Tuesday, October 9, 2012

A Hymn Festival Celebrating the Continuing Reformation of the Church Sunday, November 11th at 5:00 P.M.


LutherCountry is a name for the combined German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. This is the area where Martin Luther lived and did his world-changing work. Since one year is not enough to commemorate this work, LutherCountry instituted the “Luther Decade” which began in 2007. When it culminates in 2017, we will observe the 500th anniversary of the events that started a reformation.

Each year has a theme and the theme for 2012 is “Reformation and Music.” The Reformation didn’t only affect singing in the home and church, but it influenced the work of composers like Telemann, Handel, and J. S. Bach.

Donald L. Armitage, a noteworthy Lutheran church musician from North Carolina, and Susan Palo Cherwien, a gifted Lutheran poet and hymn writer, have teamed up to create A Hymn Festival Celebrating the Ongoing Reformation of the Church. This festival celebrates the reformative work of Martin Luther as it is expressed in his hymns and tunes, and in the hymns and tunes from Christian peoples around the world in the centuries since. This hymn festival will be sung at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church on Sunday, November 11th, at 5:00 p.m. Tony Cruz will serve as the organist and a choir will help lead the congregational singing.

Admission is free. An offering will be taken to benefit the expansion of St. Mark’s 1984 Zimmer pipe organ which is expected to be completed in early 2013.