Hymn of the Day: "When Jesus Came to Jordan" ELW 305
Text: Fred Pratt Green, 1903-2000
Tune: KING’S LYNN, English folk tune

The name of the Rev. F. Pratt Green is one of the best-known of the contemporary school of hymn writers in the British Isles. His name and writings appear in practically every new hymnal and "hymn supplement" wherever English is spoken and sung. And now they are appearing in American hymnals, poetry magazines, and anthologies.

Mr. Green was ordained in the British Methodist ministry and was pastor and district superintendent in Brighton and York, and then served in Norwich. There he continued to write new hymns "that fill the gap between the hymns of the first part of this century and the 'far-out' compositions that have crowded into some churches in the last decade or more."

Offertory Anthem: “All Who Believe and Are Baptized” J.S. Bach, harm. (1685-1750)

This is a setting of the choral “Es ist das Heil uns kommen her” with a harmonization by J. S. Bach. The composer of the tune is unknown.

This text by Thomas Kingo (1634-1703) was published in his En Ny Kirke-Psalmebog, Vinterparten (Odense, 1689) and , included in the official Danish Salmebog (1699), to be used after baptisms. It comes to Evangelical Lutheran Worship from The Lutheran Hymnary (1913) and a stream of twentieth-century Lutheran hymnals through Lutheran Book of Worship (1978). The translation is by George T. Rygh. With the exception of a slight change in The Lutheran Hymnal (1941), it remained untouched until Lutheran Book of Worship when it was cast into the third-person plural and modern English. Even then modifications were minor.

All who believe and are baptized shall see the Lord's salvation;
baptized into the death of Christ, they are a new creation;
through Christ's redemption they will stand among the glorious heavenly band of every tribe and nation.

With one accord, O God, we pray, grant us your Holy Spirit;
help us in our infirmity through Jesus' blood and merit;
grant us to grow in grace each day that as is promised here we may eternal life inherit.

Opening Voluntary: “How Brightly Shines the Morning Star,” Andreas Armsdorf (1670-1699)

"Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” (How lovely shines the morning star) is a Lutheran hymn by Philipp Nicolai written in 1597 and first published in 1599. It continues to inspire musical settings to this day.

Andreas Armsdorff was a German composer and organist. He was born in Mühlberg, near Gotha, and studied music and law. At some point in his early life he moved to nearby Erfurt where he may have studied with Johann Pachelbel. A comparison of today’s Voluntary with Pachelbel’s organ composition of the same name, displays its many similarities.
Armsdorff's early death was not an obstacle to the posthumous popularity of his music. His organ chorale preludes survive in numerous manuscript copies that circulated in Germany for decades after Armsdorff's death. Today, some 30 chorale preludes for organ are the only surviving pieces by Armsdorff, although there is evidence of lost vocal works, as well as numerous keyboard pieces

Closing Voluntary: “Dix” (As With Gladness) Wayne L. Wold (1954)

William Chatterton Dix, the son of poet John Ross Dix and named after Thomas Chatterton, would regularly write Christian poetry in his spare time. Dix wrote the text, "As with Gladness Men of Old", on 6 January 1859 during a months-long recovery from an extended illness, unable to attend that morning's Epiphany service at church. As he read the Gospel of Matthew's account of Epiphany in The Bible, he was inspired and started to reflect on the text. He then started to write about his thoughts and did so for the whole day with the eventual result being "As with Gladness Men of Old”. Dix kept the text private until a year later when it was published in Hymns for Public Worship and Private Devotion, which was written for St Raphael's Church in Dix's hometown of Bristol. It was also added to the trial version of Hymns Ancient and Modern before being included in the original publication of that hymnal in 1861. Most hymn writers in the Church of England at the time were clergymen, so Dix, a layman and marine insurance agent living in Glasgow, Scotland, was delighted that his carol was included. It was also self-published by Dix in his own Hymns of Joy and Love hymnal.

The editor of Hymns Ancient and Modern, William Henry Monk, adapted a tune by Stuttgart organist Conrad Kocher as the music for "As with Gladness Men of Old". Dix personally did not like the tune, which was ironic as it was later titled "Dix" as a tribute to him. Despite Dix's opinion of it, the tune became popular and is used for the majority of performances of the hymn. The same melody is also used in the hymn "For the Beauty of the Earth", an example of what is often considered to be a seasonal hymn melody given to a more general hymn text for use in Ordinary Time.