As a child, I remember my father telling stories of his childhood and growing up in northern Minnesota in a devout Catholic family. His family loved to tell the stories of uncle Pope Pius X and how my grandmother’s grandfather ran away from home to save his future family from having to be nuns or priests.
In July several of our choristers and adults, together with choristers and adults from Saint Mary’s, Arlington, and Saint Andrew’s, Burke will make a pilgrimage to Lincoln, UK where they will be the resident choir at Lincoln Cathedral for the week. Most Cathedrals have an adjoining cathedral school and during school holidays, visiting choirs are invited to be the resident choir. Lincoln Cathedral has had a tradition of daily worship since 1088, one in which our singers will take part. It is the third largest cathedral in England, whose most famous director of music was William Byrd. During our residency we will have the honor to sing daily services, experience Anglican music in one of its original settings, grow musically and spiritually, visit castles and other historic sites, and develop lasting friendships. Our Lincoln Cathedral residency is an opportunity for shared experiences and growth; musical and personal, learning, exploring, fun and fellowship, in short, “an opportunity of a lifetime”.
Over the course of this year, the Lincoln Pilgrimage Choir will sing several Evensongs around the area in preparation for our residency. The Choir will be led by both our Minister of Music, Dr. Ben Keseley, and by Dr. Gregory Hooker, Minister of Music at Saint Mary’s. The group will be accompanied by Mr. Aaron Goen, Director of Music at Saint Andrew’s. These preparatory Evensongs will culminate in an Evensong at the National Cathedral. The first Evensong in this series will be this Sunday at 4pm here at Saint George’s. We hope you can attend to lend your support to these choristers preparing for this experience of a lifetime.
We look forward to sharing more information about this exciting pilgrimage as we prepare for our trip throughout the year.
“The gift of music offers us the message of scripture on wings of song that find nesting places in our hearts where words alone cannot go.”
As a small child, I remember regularly thumbing through the hymnal on Sunday mornings. My church had received the new Lutheran Book of Worship when I was very young, and I remember it vividly. It had a deep green cover and interesting icons. The edge of its pages had these intriguing “rubric red” freckles which served to set it apart from other books. It felt holy. It smelled holy, too. Every Sunday I would set this book up on my chair and pretend to play the organ and direct the choir from my seat. I was simply fascinated by this new hymnal. Fascinated not only by what was in it, but also by what I experienced in its liturgies as a young child. As I grew up, I naturally began to understand and more deeply discover its treasure of prayers and hymnody as I leafed through it each week. I began to understand the actions contained in its liturgies and the words of its poetry. The tunes and texts became a part of me and played a significant role in shaping my faith.
This fascination with hymnody continues today as these same texts and tunes continue to reveal and form my faith. I marvel in the power of hymnody to shape our faith at any age – even of young children who may not be able to read, sing or understand the texts as we adults do. Even young children such as my younger daughter who, despite what we tell her, still mistakes the word “Kyrie” for “Yippee-Yay” on a regular basis. While the meaning of “Kyrie” and “Yippee-yay” couldn’t be farther apart, it doesn’t matter because each week as my daughter worships together with others she has a powerful experience of singing together. She offers her voice in an age appropriate way. In her regular singing and worshipping she knows she is a part of a community that loves her and she knows she is loved by God. Her understanding of this love will develop as she grows older. This communal experience of worshiping and singing together is fundamentally important to her faith formation and her development as a human being. So much so, that the Sunday morning chaos of getting out the door if a small hassle compared to the great gift of our worship together.
We all are shaped and formed in Christ by participating in corporate singing, regardless of our ability. Our experience singing together, whether in key or not, is important and powerful. Yes, “it is good to be here”, as the Gospel says. To worship together, to sing together, and to pray together each week. To offer our praises and prayer together and hear of the love of God – together – is a powerful thing.
On Sunday, we will sing our Saint George’s hymn, All Embracing God. It was commissioned especially for our community on the occasion of our Nave rededication and in honor of and to inspire the work we do together to change the world. It was commissioned with the hope that it would become a part of us, that it would continue to form us in our ministry together, and that it would inspire us to do the good work of Christ in our community.
I look forward to seeing you in church on Sunday and worshipping and singing together. It is important. It is life-giving. It is powerful and life-changing for us all.
See you in church!
Soli Deo Gloria!
Ben Keseley, Minister of Music
I am so excited for our parish, the greater community and for what the commissioning of Pasi, Opus 28, means for ministry at Saint George's and outreach to the community around us. When I arrived in at Saint George's in the late spring of 2009 for my interview, it became immediately apparent that Saint George's valued its music ministry, recognized music's importance in our faith lives and worship, and that there was a very strong desire to grow this ministry in dynamic and meaningful ways. As our choirs have grown and blossomed these past years - both in numbers and musically - we have increasingly become aware of how inadequate our instrument is in supporting the beautiful music that these ensembles make. As I lead you all in congregational song each week, I have become intimately aware of both the technical challenges and tonal limitations of our instrument for leading your glorious hymns of praise and prayer.
Our new instrument (known as Opus 28) will be the 28th instrument built by Martin Pasi and company in their shop at the foot of Mount Rainier in Roy, Washington. When it arrives in the Fall of 2020, our nave will be graced not only by a beautiful new instrument, but by a work of art lovingly handmade for our community and nave using time-tested practices. It is designed with our ministries and worship in mind both today and into the future and it will be one that inspires our grandchildren's grandchildren as it continues to lead the church's song in this place. Opus 28 will be an instrument that inspires and leads congregational singing with clarity and sheer beauty, and one that fully supports our choir's work and becomes and equal partner in these proclamations. It will not only be an instrument that leads our holy praises and prayer and inspires us to a deeper faith, but a gift to our community, inviting them, and us, into the holy mysteries of God.
Opus 28, will take 14 months to be built. Martin's shop will begin construction in June of 2019. All 1,866 pipes will be handmade, as well as all of the organ's other parts. The building of an organ is a fascinating and beautiful thing, combining a variety of trades and fine craftsmanship. I encourage you to check out Martin Pasi's website to not only see his beautiful instruments, but to watch the many videos which show his team making pipes and building an instrument. It truly is an exciting and amazing thing to watch these instruments be fashioned from raw materials. You can find out more information on Opus. 28 and Martin Pasi on our organ project page.
I look forward to this journey with you as we watch Opus. 28 come to life and become a part of this community's generous work to love God, serve others, and change the world.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Ben Keseley, Minister of Music
In our second week of looking deeper at our overall treasure of hymnody, we explore hymns in worship, the hymn's most natural setting. In worship the hymn becomes an instrument of corporate devotion. To help understand the hymn's function in worship, its helpful to think of worship as a drama, as suggested by the Danish theologian, Soren Kirkegaard.
Our general pattern of worship emerges from a dramatic dialogue. The principal actors are the people of the congregation, aided and equipped by its leaders of worship. Our drama is often scripted with its structure and sequence based upon God's dialogical encounter with God's people. This drama is encapsulated in time and space limits of worship, but actually continues into our individual daily lives throughout the week. We are active participants in the work (service) of worship. Our principal audience is God. God hears and accepts prayers and praise offered and responds. Priests, the minister of music, and choirs are prompters in this drama - enablers of worship, guiding the congregation through its work of worship well in the presence of God, as they stand as participants, as well. This two-way conversation between God and God's people with given pattern and sequence is one through which the Spirit of God has been pleased to act throughout history.
With this understanding of worship, it is easy to see the place of hymnody in worship and the variety of ways in which they function. Hymns help people say what they want to, or should say at specific places in the liturgy. It is the job of worship leaders to accurately, intelligently, and sensitively select these for worship.
Hymns are never regarded as musical breaks for physical or mental relaxation, to relieve boredom, or cover awkward pauses, or to function as traveling music. They are to express another biblical idea. Hymn singing is offering a sacrifice of praise and prayer, one that requires the commitment of body, sprit, mind and voice.
+ Hymns depict the holiness, power and majesty of God
Holy, Holy, Holy; Immortal, Invisible; All hail the power of Jesus' name
+ Hymns are used to give a corporate response, recognizing human weakness and sin, and
ask for forgiveness. They are used to express penitence and confession:
Beneath the cross of Jesus, When I survey the wondrous cross, Savior, like a shepherd lead us
+ Hymns express God's forgiveness and renewal:
I heard the voice of Jesus say; Forgive our sins as we forgive, or the incredible hymn
There's a wideness in God's mercy)
+ Hymns give utterance to commitment and dedication of life
O Jesus, I have promised, Take my life and let it be
+ Hymns help proclaim the larger drama of Christian church year. They reinforce the mighty acts of God in Christ and the church, the redemption story of humankind. These hymns are such as our Christmas, Epiphany, Lenten, Holy Week and Easter hymns.
+ Hymns also serve as prayer, invocation and benediction in our service. I am sure there are other ways, too.
When we sing hymns together, it is the congregation, not the choir and the organist, that has the largest and most direct part. The hymn is the church singing corporately in praise of God, and not just the worshipper "taking part" in the service. Every person is included in this work of singing praise. John Wesley famously exhorted in his directions on singing:
"Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing."
The famous children's choir trainer Helen Kemp used to say, "Body, mind, spirit, voice: it takes the whole person to sing and rejoice". I remember one particular story she told about how she always talked with her choristers about the upcoming hymns in rehearsals. And that before each service during the prelude she would encourage her choristers to silently read the text of the hymns again they would sing in worship. For this not only helped them prepare their hearts and minds for worship, but helped them move towards a singing with understanding also.
May this be so for us, too. May we sing in worship with our body, mind, spirit and voice. Whether skilled or not! And, may you find renewed meaning and understanding in the hymns we sing, and the ways in which they help us offer our corporate devotion, our sung praises and prayer to God in worship.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Ben Keseley, Minister of Music
