Easter is a season that lasts 50 days, culminating in the Day of Pentecost (this year on May 26, 2007). Our hymns and music continue with the themes of resurrection and new life in Christ.
The Entrance hymn is ELW 619, “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.” The writer of the poem (set to the tune Duke Street) was a member of the British Royal Navy who was wounded in battle in 1759. While he was recuperating, he heard a sermon by the great Isaac Watts and was converted to Christianity, eventually becoming the Pastor of a Baptist church in England.
The Hymn of the Day is ELW 384, “That Easter Day With Joy Was Bright.” Set to the tune Puer Nobis, it is a hymn that recounts the apostles’ encounter with their risen Lord and ends with a doxological stanza of praise.
At communion, we’ll sing ELW 535, “Hallelujah! We Sing Your Praises,” a hymn of South African origin. The harmonies are traditional and the melody is easy, but the syncopation is a little unfamiliar to western-churched ears. The choir will sing the refrain and stanza one, then we’ll all sing the entire hymn in sort of a Lion-King-meets-the- Liturgy communion celebration.
Finally, the sending hymn is one whose text and tune might be unfamiliar, ELW 548, “Rise, O Church, Like Christ Arisen.” This is a modern hymn written by Susan Paolo Cherwien. Susan and her husband, David Cherwien, are well-known in Lutheran church music. She has eight hymns in the ELW hymnal and her husband is a prolific composer of organ and choral music.
At both services, Ellen Olson will play Arioso from Cantata No. 156 by J.S. Bach as the prelude. She will also play an arrangement of “Praise Ye, the Lord, the Almighty” during the musical offering at the 8:30 service. At 11:00, the Festival Choir will sing “The Lamb,” a song by George P. Coleman arranged by Mark Hayes. This piece of music complements the reading from Revelation 5:11-14.
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