Music
God’s Heart Like a Beating Drum
The week of July 3, 2016 was another week of racism and violence in the U.S. Two black men, Philando Castille and Alton Sterling were shot to death by police officers. In retaliation, Micah Johnson shot 12 police officers in Dallas, 5 of whom died. Though weeks like this are becoming common, these events in particular filled our small rural community with feelings of anger, sorrow, even despair. Come Sunday there was a definite need in our morning worship service to lament and resist the racism and violence while at the same time being...
read moreVTCUCC AM 2016
In April 2016, and for the 221st time, the Vermont Conference, United Church of Christ met for its Annual Meeting. The meeting was held from Friday morning, 4/29 through Saturday afternoon, 4/30 at the Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, VT. Our theme was, “Be The Church” which was borrowed from the national setting of the UCC. Below you will find the orders of worship for three services that took place during plenary sessions. Our musicians for these services were Peter and Mary Alice Amidon and our preacher/keynote was Bishop...
read moreBass Drop
First things first. WHAT’S A BASS DROP? Well, it’s an EDM (electronic dance music term) used to describe a moment in a song when the bass line rhythm suddenly “drops” or changes. They are sonic intrusions into the natural flow of a song. Bass drops, besides being intrusions, also add structure to a song, mark transitions, build anticipation and excitement, reinforce musical themes, and often evoke an emotional/visceral response that lead to people saying things like: “ah, man, that bass drop is sick.”...
read more[.mp3] to Worship
![[.mp3] to Worship](https://i0.wp.com/worshipwell.church/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/call-to-worship-banner-pic.jpg?resize=184%2C184&ssl=1)
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone It is common in many church services to begin with a CALL TO WORSHIP. It’s an ancient thing to do and we Christians do it for a variety of reasons: 1) historical (we learned it from our Jewish brothers and sisters – shema); 2) theological (it reminds us that it is God who calls us to worship); 3) scriptural (calls to worship are often adapted from psalms and other scripture passages); and 4) practical (a call to worship signals the start of a service and focuses a...
read morePalm Sunday: A Sacred Reading of the Passion of Jesus Christ
Below is a sacred reading of the Passion of Jesus Christ from Luke 23:1-56. This version weaves together percussion, woodwind or string, and 1 voice. At the end of the reading, the repeated phrase, “goodness is stronger than evil, love is stronger than hate,” gets louder and louder, intentionally drowning out the final passage (burial of Jesus). Personnel Needed 1) 3 readers 2) Musicians: Drum (any kind will do), woodwind or strings (recorder, flute, violin, etc.) and 1 voice (soprano or alto) 3) 1 person to direct (optional...
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