During the Offering at Pender UMC’s Traditional Service on January 9, 2022, we were treated to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, commonly known as Sonata Pathétique played by Liz Eunji Sellers .
View the entire service
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, commonly known as Sonata Pathétique, was written in 1798 when the composer was 27 years old, and was published in 1799. It has remained one of his most celebrated compositions.Beethoven dedicated the work to his friend Prince Karl von Lichnowsky. Although commonly thought to be one of the few works to be named by the composer himself, it was actually named Grande sonate pathétique (to Beethoven’s liking) by the publisher, who was impressed by the sonata’s tragic sonorities.
Liz played the second movement – Adagio cantabile (above)
This movement exemplifies the expressive Adagio style of many slow movements in the classical period. The famous cantabile melody is played three times, always in A♭ major, separated by two modulating episodes; the movement is thus a simple rondo rather than the sonata form more common for movements of this seriousness. The first episode is set in F minor (the relative minor of A♭ major), further modulating to E♭ major before returning to the main theme. The second episode begins in A♭ minor and modulates to E major. With the final return of the main theme, the accompaniment becomes richer and takes on the triplet rhythm of the second episode. There is a brief coda.
The PUMC Sanctuary Choir and members of the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra will provide a music cantata during traditional worship service.
Rev Will White will preach on
Ready for Different Kind of Birthday Bash?
based on Micah 5:2-5 and Luke 1:39-45.
Micah may be a minor prophet, but he’s a heavy hitter. Through him we know that God chose a no place like Bethlehem Ephrathah to be a significant someplace. Luke reminds us that, a young woman, a little girl really, from a backwater town became exceptional. Mary was her name. Her obedience to God makes possible a birth like none other. Come join us as we respond to this miracle.
Join us in worship with the young men and women at the Fairfax County Juvenile Detention Center.
You may feel like your individual participation doesn’t matter, but it does! Over and over again, the staff tells us how we make a difference in the young men’s and women’s lives and the lives of the staff!
Currently, We can only bring three people, so it is by invitation only. It is for the church to keep JDC in prayer.
Pender ministers to the youth lodged in the Fairfax County Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) through a program of Sunday afternoon worship. The JDC serves young men and women, ages 10 – 17. These young men and women are held before trial, and in some cases, after trail in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. The JDC also holds juveniles while awaiting transportation to the State Department of Juvenile Justice or other Placements. Their offenses run the gambit from delinquent offenders with minor criminal records to youth charged with major crimes.
Pender members join with these youth in worship including contemporary Christian music, a message, and prayer. Every fourth Sunday, we meet at the Center at 1 PM and are finished by 2:30 PM.
Global virtual choir sings Easter hymn More than 400 United Methodists from around the world have joined in singing the favorite Easter hymn “Thine Be the Glory.” Even in the midst of the pandemic, church members can celebrate Christ’s resurrection together.
This was an amazing experience bringing together over 400 singers from different countries, congregations, and communities – proving that even in the midst of a pandemic we are still united.
This project would not have been possible without the help of some amazing folks lending a hand:
The arrangement used of “Thine Be the Glory” was written and performed by Rev. Jared Wilson, Senior Associate Pastor and Director of The Music & Arts Academy at Madison Street UMC in Clarksville, Tennessee.
The Worship Team at Discipleship Ministries for coordinating the project and providing the vision for the Easter choir.
And of course, all 400 singers who submitted wonderful videos for us to use.
Thank you all and Happy Easter!
“Thine Be the Glory” is #308 in The United Methodist Hymnal.
Thine be the glory,
Risen, conquering Son;
Endless is the victory
Thou o’er death hast won.
Angels in bright raiment
Rolled the stone away,
Kept the folded grave clothes
Where the body lay.
Edmond L. Budry (1854-1932) wrote this hymn, originally in French as “A Toi la gloire, ô Ressuscité.” He was the pastor of the Free Evangelical Church of the Canton of Vevey, Switzerland, having studied theology at Lausanne.
The hymn was written in 1884 and appeared first in Chants Evangeliques (1885). A translation by Richard Birch Hoyle (1875-1939) gave the hymn increased visibility, especially when it appeared in the first edition of the hymnal for the World Student Christian Federation, Cantate Domino (1924). The Methodist Hymn Book (1933) was the first European hymnal to include the hymn.
Methodist hymnologist Fred Gaely notes that, “Budry was often asked to make translations of favorite German or English hymns, but he preferred to rewrite the texts, often improving on the original, and often freely adapting old Latin hymns.”
The inspiration for this hymn, according to Budry’s friend Paul Laufer, came from the words of Friedrich-Heinrich Ranke (1798-1876), published to the tune, MACCABAEUS, by George Fredrick Handel (1685-1759). The tune was adapted from a processional song in Handel’s oratorio Joshua (1747), as well as later versions of the more famous oratorio Judas Maccabaeus (1746).
Budry freely adapted Ranke’s Advent text and transformed it as an Easter hymn. As Gaely recognized, the Easter text “emphasized still more the triumphal nature of Handel’s music.” John Wesley, a contemporary of Handel, enjoyed this tune very much and cites it as one of his favorites in journal entries for March 29, 1774, and March 30, 1787.
According to English hymnologist J. Richard Watson, the hymn “is based on the Gospel accounts of the Resurrection (with a brief allusion to St. Thomas and doubt in verse 3), together with St. Paul’s commentary on it in I Corinthians 15.” This is especially evident in the use of the word “victory” in the refrain, reminiscent of I Corinthians 15:57: “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Stanza two almost quotes directly I Corinthians 15:55. The Scripture says, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Hoyle’s translation of the second stanza concludes, “death hath lost its sting.”
This hymn took on new life for me in August 2008 when I joined a group of United Methodist musicians in a teaching mission to Côte d’Ivoire, the newest (admitted formally to the denomination at the 2008 General Conference) and largest (nearly 700,000 members) of the denomination’s conference regions. Sponsored by the Global Praise Project of the General Board of Global Ministries, our group was charged to train a new generation of church musicians in Côte d’Ivoire.
As we concluded our time in this West African country, we realized that we were taught as much—if not more—by the African Christian musicians than we were teaching. One of the hymns that these United Methodists sang with great vigor was “A Toi la gloire, ô Ressuscité.” We heard it in two versions: the first was the classic Western hymn style; the second was a West African version complete with drums, electronic keyboards and guitars. Both were delightful.
It was a joy to see how this hymn has transcended not only time and cultures, but also continents to resonate with a vibrant Easter joy.
Dr. Hawn is professor of sacred music at Perkins School of Theology, SMU.
Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday, marks the last conversation Jesus has with his disciples, a conversation grounded in what he calls a new commandment (mandatum in Latin, hence our English word “Maundy”). He illustrates and underscores the new commandment by washing their feet: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Good Friday, or Holy Friday as it is known in nearly every non-English-speaking culture, we witness the execution of Jesus, recognize our ongoing complicity with the powers of death, and are called to enter the Great Silence of all creation in response to the death of its God and Maker.
7-8pm for a drive-through “Stations of the Cross” with Holy Communion held on our church’s campus. Come and prepare your heart for Easter! Drive through our parking lot to receive Holy Communion from Pastor Will. View Living Tableaux of the Passion of Christ, narrated by Pastor Will with beautiful musical accompaniment by Brian and Uriah.
News and Views 