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Membership Sunday

For the 11:00 a.m. service on Sunday, the Rev. Dr. John Joseph Mastandrea  is calling his sermon “Whisper in the Rock.” “In the text we encounter the tale of Hannah. Hannah occupies a space not unlike other women in Scripture who are raised out of the crowd for naming and narrative. She is a meaning-maker, not simply in what she points to, but in her own image, her own personage. Hannah reaches out to God in her despair and receives blessing in the law of love. In Hannah’s prayer, the promise is reborn: “I will put my laws in their hearts.” We hear the promise continue as Jesus comes out of the temple. We are called to come out of the temple, go to the world, and be the whisper in the rock!”

The organ prelude played by the Wayne C. Vance Organ Scholar Michael Oldaker is Sonata VI in D minor (variations on the chorale "Our Father, who art in heaven") by Felix Mendelssohn. The organ postlude played by Dr. Patricia Wright will be Toccata by Georgi Mushel. The Metropolitan Choir will sing Rejoice in the Lord Alway by John Redford and O Thou in Whose Presence arranged by Alice Parker and Robert Shaw. The Offertory music will be “Bruyères” from Preludes, Book II by Charles Debussy played by pianist Chris Taeyoung Kim. The hymns are No.565 (Love, Who Made Me in Your Likeness), No.878 (The Song of Hannah), and No.420 (Go to the World).   The last piece in the carillon prelude played by Roy Lee will be “Pavane” from Suite Archaïque by Géo Clément.  

The Bible readings are I Samuel 1:4-20 (Samuel’s birth and dedication), Hebrews 10:11-25 (Christ’s sacrifice once for all, and, a call to persevere), and Mark 13:1-8 (the destruction of the temple foretold).