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

Worship at Home:

Click here: Service Bulletin

Service Music:

Voluntary    Adagio from Symphonie 3    Louis Vierne (1870-1937)

Processional Hymn 665    All my hope on God is founded    Michael

Song of Praise S236    Glory to you    John Rutter (b. 1945)

Sequence Hymn 635   If thou but trust in God to guide thee  Wer ner den lieben Gott

Offertory Anthem    Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace    Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876)

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.
The darkness is no darkness with thee, but the night is as clear as the day.
The darkness and the light to thee are both alike.
God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
O let my soul live and it shall praise thee.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for evermore.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.

Samuel Sebastian Wesley seemed destined for the life of a church musician, as his middle name was taken from Johann Sebastian Bach. He did not disappoint: in a time that English church music had become less than satisfactory, Wesley was largely responsible for raising this standard through his own work as a composer and organist. In all his music, Wesley strived for an expressive and accessible sound, as evidenced in this anthem. The exquisite Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace remains one of the most-loved anthems in the repertoire.

Sanctus S124    David Hurd (b. 1950)

Fraction Anthem S154    Christ our Passover    David Hurd (b. 1950)

Communion Music    A grateful heart, 1977    Mary Plumstead (1905-1980)
Sung by the Youth Choir
Words: George Herbert (1593-1632)

Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart.
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if thy blessings had spare days:
But such a heart, whose pulse may be Thy praise.
Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart.

Mary Plumstead was born in 1905 in Upper Warlingham, Surrey, England. She was educated at Croydon High School where she studied piano. She was briefly a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London, long enough to complete her LRAM in aural training and sight singing. A composer and pianist, she also lectured in composition, advocating what she called ‘self composition.’ She wrote several large scale pieces, however she shone in the small scale world of songs, part songs and vocal music of all kinds.

Communion Hymn 306    Come, risen Lord    Sursum Corda

Hymn in Procession 477    All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine    Engelberg

Voluntary    Allegro maestoso e vivace from Sonata 2    Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)