Music for March 19, 2023 + The Fourth Sunday in Lent

Vocal Music

• Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us – William Bradley Roberts (b. 1947)

Congregational Music (all hymns from The Hymnal 1982 with the exception of those marked “R” which are from Renew.)

• Hymn 149 - Eternal Lord of love (OLD 124TH)
• Hymn R191 - O Christ, the healer, we have come (ERHALT UNS, HERR)
• Hymn 143- The glory of these forty days (ERHALT UNS, HERR)
• Hymn 671 - Amazing grace! how sweet the sound (NEW BRITAIN )
• Hymn 493 - O for a thousand tongues to sing (AZMON)
• Psalm 23 - Tone IIa

This Sunday I will be in Ireland with my family for Spring break, so I want to thank Karen Silva for playing the organ at the 10:15 service and Bernice Satterwhite for playing piano at the 8 AM service.

The things you learn writing (and researching) a blog about your music. For instance: this Sunday we are going to sing one of the anthems from Reverend Celeste's ordination service, a simple but beautiful piece by a friend of mine, Bill Roberts. I had met Bill several years ago at the Mississippi Conference on Church Music and Liturgy and strengthened that friendship through the avenue of Facebook. It was not until looking up pertinent information about him  (read: his birth-year) that I learned he was a graduate of Houston Baptist University. The Rev. Dr. Roberts is the retired Professor of Church Music at Virginia Theological Seminary and Director of Chapel Music there, so you can imagine my surprise to find out that not only is he an alum of HBU, but had also been ordained as a Baptist minister! He is now, however, thoroughly Episcopalian, having served as music director of some of the country's largest and most active Episcopal congregations, and most recently ordained as an Episcopal priest!

We are singing his setting of the hymn text, Savior, like a shepherd lead us, which employs a lilting melody in compound triple meter.