May 1, 2005 - In lieu of a spoken sermon, today's worship features a cycle of African-American spirituals,
Feel the Spirit, sung by the Sanctuary Choir with guest soloist Natalie Griffin Mitchell.
Feel the Spirit was first performed June 17, 2001 in Carnegie Hall with John Rutter conducting. Rutter was born in London in 1945 and studied music at Clare College, Cambridge, where he wrote his first published compositions and conducted his first recording while still a student. From 1975 to 1979, he was director of Music at Clare College. His compositional career has embraced both large- and small-scale choral works, orchestral and instrumental pieces and music for television. His most recent larger choral works,
Requiem (1985),
Magnificat (1990) and
Psalmfest (1993) have been performed many times in Britain, North America, and a growing number of other countries.
The opening hymn today, Lift Every Voice and Sing, has been called the "Black National Anthem" by some. It was written by poet James Weldon Johnson and composer John Rosamond Johnson, brothers, to be sung by a group of African-American schoolchildren in Jacksonville, FL, in 1921, in celebration of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. It is a song of hope for all people, reminding us that even in the darkest days, God's justice ultimately will triumph.
Today's hymn of commitment, Precious Lord, Take My Hand, was written by Thomas Dorsey, who came to be known as the Father of Gospel Music. After several false starts in using his musical talent for religious inspiration, Dorsey became director of music at Chicago's Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1931. A year later, while he was leading a revival meeting in St. Louis, his wife died in childbirth. The next day, their newborn son also died. Despondent, he blamed God for cursing him with a burden of sorrow. He thought of once again abandoning his faith. Instead, he went to the piano and drew upon his "secular" background in the bluew to express his pain in a constructive way. The result was Precious Lord, Take My Hand, which has become one of the most-loved gospel tunes.
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