December 2011
|
Dear People of St. John’s: Every detail of the “Christmas story” is very familiar to us. Even small children know it by heart and expect it to be unchanged. I remember one time I decided to test if my young daughter was really listening and paying attention, so I “substituted” Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer and a sled for the grey donkey carrying Mary to Bethlehem, and I was immediately and forcefully reprimanded. The danger is in believing that everything was planned and known about Jesus’ birth and everyone had been given a script to consult. Yet God does not come among us or is revealed in that way. Nor is our personal journey rarely as neat and according to a known script in which we control the scenes. (There is a decent Hallmark Channel movie you can rent on Netflicks called “Though None Go With Me.” It’s slightly too soupy and predictable for my taste, but it makes the point that it is how we respond to what confronts and surprises us rather than how much we are able to write and direct our life’s script that is important. The church faces some formidable challenges ahead. The so-called golden ages of the past were not necessarily because people of the past were wiser or more competent. They, too, were carried on the tides of larger history and blown by winds of stronger cultural forces than just that of their own making. Sometimes the tides and winds take us where we would like to be, sometimes not. Pious pilgrims of today find Bethlehem a fortunate and desired destination. I wonder if Mary and Joseph didn’t think of Bethlehem more in terms of being blown off course and forced into a strange and undesirable situation. We all prepare to celebrate Christmas not knowing for sure where we will celebrate it in the following years. Christmas is not about successfully swimming against the tide, conquering worldly forces, or arriving at our planned destinations on schedule. It is about God appearing with good news announcing, “Do not fear, for to you is born today, among you (regardless of where your GPS tells you where you should be) a savior.” A blessed and merry Christmas to you all.
Sincerely, Musical Notes from the Director of Music Advent and Christmas are such special times of the year and, for many people, the music is an important part of these blessed times. Even people who don’t usually notice music recognize certain Christmas carols! Selecting, teaching, and presenting Advent and Christmas music every year has always been my favorite part of being a church musician. The difficulty at St. John’s is finding a spot for all of the wonderful music that the various groups want to present! We are truly blessed by the wealth of talented musicians in our midst. Both the bell choir and the quartet have presented 2 anthems in our worship service. Next week our youth and adults will sing a beautiful arrangement of Biebl’s Ave Maria that was made famous by Chanticleer. The children’s choir will accompany themselves on handbells, too. What great additions to our pageant service! The children’s choir is having a great time with the handbells. They will sing at the 4 PM Christmas Eve service, and their anthem will include bells. They may also ring a carol or two in the little instrumental concert at 3:30 PM, before the early Christmas Eve service. Joellen O’Meehan is preparing a solo for Communion at this service, too. The youth choir, hit especially hard this year by holiday travel plans, is learning their own special anthems, including Carol of the Bells and Infant Lowly, Infant Holy. They plan to sing at both the 4:00 and 11:00 services on Christmas Eve. The adult choir will begin singing Saint-Saën’s Oratorio de Noel at 10:20 PM on Christmas Eve. Written in only 14 days and completed only 10 days before its premiere in 1858, the work is comprised of 9 short movements. With only 3 choruses, it presents many opportunities to solo voices to shine, and the melodies and harmonies are beautiful. We will sing this work in Latin, and there will be a translation in the bulletin. Of course, the concert is just the beginning of the late service. The adults will sing Gustav Holst’s Christmas Day for the anthem during this service, and the bells will ring two anthems at Communion. We have several other solo and ensemble selections scheduled for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, including Pietro Yon’s Gesu Bambino, sung by Jon Meigs, and Handel’s He shall feed His flock, sung by Caitilin O’Meehan. The quartet will sing again, too. With all of this music, it’s good that Christmas is a Sunday this year – more opportunity for solos and ensembles. If we run out of ‘room’ for music on the 24th, we’ll slip it to the 25th. The adult choir will sing On Christmas Day, also known as Sussex Carol, on the 25th, too. As you may have noticed, I don’t like to present the same music at different services. The preludes, postludes, anthems, and special music for each service will be distinct. It might be more work for me, but I think this makes worship better because each group carries a bit of the responsibility. And, for those who attend services on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, or even twice on Christmas Eve, changing the music makes things more interesting! So come to one, two, or all three services and see the many ways in which the musicians celebrate Jesus’ birth. Merry Christmas! Nancy Radloff
Jennifer Hayghe and Robert McGaha return to St. John’s during Epiphany tide for a Piano and Voice Rrecital
|
