Welcome to Sundays at Home
Good morning and welcome to Trinity! So glad you are tuning in virtually for today’s service. As we worship remotely, each week you’ll find Sundays at Home with Trinity Episcopal Church. We will be featuring the full service recording, as well as the sermon and anthem on their own.
Starting this week, we welcome you back to full, in-person worship services with us at Trinity. We have two options for Holy Eucharist. An 8am service (Rite I) and a larger service at 10:30am (Rite II) each Sunday.
Once again, thank you for tuning in and for being faithful with your time, talents, and treasures.
Grace and Peace!
Rev. Jonathan V. Adams
Worship for October 10, 2021
Please view the embedded video of our service below by clicking on the grey arrow in the middle of the image.
During the summer, our Trinity Kids series will be featuring previously recorded episodes.
About the Music:
Felix Mendelssohn was a skilled organist and a noted recitalist in Britain, especially for his performances of the music of Bach. He was commissioned to compose a “set of voluntaries” for the organ by an English publisher in 1844. Mendelssohn first drafted seven individual voluntaries which he then regrouped and expanded into six “sonatas” or suites of varying pieces. The Prelude is the second movement from his third Sonata, known by its tempo marking (andante tranquillo). I chose to play it on only one stop, the Bourdon (flute) on the Great manual. Made of wood, this lovely stop is as calm and serene as the music.
In 1829, Mendelssohn organized the first performance of Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” since the composer’s death in 1750, and was responsible for bringing this and other Bach works into widespread popularity. Mendelssohn’s oratorio “Elijah” is modelled after the oratorios of Bach and Handel, but his use of color in the orchestra and chorus as well as his lyricism clearly reflects his skill as an early Romantic composer. The text of the aria “If with all your hearts” is from Deuteronomy 4:29 and from Job 23:3, this week’s Old Testament Lesson. In the oratorio, the aria is sung by Obadiah, a servant of King Ahab, the seventh king of Israel. Julian Baldwin sings it for us this Sunday.
St. Richard of Chichester (1197-1253) was born near Worchester, England. He studied for the priesthood at Oxford and eventually became Chancellor of that University. Saint Richard was later elected Bishop of Chichester, where he was loved by young and old and gave all he had to feed the poor and heal the sick. Malcolm Archer (b. 1952), and English composer, conductor and organist was formerly Director of Music at Wells Cathedral and at St. Paul’s Cathedral as well as Director of Chapel Music at Winchester College. The Trinity Choir sings his lovely setting of the prayer that St. Richard recited on his deathbed:
Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ
For all the benefits Thou hast given me,
For all the pains and insults Thou hast borne for me.
O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother,
May I know Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly.