titles for 8.23.2009

Yesterday the first, and longest prelude piece was an alla breve from Bach's D major prelude and fugue. I ended the prelude with an arrangement of the famous hymn "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."

The music during the offering was an arrangement of "Jesus Calls Us O'er the Tumult." This hymn is still very much alive, but it doesn't happen to be in the blue hymnal. It does appear in the 1969 red Mennonite Hymnal as #229. Find the entire original here and even listen to it. Her photo above.

If you you want a woman hymn writer for the ages, you have one with Cecil Francis Humphreys Alexander, 1818-1895, a prominent Irish Church of England figure. She wrote 400 hymns in her life. We know her also by "Once in Royal David's City," and "All Things Bright and Beautiful."

The postlude was a take-off of the Westminster chimes, with a lot of bubbly fast notes in the hands and a few large and low pedal notes.

red wagon offering

Pulling a wagon down the aisle. That appeals to the boy in me.

But what was going on in my head when we planned the Thanksgiving Eve service was all those announcements this fall about local food banks running out of food.

Okay. I can see the point of not having a budget offering. But, can we all bring a can for the food bank? That's how we got to Red Wagon Offering. And here it is. Yeah, worship can be a down to earth thing.