July 7, 2024

Bill Ross, who has played trumpet for many years at Calvary both for Christmas Eve services and Easter services, volunteered to play this Sunday (as he has generously done before).  Since we are so close to the "Fourth" and also celebrating with our annual picnic, we will be playing arrangements of patriotic hymns, the prelude being an Amy J. Snyder (contemporary American) "combo" arrangement of both "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and "America the Beautiful".  Please greet and thank Bill after the service!

All hymns will be "American" hymns except for the Gospel hymn.  Our processional is "How Firm a Foundation" (636), which is from the "Sacred Harp" collection, as you may note in the hymnal notes.  

The Gospel hymn melody is used 3 times in our hymnal (379, 511, 523), but we are not using any of these texts; instead, the text begins "Lord, you give the great commission", which relates to our Gospel reading from Mark.  I believe the congregation knows this tune well, and the hymn will be printed in your bulletin.

During the offertory we will sing hymn 490, "I want to walk as a child of the light", what I believe is a favorite at Calvary, and a wonderful hymn.

At the beginning of communion, Bill and I will play an arrangement of "Eternal Father Strong to Save", for trumpet and organ.  This version is actually by a New Zealand composer, Nigel Williams, whose work is widely used in the US and the UK.

The closing hymn is indeed a "national song", "O beautiful for spacious skies", 719, and the postlude is an arrangement of the wildly popular "God Bless America" by Irving Berlin.  This arrangement is by Gary Lanier, who lives in Oklahoma but whose vast works are known to be used in at least 170 countries.  If you don't know the story of Irving Berlin, and particularly this song, you might find it interesting to investigate.  Does anyone remember that on 9/11 congress sang "God Bless America"?