Third Sunday in Lent
9:00 a.m. (Order of Worship) in Old South Church Chapel
&
11:00 a.m. Service in Santuary
(Order of Worship below)
A Congregation of the United Church of Christ
The Old South Church in Boston
Gathered 1669
THE GATHERING
PRELUDES from Eleven Chorale Preludes, op. 122 Johannes Brahms
Herzliebster Jesu, #2
Schmûcke dich, o liebe Seele, #5
Herzlich tut mich verlangen, #9
Herzlich tut mich verlangen, #10
*HYMN 513 O Source of All That Is O Gott, du frommer Gott
*CALL TO WORSHIP Quinn G. Caldwell
One: O God, you summon the day to dawn,
Many: You teach the morning to waken the earth.
One: Great is your name.
Many: Great is your love.
One: For you, O God, the valleys shall sing for joy,
Many: For you, O God, the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
One: Great is your name.
Many: Great is your love.
One: For you the monarchs of the earth shall bow,
Many: For you the poor and the persecuted shall shout for joy.
One: Great is your name.
Many: Great is your love.
One: Your love and mercy shall last forever,
Many: Fresh as the morning, sure as the sun.
One: Great is your name.
Many: Great is your love.
*A SIGN OF OUR UNITY AND RECONCILIATION
We invite you to greet those around you, wishing them
"peace" or "the peace of Christ."
WORDS OF WELCOME Nancy S. Taylor
THE GIFT OF THE WORD
ANTHEM Kyrie Cathy Moklebust
Old South Ringers
SCRIPTURE Mark S. Burrows, Abigail G. Henderson and Robert W. Brown
Numbers 11:24-30
Matthew 10:5-23
*HYMN 171 Jesus Calls Us, o'er the Tumult St. Andrew
(Children and teachers may leave for their Church School classes.)
SERMON Would that All the Lord's People Were Prophets Nick Carter
*HYMN 543 Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life Germany
OFFERING OURSELVES AND OUR GIFTS
*CALL TO PRAYER Brent Damrow
One: God be with you
Many: And also with you.
One: Lift up your hearts.
Many: We lift our hearts to God.
One: Let us pray. (The congregation may be seated.)
PRAYERS OF CONFESSION
All are invited to sing the response as indicated. Greek for "Lord have
mercy," Kyrie eleison is an ancient prayer by which Christians have
approached Jesus since the earliest days of the church.
One: O God, if we have not loved you with all our hearts and all our minds
and all our strength, and our neighbors as ourselves.
Many: Sung response
One: If we have not heard your call to serve as Christ served us;
If we have been full of pride, or hypocrisy or impatience,
Many: Sung response
One: If we have been self-indulgent; if we have exploited another;
If we have loved worldly goods and comforts too much;
If we have been dishonest in thought or expression,
Many: Sung response
One: Holy God, if we have failed to notice human suffering,
or if we have caused it;
If we have failed to notice the waste and pollution of your creation,
or if we have caused it.
Many: Sung response
One: If we have trusted violence rather than peace,
and the rulers of the earth over your rule,
Many: Sung response
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION AND SILENT 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 Schaffe in mir, O Gott Johannes Brahms
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."
-Psalm 51:10
CALL TO THE OFFERING Ian Holland
OFFERTORY ANTHEM Jesus Calls Us Kevin McChesney
Old South Ringers
*SONG OF PRAISE
Old Hundredth
Praise God whose many names abound,
Our Judge, our Rock, our Holy Ground.
Our Home, our All, earth's Majesty
Love, Spirit, Light and Mystery. Amen.
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
*HYMN 436 God of Grace and God of Glory Cwm Rhondda
BIDDING TO MISSION AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE Mein Jesu, der du mich, #1 Johannes Brahms
During the Postlude you are invited to stand and stretch (quietly, please)
while the crew sets up a screen.
THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS: WISDOM TRADITION
We invite you to remain for an intriguing 10-minute film presentation, "The
Teachings of Jesus: Wisdom Tradition," from Session III of our Lenten Study,
Saving Jesus. Following the film clip, here are some options:
1) Go directly to the fourth floor to participate in a guided, small
group discussion until 1:45 pm. On the fourth floor you will find
refreshments to sustain you during the discussion.
2) Go into the Chapel to enjoy conversation and refreshments. You
might even decide to discuss the film clip there.
2) Take the Saving Jesus insert home with you to read, meditate and
chew on for the week.
Please refer to the insert for more information.
Today, immediately following the Lenten film clip, all who are interested in
a tour of the Sanctuary are invited to meet Docent Dick Yeo at the front of
the Sanctuary.
The new Lenten pulpit hanging is given by Elizabeth and Betty Pitcher
in loving memory of Jean M. Jackson, M.D.
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.
Today's scripture readers are Theologian-in-Residence and Andover Newton
Theological School professor Mark Burrows, Field Education Intern and
Harvard Divinity School student Abby Henderson, and Ministerial Intern and
ANTS student Bob Brown.
The flowers today are given by Diane and Peter Stokes in celebration of many
family winter birthdays.
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
know-there will be one waiting for you next Sunday!
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
Today we observe Seminary Sunday, the day on which we bless those who have
been called to theological education. During the offertory the Old South
Ringers will play Jesus Calls Us, an arrangement which blends the hymn tune
"Galilee" and the less familiar "Adelaide" into a meditation on our response
to God's call to discipleship. Galilee is the familiar setting of the hymn
Jesus Calls Us, o'er the Tumult, found at #172 in The New Century Hymnal.
(Earlier in the service we will sing that same text to the more recent hymn
tune St. Andrew, by New York composer David Hurd.) "Adelaide" is a
lesser-known hymn tune named for the woman who composed the text of the hymn
most often associated with the tune, "Have Thine Own Way, Lord." This hymn
also centers on the theme of surrender to God's call, best summed up in the
final stanza: "Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way. Hold o'er my
being absolute sway. Fill with thy Spirit till all shall see Christ only,
always, living in me!"
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) wrote the Eleven Chorale Preludes for Organ, op.
122, at Ischl in Upper Austria, during the last summer of his life.
Biographers agree that he composed them in memory of his dearest and most
faithful friend, Clara Schumann. At the same time, the preludes are a
revealing document of Brahms' thoughts on his own life. One biographer,
Niemann, points out that most of the Preludes deal with "last things." They
are, said Niemann, "a retrospect and an epilogue, a salutation to youth and
its ideals, and a farewell to this world which is, after all, so fair."
Somber as many of the preludes are, they yet have a warm autumnal quality
that is all Brahms' own.
"Schaffe in mir, Gott", a setting of Psalm 51, is a 4-movement work set for
5 voices. The work dates from 1864, just after Brahms took a strong
interest in the works of Bach. The opening movement, sung today as the
prayer response, was written in 1856. It pays homage to music of an even
earlier era, the Renaissance motet. Brahms had studied in Italy with a
leading Palestrina scholar and had lead performances of numerous Renaissance
motets with his Viennese choral group. This brief work is a true
compositional gem, utilizing "canon," or strict imitation: the soprano part
is exactly echoed in the second bass part, though stretched out in
augmentation!
Harry L. Huff, Minister of Music
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 v 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 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 - 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.