshipping at other times outside Sunday reminds us and teaches our children that our faith isn’t something we practice a couple hours on Sunday morning but a way of life and being in the world, 24-7.  For when we worship together more, our faith and community is strengthened as we are reminded of the hope of the Gospel in the midst of our crazy world.

So, why did I really like those evening rites so well – and value even more today?  All the above are certainly true. I know that the dance of light and shadow I experience helps to illumine the transcendent nature of these evening rites and helps to focus my attention on the Holy.  I know that the music offered in the evening is often prophetic and deep, and able to carry the weight of important theological truths in a manner that helps us encounter God and be transformed. I also know that many of our evening rites hold special significance because they mark important days in our liturgical year.  The liturgies of Ash Wednesday and Holy Week, and even those of the daily office, expose us to rich liturgical actions that are integral to our Christian life. That helps round out our salvation story and fill in the gaps between our Sunday celebrations. We miss out on a lot when we aren’t there.  

Yes, here come the opportunities… We have the gift to be able to attend not one but two evening rites over the next few weeks: Evensong on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 6:30 pm, and our evening Ash Wednesday service on Feb. 26 at 7:30 pm.  There are more opportunities in the coming months, too, both Evensongs and rich liturgies of Holy Week.  

I encourage you to come experience worship at a different day and time.  Do bring your children and grandchildren, as there is as much for them as there is for you, if not more.  

In addition to coming on Sunday, come worship together in community as the shadows of night fall around us and the busy world is hushed.  Come and pray together in community as we prepare and begin the holy journey of Lent together. Let the dance of light and shadow focus your hearts and mind on Jesus Christ.

Therefore we come now evening rights to offer,Joyfully chanting holy hymns to praise You,With all creation joining hearts and voices Singing Your glory. – Hymn 34, Hymnal 1982

Soli Deo Gloria,

Dr. Ben Keseley, Minister of Music

Oh no! Ben gave us music last Sunday that we don’t know...

One of the things I teach future priests in my liturgical music class at VTS is the rule of 25-50-25.  It is a simple guide for the selection of music that states over the course of a year your music choices should reflect 25% “golden oldies,” 50% established repertoire of the parish, and 25% new music.  This rule is a helpful guide which keeps us anchored in our tradition, in the familiar, yet allows us to continually grow as we are created to do. It ensures we have familiar music to sing in worship and gives us space to learn new things.

The parts of our service that remains the same from Sunday to Sunday in our worship is known as the Mass Ordinary: Kyrie, Gloria, Creed, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.  While the texts of the Ordinaries remain constant, we do change their musical settings each liturgical season so that we can hear these important texts afresh. Our selection of music for the ordinaries follows the 25-50-25 rule, too. During Epiphanytide, a time centered in Jesus’ teaching, it seems appropriate that we learn (or relearn) a new setting of the Gloria.

The Gloria, short for Gloria in excelsis, dates at least to the fourth century and has been used in eucharistic liturgy since the twelfth century.  Its text is the ancient ecumenical hymn of praise, the songs of the angels, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.”  The Gloria is usually omitted from our liturgy during penitential seasons such as Advent and Lent and on occasion we use other canticles or hymns of praise in its place.

Our new (to some of us) Gloria for Epiphanytide was written in 1976 for the Church of England by the Welsh composer William Mathais.  Among many things, Mathais was a house composer for Oxford University Press and composed many works for royal occasions, including the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981.

I encourage you to give singing our new Gloria a try (and our Presentation hymn, too).  It is ok to make mistakes, la-la-la a long, or hum your way through at first as you smile and think uncharitable thoughts towards your organist.  The important thing is to give it a try each week. Hopefully, as we come to the last weeks of this season, you will find Mathais’ Gloria an exuberant and exciting expression of praise that enables you to hear the words of the angels in a new way.  And, perhaps, you will find new meaning in those words we know so well.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Ben Keseley, Minister of Music

Two Great Advent Hymns

I love Advent and I love Advent hymnody even more. Often our Advent hymns get overlooked as we rush to hear or sing our beloved Christmas carols and we miss out on the depth and wonder – the mystery - these Advent gems offer us. This Sunday we get to sing two of what I think are probably everyone’s favorite Advent hymns. Here is a little about them.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel finds it origins in the medieval ninth-century Roman Church as a series of antiphons – short statements that were sung at beginning and end of the Magnificat at Vespers services during the season of Advent. The antiphons, referred to as the O Antiphons because each begins with “O,” greet the Savior with one of the many titles ascribed to him in scripture, and then close with the appropriate petition to the title. Seven in number, these antiphons were collected into Latin verse around the twelfth century. Nineteenth century Anglican minister, John Mason Neale, translated this hymn (along with many others) from Latin to English. The tune we know today was a fifteenth century chant used as a processional. Interestingly, we have only recently discovered the tune’s origin within the last 30 years. Our voluntaries for Sunday are a contemporary expression of these antiphons that were written recently by English composer Cecilia McDowell.

Prepare the way, O Zion, or Prepare the royal highway as it is known to Lutherans, has been used for almost 200 years in the Church of Sweden. It officially made its way to the United States by way of the Lutheran Service Book and Hymnal of 1958. I have great memories of singing this as a child for it was one in which you could catch my mother bouncing at the organ bench while she played.

Written by Frans Mikael Franzen in 1812, the hymn is based on Isaiah 40:3-5 (Prepare ye the way of the Lord) and the narrative of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem found in Matthew 21. Other influences include Alexander Pope’s Messiah, a sacred Ecologue. The hymn was included in the Svenska Psalm-Boken of 1819 a hymnic masterpiece from the golden age of Swedish hymnody.

The tune for Franzen’s hymn appears to have originated as a German folk tune from the 16th century that was adapted by the Swedish for use with a text for mealtime. Since 1812, however, it has been connected with Franzen’s hymn.

I give thanks for these great hymns, the many memories associated with them, and the opportunity to sing them together with you this Sunday as we await and prepare for the Messiah.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Ben Keseley, Minister of Music

Together, We Sing

America’s beloved children’s choir expert, Helen Kemp (1918-2005) had a wonderful chant which she uses regularly with her children’s choirs and in her workshops with adults:

“Body, mind, spirit, voice, it takes the whole person to sing and rejoice!”

This wonderful chant became Helen’s guiding principle throughout her ministry.  It reminds us that singing is not only the physical act of the vocal chords and the breath, but an act that involves the whole body, our minds, and our spirit.  When we sing, our whole being is in engaged in proclaiming our faith. Each time we sing together we engage in an activity that builds community; a form of meditation and prayer, and a form of praise and proclamation.  Singing together helps us share in the joys and the sorrows of our community. When we sing together we give and receive a wonderful gift, and this is a most beautiful thing.

A few weeks ago our organ builder, Martin Pasi, was with us and presented a forum on organ building and the new organ he is building for Saint George’s.  He remarked to me and others about how wonderful it was to hear the whole congregation singing together in worship. This special gift we share together is one of the reasons our organ committee chose Martin to build an instrument for Saint George’s.  His instruments excel at leading congregational singing. This is in part due to the meticulous and the detailed care that he and his team put into voicing each of the over 2000 pipes our new instrument to ensure they freely sing in our space. I am so excited for us to experience singing together with our new instrument.  The combining of these two beautiful gifts – our singing together and our new instrument - will most certainly move us more deeply into the mysteries of God, and the results of that on our spirits and our actions here on earth are beyond measure. 

“Body, mind, spirit, voice, it takes the whole person to sing and rejoice!”

Soli Deo Gloria!

Ben Keseley, Minister of Music