This Sunday we will transfer the Feast of All Saints Day when we celebrate the lives of our members and friends who have passed away, and ponder our own lives and how they fit into God’s kingdom. Our Processional hymn, Give thanks for life, exemplifies this with stanza 3: for our own, our living and our dead, thanks for the love by which our life is fed, a love not changed by time or death or dread, Alleluia. It was written by Shirley Erena Murray and sung to Vaughan Williams’s noble tune Sine nomine. Murray’s text affirms the meaning and joy of life, even in the midst of death, and blesses the Godly example of those who have gone before us, while recalling Shakespeare’s 116 sonnet: “…love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds…” (Wonder Love and Praise, Hope Publishing Co. 1987)
Our Sequence hymn will be For All the Saints and it also reflects our thankful celebration. In stanza 2, we sing For all the saints who loved your name, whose faith increased the Savior’s fame, who sang your songs and shared your word, accept our gratitude, good Lord. Sung to the English folk tune O Waly Waly, the text was written by John Bell, a Scottish musician who served as a youth pastor in the Iona Community. He composed songs that began to address concerns missing from the Scottish hymnal: “I discovered that seldom did our hymns represent the plight of poor people to God…nothing that dealt with feeling disenfranchised…that reflected concern for the developing world...that helped see ourselves as brothers and sisters to those who are suffering from poverty or persecution.” (from an interview in Reformed Worship, March 1993, quoted by Emily Brink at Hymnary.org; GIA Publications, Inc. 1996)
St. Martin’s Hand Bell Choir will play two pieces they have been working on over the past few weeks. Members include Mary Drastal, Becky Brewer, Chelsea Brewer, Candy Tierney, Kelly Barkey, Ginger Cornelius, Chris Marsh, and Larry Cornelius. The first piece will be a majestic prelude called Ring a Joyful Song by Michael Helman (2015 Lorenz Publishing Co). Helman is Director of Music at Faith Presbyterian Church in Cape Coral Florida. He is in demand as a hand bell festival director and clinician all over the country and is Hand bell Editor for The Lorenz Corporation. The second piece will be played as the Offertory titled The Peace of Christ by Douglas E. Wagner (2013 Lorenz Publishing Co). This piece is based on the traditional spirituals I’ve got peace like a river & We shall walk through the Valley in Peace. Wagner, a native of Chicago is an internationally recognized composer and arranger. With thirty years as a high school music educator and administrator behind him, he now devotes himself to composition and has written over 3000 titles since 1973, both sacred and secular.
During Communion, we will sing Carolyn Winfrey Gillette’s hymn, God of all Peoples. This interfaith hymn was written in response to the divisive presidential election in 2016 but the text can also be taken under consideration during this week’s voting. The Biblical references come from Genesis 1:26; Isaiah 58; Micah 6:8; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 9:52-56; Hebrews 13:2; Leviticus 19:18, 19:33-34; Luke 15:1; Ephesians 4:6; Proverbs 14:29, 15:18, 22:24; 1 John 3:17-18, 4:20-21. Permission is given for free use of this hymn in local faith communities. The tune for the hymn, Bunessan, is a traditional Gaelic melody that was named after the small village of Bunessan on the Scottish island of Mull. Eleanor Farjeon wrote the hymn, Morning has Broken, to the tune. (carolynshymns.com)
Our final hymn, I sing a song of the saints of God, was written by Lesbia Scott (1898-1986), who wrote religious dramas and children’s hymns while serving a parish near Dartmoor in England with her husband. This hymn, that was composed for All Saints’ Day, comes from the cultural context of rural England and captures many fond images. Many Episcopalians relish the annual singing of this hymn, which was designed to inspire laughter and joy! (Just refrain from singing: one was a soldier, and one was a beast, and one was slain by a fierce wild priest!) (history of hymns; umcdiscipleship.org)