January 6, 2023

A Johann Pachelbel setting of the Epiphany hymn, "How Brightly Shines the Morning star", is the organ prelude this first Sunday after Epiphany. Pachelbel (1653-1706), was 27 years old when JS Bach was born, but obviously their lives overlapped and some stylistic traits of Pachelbel can be found in Bach's compositions, although no one has ever composed on the scale, complexity, and beauty as Bach.

Our opening hymn is new to us -- 444 -- check it out. I think it is wonderful music, and the text is a paraphrase of "The Song of Zechariah".

Our Gospel hymn is the familiar "In Christ there is no East nor West", 529, the tune being an Afro-American spiritual.

The anthem is a setting of the famous "I Wonder As I Wander", originating in non other than Murphy, NC, in the 30's, the first 3 phrases sung by a young girl who was literally "wondering as she wandered" with her itinerant preacher parents. John Jacob Niles wrote it down and turned it into a complete song.

We will hear another arrangement of it -- and "Jesus, Rest Your Head"-- during communion, played on the harp by Martha Bailey.

Closing the service we will sing the famous tune "found in a bottle" washed up on the shore-- "Thy strong word did cleave the darkness". Then the postlude will be a Robert Hobby (as you remember, contemporary American Lutheran) setting of hymn 135, "Songs of thankfulness and praise".