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Sunday, February 22, 2004

After discussions with Pastor Bill Yancey and Music Director Stephen Mager, below is what (content-wise — wording may change) should be appearing in the bulletin next week at 11:00 service.

Please recall the final rehearsal for this worship service will be Saturday, 28 February, from 1:00 – 2:00 in the Sanctuary. Pastor Yancey should be joining us for most of that rehearsal.

Also, please recall that all worship services and rehearsals for Worship Band, along with lists of songs/hymns practiced and used in worship services, appear in the Bethel Worship Band blog (weblog) at http://bethelworshipband.blogspot.com

Order of Worship for First Sunday in Lent
29 February 2004, 11:00 Service

[No Prelude]
Gathering Song
“I Danced in the Morning” [Supplement #798]
Brief Order of Confession and Forgiveness (spoken)
Kyrie
(sung — Now the Feast) [Supplement, p. 3]
Salutation (spoken)
First Lesson
Psalm 91: 1-2, 9-16
(spoken in alternation – pulpit/lectern)
Second Lesson
Gospel Acclamation
“Return to God” (Now the Feast) [Supplement p. 10]
Holy Gospel
Sermon
Hymn of the Day
"A Mighty Fortress" (LBW #229)
Creed
Prayers (spoken)
Voluntary
“Tree of Life, Awesome Mystery” [Renewing Worship #R-139 — bulletin requires insert]
Offering Hymn
"As the Grains of Wheat" (Now the Feast) [Supplement, p. 12]
Communion Preface
"Holy, Holy, Holy Are You" (Now the Feast) [Supplement, p. 15]
Eucharistic Prayer (spoken — shortest prayer)
Lord's prayer
Communion Distribution
“Lamb of God” (Verse 1 and "Lent" verses, Now the Feast) [Supplement, p. 20]
“We Come to the Hungry Feast” (WOV #766 — bulletin requires insert)
“Eat This Bread” (Supplement #772 if needed)
Post Communion
"Thanks Be to You” (Now the Feast) [Supplement, p. 22]
Benediction
(spoken)
Sending Song
“Jesus, Remember Me” (Supplement #740)
[No Postlude]

Saturday, February 14, 2004

Here's a message Sherman sent to the entire Bethel Worship Band:

Happy Valentine’s Day!

It’s hard to believe that nearly two weeks has already passed since the last Center Celebration. That was a really special event — the serendipitous contributions of all — all the Schroeders, their slideshow, the dragon and other show and share items, the new music we tried — really a wonderful experience. Many thanks to everyone!

There are a couple of exciting developments for the Worship Band. Please read the blog (http://bethelworshipband.blogspot.com) for full details. In a nutshell, the Worship Band will be providing music for the 2/29 11:00 service (First Sunday in Lent) and also the March Center Celebration. By the way, March is the last Center Celebration for this academic year — this is due to the Easter schedule, Bethel Voters’ Meeting and the end of the spring worship schedule. Beyond March, the Worship Band will have opportunities to participate in the 8:15 and 11:00 services in the late spring, and the (one) Sunday worship services during the summer.

The first thing we need to do is to agree on practice times, especially because the Worship Band will be playing at worship services for two consecutive Sundays. If we are relatively productive during our practice sessions, we should be able to follow our regular pattern, which is two practices held on the Saturdays prior to the worship service. Because we plan to reuse quite a bit of music we should be able to get away with three practices for two worship services. Based on recent months, the tentative practice schedule would be:

Saturday 21 Feb, 12:00 noon – 2:00 pm (practice music for both worship services)
Saturday 28 Feb, 12:00 noon – 2:00 pm (1st hour: practice with Faith Place Choir; 2nd hour: focus on 2/29 service)
Saturday 6 Mar, 12:00 noon – 2:00 pm (practice with Faith Place Choir for 3/7 Center Celebration)

To help make these practices as efficient as possible, the musical selections for both services will be completed by the first practice (2/21).

*** Sorry for the long e-mail, but there were a lot of details to share. The important thing about this message is to chime in about the suggested practice times above. Please do this soon because I need to coordinate the schedule with Oliver Grant of Faith Place.

Many thanks, and Shalom!
Sherman
Here's the text that Sherman submitted to the Bethel newsletter regarding the March Center Celebration and Adult Education series:

March Adult Education Forum


Join us in the March Adult Education Forum for an exciting series on a new
local ELCA mission and also Renewing Worship in the ELCA.

3/7 -- The March Center Celebration will focus on Faith Place, the first new
Lutheran ministry in the city of St. Louis in over 50 years. The Faith
Place Children's Choir will collaborate with the Bethel Worship Band to
provide worship music for this special service. (The Faith Place Children's
Choir will be appearing at the Central States Synod Assembly this April.)

3/14 -- Christ's Ministry at Faith Place. Sherman Lee (Faith Place Board
President) and Gail Pipal (Faith Place Board Member) will give an overview
of this new urban holistic ministry (http://faithplace.blogspot.com),
located in the Fox Park neighborhood (Jefferson and Shenandoah) in St. Louis
City. Included will be a short video (narrated by Faith Place director and
founder, Pastor Robin Morgan). Faith Place is one of three ministries that
will be highlighted to the entire Assembly in April.

3/21 -- Renewing Worship in the ELCA. Tarah Demant will provide an overview
of the Renewing Worship (www.renewingworship.com), the five-year/five-phase
process established to determine the "next generation" of worship resources
for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Bethel's role and current
status in the process, and the possible implications for Bethel.

3/28 -- "The Future of Protestant Worship: Beyond the Worship Wars".
Sherman Lee will lead a discussion based on this book by Ronald Byars, which
was written in response to the phenomenon of mega-churches such as Willow
Creek in Illinois (www.willowcreek.org). This book is noteworthy because it
was cited at a recent local Renewing Worship event as a major reference for
additional study.


Faith Place Children's Choir to participate in March Center Celebration!

The theme for the March Center Celebration (3/7, 9:30 am) will be a continuation of Mission, this time focused in St. Louis on Faith Place, the first new Lutheran ministry in St. Louis City in over 50 years.

The Faith Place Children's Choir, under the direction of Oliver Grant, will join the Worship Band for practices on 2/21 and 2/28 (tentatively 12:00 - 2:00) and at the Center Celebration from 9:30 to 10:05. (That Choir has another commitment in the city at 10:30.) The Bethel Worship Band will be asking children from Bethel to help sing at this special service.

At least one song already chosen ("Be Glorified"); continue to read this blog for further updates!

Sunday, February 08, 2004

Bethel Worship Band to provide music for the 2/29 11:00 Service!

Music will be chosen carefully for 2/29 so that the Band can reuse some of it for the March Center Celebration.

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