With this Sunday’s Worship, we begin what the Church as long called “Ordinary Time”, from ordinal or counted time – a span of Sundays that are far from Ordinary! Sunday’s readings speak of courageous faith, thirsting for God, healing, inclusion and unity – themes that could NOT be more topical today!
During the Summer we will be continuing a tradition at Grace of scaling back the work of our Amazing Choir so they can have some re-creating time with their families on Wednesday nights as we sing familiar or less challenging choral music each Sunday in June and July.
This Sunday our choral prelude sets the Psalmists most aching words of longing“As the Deer” by Martin Nystrom. His timeless praise chorus can be found in The Faith We Sing Hymnal at #2025. The Chancel Choir also sang Herbert Howells’ majestic setting of this text “Like As the Hart” during Lent.
The reading from Galatians this Sunday that our baptism makes us all one in Christ – neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female. We will sing “Baptized in Water” as our opening hymn and my Opening Voluntary will be based on this well-known hymn tune BUNESSAN, named after the Scottish Village in the Ross of Mull, the largest promontory on the Isle of Mull.
Cassie Evans will sing Mark Hayes’ in inspired setting of “There Is a Balm in Gilead” as our Anthem, was we turn our thoughts to those themes healing, inclusion and unity.
On this Sunday after Juneteenth, the first commemoration of it with Opal Lee to ill to attend the Fort Worth celebrations, I was inspired to use Adolphus Hailstork’s Prelude & Postlude on the hymn tune MARTIN [Luther King, Jr] which we know as “We Shall Overcome”.
Our closing hymn may be new to many – as it was to me! – so I include this link to familiarize yourself with “Sacred the Body”, hymn tune RUDDLE, #2228 in The Faith We Sing Hymnal.
In this coming week, may the Spirit empower us to be examples of Christ’s reckless love that welcomes all and brings healing to our broken world.
