GREAT TO HAVE THE CHOIR BACK!
It is great to have the choir back! We had such fun singing at our picnic service last Sunday, especially the chance to make music entirely a cappella. There is something wonderfully immediate about hearing voices alone — nothing between the singers and the congregation but breath, sound, and the words.
This Sunday we return to the sanctuary with an anthem of pure praise to the Triune God: Alec Rowley’s Praise, with a text by Aidan Clarke. It is an exuberant outpouring of worship that moves through the many ways we encounter God: “To the Master of music and loveliness,” “to the Lord of the word of creation,” and “to the artist of life.” The text finally turns to Christ, “who is God in the midst of us,” and concludes with the prayer, “Lord of all beauty, adoring we come to thee.”
The organ has a particularly interesting role in this anthem. At times it supports and amplifies the choir’s acclamations; at others, it seems almost to step back and simply “listen” as the choir offers its unaccompanied paeans of praise. The contrast gives the music a wonderful sense of intimacy and expansiveness.
May Rowley’s beautiful setting, and Clarke’s joyful words of praise, draw us into our own worship of the God who is Creator, Christ, and Spirit—God with us.
May it be a blessing to you!
| 
