Music at St Paul

 It's October!  Thanks to all who attended our first Celebration Concert on Sunday, Sept. 24th. You helped us kick off our year of celebration and there will be more concerts to come. The next one is Friday, November 3rd - more information on that will be available soon. This week, our 8:30 and 11:00 Choirs are singing "I Am His Child" - as we celebrate Consecration Sunday, a day when we turn in our Estimate of Giving cards - a time to discern how each of us can support mission and ministry at and through St Paul Lutheran Church. And this includes music and worship as well. This Moses Hogan anthem reminds us that we are children of God, and how thankful we are for that.  At 9:45 worship, Justin Hadden will lead us in an opening song of celebration - "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High" - where we remember that God suffered, died, was resurrected and ascended for us in Jesus Christ - truly human and truly God at the same time. Music has a way of describing that, and ...

 Fall is here! My favorite time of year - when you can feel the temperatures begin to go down, and even here in the South, there is a cool breeze from time to time! This year, we are celebrating 25 years with our Casavant Pipe Organ, Opus 3728. And we are including a Concert Series featuring the organ in a variety of ways throughout the year. Our first concert is this Sunday, Sept. 24th at 3:30 pm with Barb and Roger Rollins on Brass. I hope you can make that, it will be a lot of fun! The choirs are singing an old traditional anthem this week - All Things Bright and Beautiful - as we notice the beauty of the world around us at this time of year, we thank God the Creator for all that we see. Our music lifts that up this week.  8:30 will have some lovely piano for our communion, calling on the Holy Spirit; 9:45 begins with a song that speaks of our creator - the God of Wonders, with Justin Hadden; and 11:00 will feature an instrumental version of Faure's Agnus Dei - Lamb of God....

Following Jesus - our Musical Journey This week, we hear about the passion prediction and when Peter gets off track, Jesus sets him straight. How often do we get off track? Everyone does - and so this week the music chosen brings us to focus on Christ, and how we follow Christ, seek Christ, and acknowledge the ties that bless our lives through our relationship with Christ. In 8:30 and 11:00 worship - our Handbell Quartet starts us off with "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" and they add to our Holy Communion with settings of Tallis' Canon and the familiar hymn "Blest Be the Tie that Binds" which the congregation will also sing, along with the Hymn of the Day - "Will You Come and Follow Me". The Choir sings a simple but lovely favorite - "Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God" for this Labor Day Weekend. A gentle reminder of our seeking that happens in our relationship with the Divine in our every day living. A 9:45 - we begin with a hymn of praise...