Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the St. John’s Adult Choir, sermon by the Rev’d Todd FitzGerald.

Worship at Home:

Click here: Service Bulletin

Service Music:

Voluntary    Prelude on Wer nur en lieben Gott    Mark Fax (1911-1974)

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Mark Fax was a child prodigy. By age fourteen, he was employed as a theater organist and church organist. Fax studied at Syracuse University where he earned a B.Mus. in 1933, then at Eastman earning a Master’s degree in composition, studying with Howard Hanson. He founded and chaired the music department at Paine College in Georgia. In 1942 Mark studied piano at Bennington College in Vermont, where he wrote music for the Martha Graham Dance Troupe. From 1947 to 1972, Fax taught music theory at Howard University and served as director of the School of Music. Later, Fax became Acting Dean of Howard’s College of Fine Arts. Concurrently, he served as music director at Washington’s famed Asbury Methodist Church Washington, DC. Fax composed works for chorus, symphony, chamber ensemble, voice, piano, and organ, in addition to two full-length operas.

Processional Hymn 7    Christ, whose glory fills the skies    Ratisbon

Gloria in excelsis S278    William Mathias (1934-1992)

Sequence Hymn 635    If thou but trust in God to guide thee    Wer nur en lieben Gott

Offertory Anthem    Christ is our cornerstone    Noel Rawsthorne (1929-2019)
Text: translated from the Latin by J. Chandler

Christ is our cornerstone, on him alone we build; with his true saints alone
The courts of heaven are filled; on his great love our hopes we place of present grace and joys above.

Here, gracious God, do thou forevermore draw nigh; accept each faithful vow,
And mark each suppliant sigh; in copious shower on all who pray, each holy day, thy blessings pour.

O then with hymns of praise these hallowed courts shall ring; our voices we will raise
The three in one to sing; and thus proclaim in joyful song both loud and long, that glorious name.

At the age of eight Noel Rawsthoorne became a chorister at Liverpool Parish Church which started his interest in the pipe organ. He became Organist of Liverpool Cathedral in 1955, and served in this capacity until 1980. While there, he composed many choral works, such as the Festive Eucharist which is still sung regularly by churches across the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool. His work with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra included supervision of the refurbishment of the organ in the Philharmonic Hall and he sustained substantial friendships, personal and professional, with successive Maestros of the Philharmonic.

Sanctus S128    William Mathias

Fraction Anthem S166    Agnus Dei    Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Communion Anthem    With what shall I come before the Lord    Jane Marshall (1924-2019)
Text: Micah 6:6-8

With what shall I come before the Lord when I bow before the God on high?
Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?
Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

Communion Hymn 592    Teach me, my God and King    Carlisle

Hymn in Procession 397 Now thank we all our God    Nun danket alle Gott

Voluntary    Chorale Fantasia on Nun danket alle Gott    Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933)