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 during this time of change, 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.
If you would like to join us for an in-person service we have started Holy Eucharist in the Courtyard each Sunday at 10am. Simply bring a chair, mask, and a heart for worship.
We have a full week of services and events for Holy Week & Easter. Go ahead and take a look at our schedule so you can attend the ones to which you feel called. View Schedule Here.
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 March 28, 2021
Palm Sunday
Please view the embedded video of our service below by clicking on the grey arrow in the middle of the image.
About the Music:
As we recall Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, we begin outdoors with the Liturgy of the Palms. We symbolically process into the church as the choir sings Hymn 154, “All glory, laud, and honor”, an English translation by the Anglican clergyman John Mason Neale of an ancient Latin hymn written by Bishop Theodulf of Orleans in 820. The tune, known as “St. Theodulf” or “Valet will ich dir geben”, was composed in 1603 by the German theologian Melchior Teschner. The Psalm for this week will be sung responsively, by whole verse, by the choir on a plainsong psalm tone.
The popular Palm Sunday hymn “The Palms” was originally written in French and published in 1864 by the celebrated French operatic baritone Jean-Baptiste Faure (not to be confused with Gabriel Faure, composer of the famous Requiem). Maryory Serrano will be the violin soloist for this Offertory Anthem, accompanied by the organ.
During Communion, the choir will sing the beautiful “Ave Verum Corpus” by English Renaissance composer William Byrd (1543-1623). A 14th century Eucharistic hymn, the Ave Verum (Hail, true body) is one of the most widely used texts among sacred historical composers, and is Byrd’s most performed and recorded composition. The text speaks of Christ’s suffering and sacrifice on the cross for the sins of mankind, and asks for mercy at the time of our death.
Our closing hymn, #458, “My Song is Love Unknown”, is a poem written by exiled Church of England clergyman Samuel Crossman in 1864. This text is usually sung to the tune “Love Unknown”, by English composer John Ireland (1879-1962). Ireland supposedly wrote this tune in 15 minutes over lunch, on the back of a menu!
Finally, the closing voluntary is a setting of the Latin hymn Vexilla Regis (English translation: The royal banners forward go) by Wilbur Held (1914-2015). Dr. Held was on the faculty of Ohio State University for many years, and organist-choirmaster of Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio. This hymn, #162 in our hymnal, recalls the splendor and pomp of a grand procession, bringing our Palm Sunday service to a triumphant close.