Hymn of the Day: “Voices Raised to You” #845
Text: Herman G. Stuempfle, Jr. (1923-2007)
Tune: SONG OF PRAISE, Caroline Jennings (1936)

This hymn was commissioned by the ALCM for its tenth anniversary and first sung on Reformation Sunday in the fall of 1996.

Rev. Dr. Herman G. Stuempfle, Jr. lived most of his life in Gettysburg, PA. He served as President of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg and was the author of several books and numerous articles and lectures on preaching, history, and theology. He was also among the most honored and respected hymn writers of the 20th and 21st centuries. Rev. Dr. Stuempfle was known for his leadership in community and civic projects. Always taking an active stance on social issues, he participated in the creation of day care centers, served on the Gettysburg interchurch social action committee, helped create and support prison ministries and a homeless shelter, and tutored young people in the after school program of Christ Lutheran Church, where he was a long time member.

Carolyn Jennings is a Professor Emerita of Music at St. Olaf College where she taught for many years and also served in administrative roles, including Chair of the Music Department and Associate Dean for the Fine Arts. She also served as a church musician for over thirty years, at St. John's Lutheran Church in Northfield, Minnesota.

Over many years she has been active in promoting the use of inclusive language in texts for singing, and has worked to heighten awareness of how language shapes as well as expresses thought.

Her compositions and arrangements include works for voices, orchestra, and piano. She particularly enjoys composing for voices.

Offertory: Song of Thanksgiving,” Malcom Archer (1952)

With a text by John Milton, paraphrasing Psalm 136, today’s anthem is rhythmic and joyful with fun syncopations.

Malcolm Archer is much in demand internationally as a conductor, composer and organist, and has given many recitals in the USA as well as conducting concerts and directing leading choral courses there. His career has taken him to several English Cathedrals as Director of Music, including Wells and St. Paul’s, and for eleven years he was Director of Chapel Music at Winchester College. He has over 250 published works, which include organ and choral works, a one act opera, instrumental and orchestral pieces and two musicals.

Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord, for he is kind;
For his mercies ay endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.

Let us blaze his name abroad,
For of gods he is the Lord,
For his mercies ay endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.

He the warm and golden sun
Causes in its course to run,
And the moon to shine at night,
mid her starry sisters bright.

All things living he doth feed,
his full hand supplies their need.
For his mercies ay endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.

Opening Voluntary: Schmucke dich (Deck Thyself, My Soul) J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

This text is often considered the best and most popular of the Lutheran chorales for the Lord's Supper. The dominant tone is one of deep joy enhanced by a sense of awe. We express joy and praise for "this wondrous banquet" (st. 1), and we show reverence in receiving Christ (st. 2). Thankful for "heavenly food" and drink (st. 3), we rejoice in Christ's love for us and in its power to unite us (st. 4).

Johann Cruger composed the hymn tune specifically for the text. Johann S. Bach used this tune in his Cantata 180; he and many other composers have written organ preludes on the melody.

Closing Voluntary: Fanfare from Five Pieces for Organ, Healey Willan (1880-1968)

James Healey Willan was born on October 12, 1880, in Balham, Surrey, England. He had a wide experience as a composer of a full-length opera, a symphonic work, countless organ and choral works, as a music educator, a choral director, and a church musician. He played his first service at the age of eleven in 1891 and his last service on Christmas Eve, 1967, just two months before he died on February 16, 1968.

Having served churches in England, Willan left for Canada in 1913 to serve as organist and choirmaster at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Toronto as well as head of the Theory Department at the Toronto Conservatory of Music. In 1921, he accepted the position of organist-choirmaster at St. Mary Magdalene Church, an Anglo-Catholic parish in Toronto, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. During his tenure there, Willan also accepted in 1938 the position of Professor in the Music Faculty at the University of Toronto.

Most of his hymn-based motets and organ preludes came into existence after his retirement from the University of Toronto in 1950, the most prolific compositional period of his life. Willan is probably best known for his sacred and liturgical music, especially that written for St. Mary Magdalene Church. His anthems, hymns, motets, mass settings, and carol settings contributed to his reputation as the “dean of Canadian composers.”

Written in 1959 for the dedication of a new organ in St. Matthew's Church, Ottawa, this festive piece recalls the joy of a congregation rejoicing in the sound of their new instrument.