Sunday, February 23, 2025
Seventh Sunday After Epiphany
Since 1930, the US has celebrated Black History Month in February. We honor The Rev. Absolom Jones, the Episcopal Church’s first black Priest, on February 13 each year. So, in honor of Black History and Rev. Jones, this Sunday all of the special music will be by African-American composers.
The Gospel reading this Sunday is from Luke, and we will hear Jesus tell us to love not only those who are easy to love, but we should also love and pray for our enemies, those who hate us, and those who harm us. When giving, we are to give more than was asked of us and to do so without regard to any payback. The Gospel reading for February 13 is from John, and here Jesus tells us “love one another as I have loved you.” So with this over-riding theme of love, the choir will sing “I Choose Love” by African-American composer Mark Miller. Mark is Professor of Church Music, Director of Chapel, and Composer In Residence at Drew University in Madison NJ, and is the Minister of Music of Christ Church (UCC & Am Baptist) in Summit, New Jersey. He believes that everyone is a Child of God and that music is instrumental in healing the world.
In the midst of pain, I choose love.
In the midst of pain, sorrow falling down like rain,
I await the sun again, I choose love.
In the midst of war, I choose peace.
In the midst of war, hate and anger keeping score,
I will seek the good once more, I choose peace.
When my world falls down, I will rise.
When my world falls down, explanations can’t be found,
I will climb to holy ground, I will rise.
Lindy Thompson
At Communion, Alan and I will sing a Moses Hogan arrangement of “Let Us Break Bread Together On Our Knees”. Born in New Orleans in 1957, Hogan had an early passion for music. He was an accomplished pianist by age 9, graduated from New Orleans Center for Creative arts High School, and was awarded a full scholarship to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He began graduate studies at Julliard, but left to study classical music in Vienna. Over his lifetime, he published 88 arrangements for voice, eight of which were solo pieces. Moses Hogan died from a brain tumor in 2003.
You are in for a special treat at the Prelude and Postlude. Jack will play two pieces by Florence Price, the first African-American woman to have her music performed by a major symphony orchestra. Florence Beatrice Smith learned piano at a young age, playing in her first recital at the age of 4. She went on to graduate as valedictorian at the age of 14. She then enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music, majoring in organ performance and piano teaching. In 1932, she won the Wannamaker competition in Chicago, which led to her Symphony No. 1 in E Minor performance by the Chicago Symphony in 1933.
At the Postlude, Jack will play the Finale from the First Sonata for Organ. In 1904 while studying at the New England Conservatory, Florence Price was selected to play Alexandre Guilmant’s Sonata No. 1 in d minor for a student organ recital for the visit of this esteemed French organist and composer. Guilmant in turn publicly expressed his congratulations on Price’s accomplished performance. Composed in 1927, Florence Price’s First Sonata is a tribute to Guilmant as she modeled the work after his own First Sonata.
Price died from a stroke in 1953, and her music was mostly forgotten after her death. However, in 2009 a couple who was renovating the Price family’s former vacation home in St. Anne, Illinois, found a trove of Price’s sheet music and manuscripts that were thought to have been lost. The discovery led to renewed interest in Price’s work. Later that year the music publishing company G. Schirmer, Inc., acquired the worldwide rights to Price’s catalog and began publishing her solo piano compositions and other works. The International Florence Price Festival, which honors Price’s contributions to classical music, was launched virtually in August 2020. In 2022 the Philadelphia Orchestra’s recording of Price’s Symphony No. 1 in E Minor and Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, won a Grammy Award for best orchestral performance.
Prelude – Adoration Florence Price (1887-1953)
Communion – Let Us Break Bread Together On Our Knees arr. Moses Hogan (1957-2003)
Offertory – I Choose Love Mark Miller (b. 1967)
Postlude Finale (Organ Sonata 1) Florence Price
Hymns God Is Love, Let Heaven Adore Him
Father All Loving, Who Rulest In Majesty
I Come With Joy
Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us With Your Love
Lord, Make Us Servants Of Your Peace
Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service
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