Seventh Sunday of EASTER 
Holocaust Remembrance
May 4, 2008
11:00 am


THE GATHERING

PRELUDE              
Piedmont College Chamber Singers
Dr. C. Wallace Hinson, conductor

Ubi caritas                           Ola Gjeilo
Where there is charity and love, God is there.
Love has gathered us together.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Let us revere and love the living God.
And from a sincere heart let us love one another.
--Anon., 10th c. France

Set Me As a Seal                         Edwin Fissinger
Laurel Mullinax, soprano
Set me as a seal upon thine heart:
For love is as strong as death;
Set me as a seal upon thine arm:
For many waters cannot quench love.
--Song of Solomon 8:6-7

hope, faith, life, love                 Eric Whitacre
hope, faith, life, love, soul.
-- e.e. cummings

Epitaph                           Bob Convery
Composed for the Piedmont Chamber Singers. Text taken from the Granary Burying Ground, as found on the gravestone: "Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Ann Barbara Bender who died Septr 12 1794 aged 48 years."

While weeping friends bend o'er the silent tomb
Recount her Virtues:
And their loss deplore:
Faiths piercing eyes dart thro' the dreary gloom
And hail her blest:
Whose tears shall flow no more.

Viderunt omnes fines terrae                      Mikolaj Zielenski
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God;
Sing joyfully unto God, all the earth.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
Before all nations he has revealed his justice. Alleluia.
--Psalm 98:3-4, 2

*HYMN 20                 God of Abraham and Sarah               Constantine

*CALL TO WORSHIP                                                Abigail G. Henderson
        One:    Welcome to this holy place:
        Many:   House of prayer for many nations;
                home to all who come.
        One:    Welcome to this gathering place:
        Many:   friend and stranger, saint and sinner
                in all who gather here.
        One:    Come with hope or hesitation; come with joy or yearning;
                all who hunger, all who thirst for life in all its fullness.
        Many:   We bring to this sacred place
                our best, our worst, our height, our depth.
        One:    Welcome to God's house:
                a place of prayer and praise, of honesty and hope.
        Many:   We come from many places,
                to this place where many become one.

*A SIGN OF OUR UNITY AND RECONCILIATION
Please greet those around you wishing them "peace" or "the peace of Christ."

WORDS OF WELCOME                                             Quinn G. Caldwell

ANTHEM                  Allegro Spirituoso                     Greg Underwood
The Old South Ringers

THE GIFT OF THE WORD

SCRIPTURE             Exodus 1:8-19        The Honorable Nadav Tamir

CONGREGATIONAL SONG             Hineh mah tov         Hebrew round
(Children and teachers may leave for their Church School classes.)

Behold how good and how pleasant it is when people live together in unity.
                                                        -- Psalm 133:1

REFLECTION                             Calamity                          Nancy S. Taylor

AN ACT OF REMEMBRANCE
for the Jewish Victims of the Holocaust
Ali Corman-Vogan, Beth El Temple Center, Belmont
Nadav Tamir, Consul General of Israel to New England
Nancy S. Taylor, Senior Minister, Old South Church in Boston

INTRODUCTION TO SILENCE AND MEMORY

Silent meditation

Silence does not just bring to a standstill words and noise.

Silence is more than the temporary renunciation of speech.

It is a door opening before prayer, toward the very realms of the spirit and the heart.

Silence is the beginning of a reckoning of the soul,
the prelude to an account of the past and the consideration of the present.

May our shared silence lead us to awareness of a time of total evil that degraded our most precious values, the very meaning of religious existence, and life itself.

Our silence is to be a committed accounting for other silences that
accepted persecutions and were indifferent to debasement and crime.

WORDS OF PASTOR MARTIN NIEMÃ-LLER
Men         First they came for the Jews
                and I did not speak outâ€"
                because I was not a Jew.
Women   Then they came for the socialists
                and I did not speak outâ€"
                because I was not a socialist.
Men         Then they came for the trade unionists
                and I did not speak outâ€"
                because I was not a trade unionist.
Women    Then they came for meâ€"
                and there was no one left to speak out for me.

The congregation pauses again for a time of silent reflection and prayer.

*LIGHTING THE MEMORIAL CANDLES

All who are able stand for the lighting of the candles
and remain standing through the Kaddish.

*THE MOURNERS' KADDISH (Read in Aramaic)       Ali Corman-Vogan

The congregation is invited to say "Amen" at the appointed times.

Glorified and sanctified be God's great name throughout the world which He has created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during your days, and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon; and say, Amen. All say: AMEN.

May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity.

Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen. All say: AMEN.

May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us and for all Israel;   and say, Amen.
All say: AMEN.

He who creates peace in His celestial heights, may He create peace for us and for all Israel and for all the descendants of Adam; and say, Amen.
All say: AMEN.

The congregation may be seated.

SONG OF REFLECTION               Duet of Hope                    Jack Gottlieb
Adriana Repetto and Alecia Batson, sopranos

I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger traveling through this world of woe, but there's no sickness or toil or danger in that fair land to which I go. I'm going there to meet my mother.  I'm going there no more to roam. I'm just going over Jordan. I'm just going over home.
--Traditional

CALL TO PRAYER                                               Quinn G. Caldwell
One:            God be with you
Many:           And also with you.
One:            May the peace of Christ dwell in your hearts.
Many:           Christ is our peace, our light, and our hope.
One:            Let us pray.

PASTORAL PRAYER

THE LORD'S PRAYER

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

PRAYER RESPONSE         Andante sostenuto            Hermann Schroeder

OFFERING OURSELVES AND OUR GIFTS

CALL TO THE OFFERING                                           Robert W. Brown

OFFERTORY ANTHEM        Chichester Psalms, III        Leonard Bernstein
Adonai, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither do I exercise myself in great matters or in things too wonderful for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of its mother, my soul is even a weaned child.
Let Israel hope in God from henceforth and forever.
--Psalm 131

Behold how good and how pleasant it is, for people to live together in unity.
-- Psalm 133:1

*SONG OF PRAISE                                             Lasst Uns Erfreuen
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Christ the Word in flesh born low; Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise Holy Spirit evermore; One God, Triune, whom we adore.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen!

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION

*HYMN 1                Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise          St. Denio
arr. George Sargeant

*THE BLESSING                                                    Nancy S. Taylor

CHORAL POSTLUDE             Elijah Rock        Spiritual, arr. Moses Hogan
The Piedmont College Chamber Singers

ORGAN POSTLUDE                Poco Vivace                             Schroeder

Today, immediately following the postlude, all who are interested in a tour of the Sanctuary are invited to meet Docent Dick Yeo at the front of the Sanctuary.

At 12:30 pm in the Sanctuary, all are invited to an address by the
Honorable Nadav Tamir, Consul General of Israel to New England,
on the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel.


YOM HASHOAH (Holocaust Remembrance Day)

Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laGvura "Remembrance Day for the Holocaust and Heroism"), known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, is observed as a day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. In Israel, it is a national memorial day. Today the congregation of Old South pauses to observe Yom HaShoah.

We extend a warm welcome to our guests this morning, the Honorable Nadav Tamir and Ali Corman-Vogan, who will help lead us in this act of memory. Ali, who grew up at Old South, is a member of Beth El Temple Center in Belmont. Nadav Tamir serves as Consul General of Israel to New England at the Consulate General of Israel in Boston.

Nadav joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993 and the following year began to serve as the Policy Assistant to the Foreign Minister. Nadav had the privilege to serve under three Foreign Ministers: Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak, and David Levy. He was then promoted to the position of Political Officer at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. in 1997. In 2001, Nadav was granted the position of Advisor to the Director General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem.

In 2003, Nadav was chosen as a Wexner Israel Fellow and earned his Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 2004. Prior to joining the Ministry, Nadav served as a security officer at the Residence of the President of Israel, while simultaneously earning his B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, from which he graduated Magna Cum Laude. Nadav was born and raised on Kibbutz Manara in northern Israel. He began his career in public service in 1980 in the IDF, where he eventually served as a company commander and retired with the rank of Major.

He is married to Ronit, a dance educator, and is the father of Maya, Ido, and Naama.


TODAY AT OLD SOUTH

Welcome to Old South Church in Boston. Our faith is over 2000 years old, but our thinking is not! Old South opens its doors to the city, to tourists from near and far, to the needy, to an array of building users, and to a congregation (of members, friends, and family -- both the curious and the committed) who call this their church home. Join us for fellowship and refreshments in Gordon Chapel immediately following worship.

The flowers today are given by Rodney and Emily Click in celebration of our son John's graduation from Earlham College yesterday.

Today's ASL Interpreter is Tracy Villinski.

More than thirty volunteers are extending hospitality to visitors and parishioners. In addition, over twenty volunteers sing in the choir, while others teach in the Church School. If you're interested in volunteering for hospitality tasks, please call Betty Smith at 781/721-7777; to sing with the choir, call Harry Huff at 617/425-5146; to learn about the church school, call Tricia Hazeltine at 617/536-1970.

Wearing name tags is a great way to facilitate community and make newcomers feel welcomed. If you don't see a tag with your name on it, let us knowâ€"there will be one waiting for you next Sunday!

Membership at Old South is a vital avenue to full participation in the life and ministry of the church. If interested, contact Associate Minister Quinn Caldwell at 617/536-1970 or <quinn@oldsouth.org>.

CD recordings of today's service may be obtained by calling Jessica Goodknight at 617/536-1970 or emailing <reception@oldsouth.org>. Sunday sermons and worship services are also available on the Web and as podcasts at <www.oldsouth.org>.


NOTES ON TODAY'S MUSIC
Hineh mah tov uma nayim shevet achim gam yachad! How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there God ordained a blessing, life forevermore. (Psalm 133)

These precious words anoint our service today. We will first sing them together in a traditional Hebrew round; the Old South Choir will later present them in an exquisite chorale by Leonard Bernstein, the final section of the third movement of his Chichester Psalms. This revolutionary work was commissioned for the 1965 Three Choirs' Festival in England, which each summer unites the choirs of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury Cathedrals.

Hebrew is indeed a fitting language to adorn this service, as we commemorate those who perished in the Holocaust. Following the recitation of The Mourner's Kaddish, the Choir will offer a musical meditation by Jewish composer Jack Gottlieb (b. 1930), who was Assistant to Bernstein at the New York Philharmonic. Duet of Hope poignantly melds the heartrending Appalachian folksong "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" with the Hebrew folksong Hatikva, which is the national anthem of Israel.

The service this morning will be greatly enhanced by musical gifts from the Old South Ringers and from the Piedmont College Chamber Singers from Demorest, Georgia, under the direction of Dr. C. Wallace Hinson. Piedmont College is a private, four-year, liberal arts institution affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches. The Chamber Singers is a select, 40-voice choir that is known for its vocal precision and expressive singing. The Chamber Singers are currently on tour throughout New England.

---

OLD SOUTH CHURCH IN BOSTON
MINISTERS, OFFICERS AND STAFF

Nancy S. Taylor, Senior Minister ~ Quinn G. Caldwell, Associate Minister
Harry L. Huff, Minister of Music ~
James W. Crawford, Senior Minister Emeritus
Calvin Genzel, Wedding Outreach Minister ~
Janet Butler, Wedding Coordinator
Ken Orth, Healing Prayer Service Minister
Robert W. Brown, Ministerial Intern ~
Abigail G. Henderson, Field Education Intern
Mark S. Burrows, Theologian in Residence
Patricia Hazeltine, Church School Director ~ Rolanda Ward, Youth Worker
Carolyn Davis, Director, Old South Preschool
George Sargeant, Assistant Organist & Choir Director
 Willie Sordillo, Jazz Service Music Director
Peter Coulombe, Director, Old South Ringers
Amy Budka & Phil Stern, Children’s Music Directors

Wayne Davis, Moderator v Pamela Holland, Clerk ~
James Monsma, Treasurer
Phil Stern, Chair, Board of Trustees ~ Susan T. Campbell, Historian
Diane Gaucher, Senior Deacon  ~ Vicki A. Newman, Pledge Secretary
Helen McCrady, Senior Church Administrator
Amy Perry, Administrative Assistant v Rosemary Clarke, Accountant 
Elias Perez, Senior Sexton v Ozo Nwodo & Robert Blenman, Sextons
Jessica Goodknight, Rubia Reyes & Jim McDonnel, Receptionists

www.oldsouth.org v 617/536-1970


A NOTE ON THE INCLUSIVE DIMENSIONS OF GOD’S GRACE

Old South Church in Boston, in the name of its host, Jesus Christ, and in the spirit of Christ’s invitation carved into the stone of this church’s portico, “Behold I Set Before You an Open Door,” welcomes all who seek to know God.

Following the One who we believe is Sovereign and Savior, we affirm that each individual is a child of God, and recognize that we are called to be like one body with many members, seeking with others of every race, ethnicity, creed, class, age, gender, marital status, physical or mental ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression to journey together toward the promised realm of God.

We invite everyone to join in the common life and mission of our reconciling community through participation and leadership in this congregation, and by fully sharing in the worship, rites and sacraments of this church.
As we all move forward with the work of this church, we commit ourselves to making justice and inclusivity a reality in this congregation and in the world.  On the threshold of Christ’s open door, we rely upon the healing, unconditional nature of God’s love and grace to be our help and guide.

Old South Church
645 Boylston St. Boston, MA 02116
(617)536-1970 Tel (617)536-8061 Fax