Musings from Music Ministry

Did you know that there are more hymns in our hymnal, Lutheran Service Book (LSB), than what you see in the hymnal? The last printed hymn in LSB is “Before You, Lord We Bow” #966, however the last official hymn in LSB is “Song of Habakkuk” #986. Where are the last 20 hymns? A wonderful companion to our hymnal is Lutheran Service Builder, which is a computer program that allows us to create bulletins, insert the music to the liturgy and hymns in the bulletins and on the screens, and also allows us to search for a hymn by number, title, any words in the hymn, season of the church year, etc. When LSB came out in 2006, the committee in charge of the hymnal included 20 “lesser known” hymns (#967-986) that are only accessible in Lutheran Service Builder and are not in the printed hymnal. These hymns can instead be inserted into bulletins and on screens. You might remember a few weeks ago that we sang a new hymn called “Blest Are They” #982. Since this hymn is one of the non-printed hymns, the music was in the bulletins and on the screens.

If you’ve been in Saturday worship recently, you’ve no doubt noticed that we are introducing a new sung liturgy by contemporary composer Marty Haugen entitled “Now the Feast and Celebration.” While the liturgy itself is not new (Haugen composed it in the late 1980’s), it is new to our congregation. This liturgy has all the sung components of a regular Divine Service: Kyrie, Hymn of Praise, Alleluia Verse, Offertory, Communion Liturgy, etc., and you’ll find similar words that would be sung in the Sunday Divine Service, just set to new music. During the past couple of Saturdays’, we’ve been learning the Hymn of Praise, “Now the Feast and Celebration” and the Offertory “As the Grains of Wheat”. We will be continuing to introduce various parts of this new liturgy throughout this year. Our prayer is that you will enjoy this liturgy as another way of singing God’s praises in worship!

Calling all singers! The Adult Choir is looking for singers to sing with us for Holy Week and Easter. All are cordially invited to join us in singing our yearly commemoration of our Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection. Any and all singers are invited, however we are definitely in need of men! Below is the schedule of rehearsals and worship services. If you would like to join us, please email me at tdegen@stpetersfw.org so I can have music ready for you. Please prayerfully consider joining us this Holy Week!

Rehearsals:

• March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 – 6:30-7:45pm in the Cornerstone Room.

Services:

• Palm Sunday – March 29, 8:00 &; 10:30am services.
• Maundy Thursday – April 2, 7:00pm service.
• Good Friday – April 3, 7:00pm service.
• Easter Sunday – April 5, 6:30, 8:00, & 10:30am services.