Themes of Word/Eucharist, fulfillment, joy, hope, revelation, scripture, path of life, glory
In this Sunday’s Gospel, Christ challenges Peter’s love and commitment to follow his Master wherever that journey took him, and Peter repeatedly insisted he was all in….REALLY! The music that spoke to me while praying over these readings speak to that desire to follow Christ, and Christ’s request that we tend sheep, or go fishing for new followers of Christ.
Our Choral Prelude is a beautiful prayer by Samuel Sebastian Wesley, son of Samuel & Sarah Wesley, Grandson of Charles Wesley, setting verses from Psalm 5. “Lead Me, Lord” is a brief meditation extracted from a larger anthem,“Praise the Lord, O My Soul”. This simple but profound anthem is often found in modern hymnals because of its hymn-like style.
Our Anthem reprises the Dutch Carol “This Joyful Eastertide” which we sang on Easter Sunday. This hope-filled text is recommended almost every Sunday of this 50 Day Season of Eastertide, and Charles Wood’s arrangement simply dances for resurrection joy!
At Communion, the Choir will be singing a choral gem by Calvin Hampton (1938-1984), “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us” (1983), with a tender pleading for Christ’s guidance and unending love to surround us. I have chosen to include this poignant setting by Calvin Hampton because he was one of the first great American Church Music Composers lost to AIDS when he died in 1984. He was a prolific composer, and much of his music can be a challenge for the player and listener alike, but this work – originally written for the Children’s Choirs of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco – is an exquisite new setting of a familiar text which can be found in our UMH at hymn #381. We sing the text congregationally to the jaunty eponymous tune BRADBURY, written by William Bradbury, so it can be assumed it must have been a favorite among his many hymn tunes!
In addition to my joyous ministry at Grace Church with our amazing congregation and gifted choir, I accompany the all-volunteer un-auditioned Richardson Community Chorale which rehearses and performs at First UMC Richardson. The final FREE concert of our eighth season is tomorrow night – Friday, May 2nd, at 7pm at First Methodist Richardson. IN HER OWN VOICE is a program of choral works written by women setting texts by women, and three of the local composers will be in attendance. In addition to works by Laura Farnell, Debra Scroggins, and Heather Sorenson, the audience will join us in sing-along medleys of Carole King & Joni Mitchell songs.
Most poignantly, our closing selection was written by Heather Sorenson in response to a commission from the A&M Singing Cadets after one of their members, Roel Prado, lost his battle with depression during the Pandemic. Always a joyous, considerate, and much-loved member of choir, he was always open about his struggle with deep depression, and his parents wanted that discussion to continue with the text of this choral work dedicated to his memory. “What If I Could Tell You” was premiered by Roel Prado’s fellow Cadets during the Pandemic in a poignant video, and the work has been performed by many choirs of youth very similar to Roel’s age and state of mind. The text is hopeful, the music is powerful, and it has brought tears to my eyes at every Monday RCC rehearsal for 2 months. If you are able to attend Friday night at 7pm, it promises to be a concert with something for everyone, profound texts, beautiful music, and even cookies in the narthex afterward as you mingle with the choir.
Today and every day I give thanks for the gift of song, the life-changing, even life-saving texts we are blessed to sing, and our amazing Grace Church Choir that makes my ministry the most joyous of my 40 years in music ministry!
