Our worship Sunday observes the season of Lent, the seven weeks of the church year preceding Easter. Recalling Jesus' 40-day temptation in the wilderness, Lent invites us through introspection and penitence to consider the costliness of Christ's sacrifice for our sin. Lenten worship is hence more subdued, signified by the purple liturgical color as well as by the temporary absence of flowers and "alleluias."

Easter lilies will be placed in our sanctuary on Easter Sunday, April 1, in memory of those we love and honor. To order a lily plant, simply fill out a form and return it, with payment, to the church office by Monday, March 26. To ensure correct acknowledgment in the Easter worship bulletin, please print all names exactly as you wish to see them. Order forms are available on the kiosk in the office hallway and in the bulletin, the sanctuary, the Fellowship Hall, and the office. Lilies cost $15 per pot.

We are now collecting small pretzels or pretzel sticks, which teachers can easily put into individual servings, for the students of our neighborhood school. Most of the children at Fairmount Elementary get help with lunch, and their families can't afford to send snacks to school with them. That's where we come in. We collect the snacks from our generous church family, and our Christian Hands Ministry folks make sure they get to the school. Please bring your offerings of small pretzels to the Little Red House in the Fellowship Hallway to help the youngsters at Fairmount stay alert through the long afternoons. Thank you!

Four big events have been planned for the Will Graham Celebration, and all will be held in Freedom Hall Civic Center, located at 1320 Pactolas Road in Johnson City. Admission to each event is free. No ticket is required.

Several other preparatory events for participants in the process will take place before the Celebration:

Sunday's music participants: Bob Flannagan, Bob Greene, Sanctuary Choir, Bethany Dawson (cello).

Sunday's anthem: Throughout the season of Lent, the choral anthem each Sunday has been a setting of Agnus Dei, "Lamb of God," the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. This is the

	Thomas Morley

final choral setting of Agnus Dei that our choir will sing this Lenten season; it is based on the words of John the Baptist in John 1:29, "Behold the son of God who takes away the sins of the world." Today's anthem was composed by Thomas Morley (1557-1602), a British composer who held a number of significant musical positions in his life, culminating in 1592 when he was sworn in as a "gentleman of the Chapel Royale." It seems likely that Morley converted to Roman Catholicism (a crime at the time), and he composed a great deal of music for both the Anglican Church and the Church of Rome, as well as several books of English madrigals. In 1596, Queen Elizabeth granted Morley the monopoly on music publishing in England. This enabled him to promote his work throughout Europe. Morley is mostly remembered and celebrated as the "Father of English Madrigals," but our anthem displays his mastery of the sacred realm as well.

	Janet Reinholz's contrabass flute.

Organist's footnotes: In the fall of 2015, I was approached by a member of the Morningstar Flute Ensemble to compose a piece for the contrabass flute, the largest of all flutes, sounding two octaves below the standard C flute. It was invented primarily to bottom out the bass line in flute ensembles. With Janet Reinholz performing, "Elegy" was premiered on November 8, 2015, at State Street United Methodist Church, Bristol, Virginia. The following spring, I heard clarinetist Gary Robertz perform an entire program on his bass clarinet for the Bristol Music Club. I wondered how "Elegy" might sound on that instrument, and in June 2016 I got the answer: it sounded wonderful. At the same time, I kept wondering if the cello might be an even better match for this piece. I asked Bethany Dawson to read through a version of "Elegy" for cello and organ with me. Once we did, I realized it was a cello I had heard in my head all along when I composed this piece. Today's performance is the world premiere of "Elegy for Cello and Organ." It is dedicated to the memory of the many precious souls who have fallen victim to the horrors of gun violence, just as it was in 2015.

This Fifth Sunday of Lent concludes with one more selection from Elf Choralvorspiele für die Orgel ( Eleven Chorale Preludes for the Organ), Op. 122, by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897). Brahms wrote these short pieces in 1896 near the end of his life, and they were published posthumously in 1902. They are based on verses of nine Lutheran chorales, and "Herzlich tut mich verlangen" is one of the two chorales that are set twice. Christoph Knoll in 1611 wrote the lyrics, a prayer for a blessed death, beginning "Herzlich tut mich verlangen nach einem sel'gen End" ("I do desire dearly a blessed end"). The melody, which we know as the Passion Chorale, was adapted from a secular song by Hans Leo Hassler. Brahms keeps this melody going throughout this short piece. It can be heard in the soprano voice, though it is disguised by much ornamentation, while beneath it churns Brahms's ever-shifting harmonies.

Church Officers
ELDERS
Class of 2018	Class of 2019	Class of 2020
Aaron Brooks	Anna Booher	Nancy Allerton
Randy Cook	Lee Galliher	Rebecca Beck
Debbie McMillin	Pete Holler	David Hyde
Stuart Parker	Han Ong	Jordan Pennington
Chuck Thompson	Pete Stigers	Jerry Poteat
DEACONS
Class of 2018	Class of 2019	Class of 2020
Adam Abel	Sujean Bradley	Blake Bassett
Nancy Butterworth	George Linke	Rhonda Comer
David Ginn	Greg Roberts	Brenda Lawson
Rett Stocstill	Nate Sproles	Barbara Thompson
Ann Woods	Bill Whisnant

Sunday, March 18

8:30 a.m.       Worship, Fellowship Hall

9:45 a.m.       Sunday School

11:00 a.m.     Worship, Sanctuary

4:00 p.m.       Evangelism & Outreach Comm., Room 117

5:00 p.m.       Season of Prayer, Chapel

Tuesday, March 20

9:30 a.m.       Staff Meeting, Room 117

10:00 a.m.     Morning Prayer Group, Conference Room

7:00 p.m.       Boy Scout Troop 3, Scout Wing

Wednesday, March 21

5:15 p.m.       Baby & Toddler Care, Rooms 34 & 35

5:30 p.m.       Fellowship Dinner, Fellowship Hall

6:00 p.m.       Pastor Nominating Comm., Room 117

6:00 p.m.       Wednesday Night Kids

6:00 p.m.       Student Small Groups

6:15 p.m.       Adult Program, Fellowship Hall

6:30 p.m.       Adult Handbell Choir

7:15 p.m.       Sanctuary Choir

7:30 p.m.       8:30 Worship Team, Fellowship Hall

Thursday, March 22

7:00 a.m.        Men's Bible Study, Parlor

12:00 p.m.     Noon Bible Study, Room 117

Friday, March 23

7:00 p.m.       Easter Celebration, Creation Station