EASTER SUNDAY
March 23, 2008
9:00 & 11:00 am


THE GATHERING

PRELUDE                                      Pièce Héroique                      César Franck
                                                       Prelude from Suite            Craig Phillips
                                                       Prelude for Easter Day      Calvin Hampton
                                                                                   Sam Ou, cello


EASTER ACCLAMATION                  Christina Bulkeley and Ben Stern (9 am)
                                                           Amanda and Nate Shu (11 am)
Adapted from “Resurrection,” a poem by Julia Esquivel, Guatemala

One:      I am in love with life, the sun, the howling mountain winds,
Many:    the storm, the clap of thunder,
              the songbirds’ joyful singing,
One:      the rabbits’ delight, the barking dogs,
Many:    and the promenade of the snails after the rain.
One:      I am in love with life,
Many:    dark skin or white, the shine of black cheeks,
              hair the color of cornsilk.
One:      I love the ants that never rest,
Many:    the lowing cows,     
              and the sound of their bells clanging in the Alps.
One:      I am in love with life,
Many:    the buzzing of gluttonous bees, the mischievous squirrels,
One:       the fox’s wonderful fur,
Many:     the musk deer’s beautiful form
               and the gallantry of the horse with his mane to the wind.
One:      I am in love with life,
Many:    the deep chant of rebel Gypsies,
One:      ancestral lament of the flute,
Many:    the violent dance of the Russians,
              shy smile of the Indian children.
One:      I am in love with life!
Many:     For Christ is risen and everything is fresh and new.
One:      Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Many:    Christ is risen, indeed. Alleluia!

ORGAN FANFARE                                 Calvin Hampton

*HYMN 233                Christ the Lord Is Risen Today          Easter Hymn
                                       arr. Bruce Saylor

*A SIGN OF OUR UNITY AND RECONCILIATION         Quinn G. Caldwell
Please greet those around you with the traditional Easter greeting:
“Alleluia! Christ is risen!” to which the response is “Christ is risen, indeed. Alleluia!”





WORDS OF WELCOME


EASTER MESSAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE     Halle, Halle      Caribbean folk song

ANTHEM                        A Song of Ascents                      Bruce Saylor
I was glad when they said unto me, “Let us go into the house of our God.” Our feet shall stand within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together. Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of our God, to give thanks unto the name of our God. For there are set the thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love you. Peace be within your walls and prosperity within your palaces. For my family and companions’ sakes, I will now say, “Peace be within you.” Because of the house of the Eternal our God,
I will seek your good. I will pray for your happiness.
                                –Psalm 122

THE GIFT OF THE WORD

*THE EASTER GOSPEL             Matthew 28:1-10           James W. Crawford

*HYMN                      A Repeating Alleluia                 Calvin Hampton


THE EASTER REFLECTION                             Nancy S. Taylor

*THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS from Messiah              G.F. Handel
For congregation and choir. The music is in your pew.
Thank you for leaving the music in the pew at the conclusion of the service.

OFFERING OUR PRAYERS, OUR GIFTS, OURSELVES

CALL TO PRAYER                                Robert W. Brown
THE EASTER PRAYER AND SILENT PRAYER

THE LORD’S PRAYER (in unison)
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                        Alleluia     Randall Thompson

CALL TO THE OFFERING                    Abigail G. Henderson

OFFERTORY ANTHEM        Et resurrexit from Mass in B Minor             J.S. Bach
And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and is seated on the right hand of God: and he shall come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

*SONG OF PRAISE                                  Lasst uns erfreuen, arr. George Sargeant
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


*COMMISSIONING OF CHRIST’S NEW PEOPLE                  
    One:    From where we are, to where you need us:
    Many:    Christ be beside us.
    One:    From what we are, to what you can make of us:
    Many:    Christ be before us.
    One:    From the mouthing of generalities, to making signs of your             kingdom:
    Many:    Christ be beneath us.
    One:    Through the streets of this world, to the gates of heaven:
    Many:    Christ be above us.

*HYMN 240                   Jesus Christ Is Risen Today       Llanfair
     arr. George Sargeant

*BENEDICTION        Nancy S. Taylor
Please be seated following the Benediction to allow the choir and clergy
to recess during the Postlude.

POSTLUDE                           Sinfonia from Cantata #29             J.S. Bach

›››››››››

You may exit the Sanctuary at the front on either side of the Chancel
or back by the way you came in.

Join us for hot cross buns following the 9:00 am service
in Mary Norton Hall on the second floor.

Today’s ASL interpreters are Jackie Chesney (9 am) and Leigh Haverty (11 am).

A NOTE TO PARENTS WITH YOUNG CHILDREN
Old South is child-friendly and we welcome children throughout this
morning’s worship. We do offer childcare for infants and children through
age five. If you need to step out during worship, the sound system is piped into the Gordon Chapel for your convenience. Modern bathrooms with changing tables are located on most floors. Our ushers can assist you.


REMINDERS

Here in Copley Square we are just a short walk from many bus stops, subway and rail lines, cab stands, and walking/cycling paths. For information on these or affordable parking  (3 hours during worship services) through Old South’s arrangements with nearby parking garages at 100 Clarendon Street or the Prudential Center Garage, ask at the Front Desk for validation details or visit our website <www.oldsouth.org>. Find directions by transit from your address to 645 Boylston Street at <www.mbta.com>.

For information or to join the Old South E-mail Forum, send an e-mail message to
<oldsouth-approval@world.std.com>.







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.

ABOUT OLD SOUTH CHURCH IN BOSTON

Old South Church was organized in 1669 by dissenters who broke from the First Church in Boston over our desire to widen our welcome.

Benjamin Franklin was baptized at Old South in 1706. Samuel Adams made his impassioned call for the Boston Tea Party at Old South in 1773. Old South Deacon William Dawes rode with Paul Revere to warn of the British coming on that famous night in 1775. In 1816 Old South members founded Boston’s City Mission Society, the first multi-service agency in New England. In 1851 the first YMCA in America was founded at Old South.


Originally located at Washington and Milk Streets (where our former building is now a museum), we moved to our present location in 1875.

Other famous Old South members include children’s author Mother Goose; Phillis Wheatley, the first published African American woman; and Samuel Sewell, who wrote the first anti-slavery tract in America.

Today we are a diverse, progressive Christian community engaged in a wide range of ministries in Boston and beyond.

Membership at Old South is a vital avenue to full participation in the life and ministry of the church. Intrigued? Please contact Quinn Caldwell at 617/536-1970 or <quinn@oldsouth.org>. Old South has a full array of programs for children and youth (music, education, fellowship, ministry). Interested? Contact Tricia Hazeltine at PHazeltine@comcast.net or call the number above.

THE OLD SOUTH CHOIR

Soprano
    *Alecia Batson
    Melissa Burdick
    Louise Jones
    Lisa Loveland
    Laurel Macey
    Michael Moon
    Dawn Patterson
    Gloria Platt
    *Adriana Repetto
    Elizabeth Tustian
Tenor
    *Julius Ahn
    Chris Bocchiaro
    Dave Elliott
    *Owen McIntosh
    Timothy Milliken
    Tyler Schwaller
    John Williams





Alto
*Carrie Cheron    
Joan Christenson
Mary Lou DeLacy
Alliea Groupp
Anna Lifvergren
*Rebecca O’Brien
Laura Perkins
Susan Stern

Bass
*Harry Baechtel
Gary Griffiths
Erik Gustafson
Michael Hand
Christopher Harrington
Kenneth Hekmann
Robert Lake
Sean O’Donnell
Nathan Rifenburg
*Nathan Troup
                              *section leader

Harry Lyn Huff, Minister of Music & Conductor
George Sargeant, Assistant Organist & Choirmaster

INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE

Trumpets
Mary-Lynne Bohn, Andrew Sorg, Steve Banzaert
Trombones
Joseph McEttrick, Alexei Doohovskoy, Gabriel Langfur
Timpani and Percussion
John Grimes
Percussion
Erik Gustafson, Daniel Makholm

NOTES ON TODAY’S MUSIC

Through the ages Easter has inspired a fountainhead of the world’s greatest music.  Today we celebrate the risen Christ with a rich tapestry of music—particularly with an array of alleluia settings. On no other day in the church year is that word more appropriate. Indeed at Old South we rejoice in the “resurrection of the alleluias,” which were symbolically buried throughout the Lenten season. The Hebrew word Halleluya as an expression of praise to God was preserved, un-translated, by the early Christians as a superlative expression of thanksgiving, joy and triumph. This morning, as the alleluias reemerge from their “tomb,” we sing the ecstatic Caribbean folk song, Halle, Halle. Following the reading of the Easter Gospel, we will respond with Calvin Hampton’s soaring A Repeating Alleluia, and immediately following the sermon, we as a congregation will sing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus, perhaps the most enduring piece of sacred music ever written. As the Prayer Response, the Old South Choir will sing Randall Thompson’s Alleluia, a perennial favorite of choirs ever since its world premiere in 1940 at the opening of the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood.

Bruce Saylor’s glorious setting of Psalm 122 will be sung as the opening anthem.  Subtitled A Song of Ascents, the text was written by David for the people to sing at the time of their goings up to the holy feasts at Jerusalem. It was meant to be sung when the people had entered the gates and stood within the city. It was most natural that they should sing of Jerusalem itself and invoke peace and prosperity upon the Holy City, for it was the center of their worship and the place where God revealed himself above the mercy seat. This modern paraphrase of the ancient psalm is most poignant when it appeals for peace “for my family and companions’ sakes.”

The offertory anthem is Bach’s triumphant Et resurrexit, which, in the context of his epic Mass in B Minor, virtually erupts out of the sorrow of the preceding “Crucifixus”—sonically illustrating the victory over the bonds of death. Though not likely intentional, it seems to be fashioned in the form of a bolero (such as Ravel’s most famous orchestral piece, or even The Impossible Dream from Man of La Mancha!). The bolero is a Spanish dance characterized by triple meter, which has a triplet on the second beat of each bar, and is abundant with hemiolas—a rhythmic device that gives the illusion of shifting from triple to duple meter. One is almost tempted to accompany this marvelous work with castanets!

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, Sr Minister Emeritus
Calvin Genzel, Wedding Outreach Minister ~ Janet Butler, Wedding Coordintr.
Ken Orth, Healing Prayer Service Minister
Robert W. Brown, Ministerial Intern ~ Abigail G. Henderson, Field Educ Intern
Mark S. Burrows, Theologian in Residence
Patricia Hazeltine, Church School Director v 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 ~ 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 ~ Rosemary Clarke, Accountant 
Elias Perez, Senior Sexton v Ozo Nwodo & Robert Blenman, Sextons
Jessica Goodknight, Rubia Reyes & Jim McDonnel, Receptionists

www.oldsouth.org ~ 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