March 25 Worship: Choir Cantata

I don't know about others, but I found Sunday's worship to be a powerful and meaningful experience.  This year's Lenten cantata, "Song of the Shadows" by Joseph M. Martin, was well prepared by our choir and wonderfully led by our director of music Renee Zimmerman.  I heard several positive comments after the service, including some for our sung words of institution at the Lord's Table and others of deep appreciation for the choir's efforts.

I did not get to bask long in the afterglow of worship (I was quickly off to the airport to attend the Scott Lectures at Bethany College -- a fantastic experience I hope to reflect on in a later blog post).  Travel demands and security checkpoints can distract us from the warm feelings of being together in God's presence on Sunday morning.

But I hope that those who joined us for worship were not so quickly taken away from the powerful emotions of remembering Christ's passion.  As we move through the years, we can sometimes become complacent about the stories that we think we know all too well, especially the often-told stories of Jesus.  But in journeying through Lent and Holy Week each year, pausing to focus on Jesus' going into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, his time with the closest disciples in an upper room before heading into a night of despair, betrayal, denial, and brutal treatment at the hands of Roman soldiers, his noble death upon a cross, and his burial, our faith is stretched and enriched, making our Sunday celebrations of the resurrection that much more special and more powerful.  Certainly this has been my experience over the years.

Through the choir's music on Sunday, we were all encouraged to see the familiar story in a new and deeper way.  This encouragement to deepen our faith will continue in our Holy Week worship services, beginning on Palm Sunday (April 1, 10:25 am) and continuing through Maundy Thursday (April 5, 7 pm), Good Friday (April 6, 7 pm), the Great Vigil of Easter on Holy Saturday (April 7, 8 pm), concluding with our special celebration of Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday (April 8, 10:25 am).

We are in a very special time of year for Christians.