Music Notes from Denise, May 17, 2025

This Sunday we will read Jesus’ incredible words from John 13:35: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” The word LOVE is mentioned multiple times! We also praise the glory of God in Psalm 148: “Young men and maidens, old and young together. Let them praise the Name of the Lord…Hallelujah!”

Our Processional hymn will be Creating God, your fingers trace, by Jeffery W. Rowthorn (b. Newport, Gwent, Wales, 1934) He wrote this text in 1978 while he was Chapel Minister at Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut. The text was first published in Laudamus (1980), a hymnal supplement edited by Rowthorn and used at the Yale Divinity School. The text was based on Psalm 148 and was written when he first started writing hymn texts. One of two winners in the Hymn Society of America's contest for "New Psalms for Today," the text was published in The Hymn of April 1979. In Psalm 148 both heavenly and earthly creatures bring praise to God. Rowthorn uses the Psalm as the backdrop for a text that is not so much a paraphrase in the traditional sense of that term but a new text that affirms four great tenets of the Christian faith: the God we worship created the entire cosmos (st. 1), sustains the ecology of life (st. 2), redeems his people from oppression and death (st. 3), and dwells by his Spirit in his people, the church (st. 4). (Psalter Hymnal Handbook; Hymnary.org)

Our Sequence hymn is O holy city, seen of John, written by Walter Russell Bowie (1882-1969) who was a priest, author, editor, educator, hymn writer, and lecturer in the Episcopal Church. (Hymnary.org) It refers to our reading in Revelation 21: “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a fist from the spring of the water of life.”

The Offertory is an inspiring song written by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette: All the Music Sung and Played Here. In her book, Songs of Grace, she writes: “Music has been a central part of the life of God’s people for many centuries. Yet in the life of the church, music is not a performance given for the people in the congregation; it is an offering to God of the talents that God has given to people in the church. The best church choirs are the ones who really do sing for the Lord. These are people who show up at choir practice week after week because they know God loves them and they want to share their faith with others through the music of the church. Their dedicated faith is a joy in worship.” This perfectly describes our St. Martin’s Choir! As we near the end of choir season, I want to thank each of them for sharing their talents and faith with the church and the larger community:

All the music sung and played here is a gift, O God, from you. For as long as we have prayed here, we've been blessed by music, too. By your Spirit, each musician finds new depths of faith to share. Music is a gift you've given and becomes our thankful prayer.

All creation sings your glory; in the Psalms are pain and praise. Mary sang your saving story in her long, expectant days. Through the years, with great emotion, some have reached to you in song. May we sing with such devotion; music helps your church grow strong!

You give hymns and songs for singing, toes for tapping your good news, Organ sounding, handbells ringing, faithful hearers in the pews. With the trumpet and the cymbal, with guitar and violin, Faith is found here and rekindled; hearts are lifted, once again.

(Copyright 2000 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette from Songs of Grace: New Hymns for God and Neighbor; Upper Room Books, 2009)

Our Communion hymn comes from an ancient plainsong chant, Ubi caritas, but the text, Where true charity and love dwell, God himself is there, has been translated to modern language. It centers on LOVE and how love connects us to Jesus, to the living Kingdom of God, and to the body of the Church. Love is the thread that weaves us together as we sing this ancient hymn. Just as we began this worship service, we end it with this conceptualization finishing with Brian Wren’s lovely words in his hymn  I come with joy to meet my Lord!