JUNE 3, 2007

Trinity Sunday

Preparation for Worship

The Spirit That Sets Us Free

Brief Statement of Faith We trust in God the Holy Spirit, everywhere the giver and renewer of life. The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith, sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor, binds us together with all believers in the one body of Christ, the Church.  The same Spirit who inspired the prophets and apostles rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture, engages us through the Word proclaimed, claims us in the waters of baptism, feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation, and calls women and men to all ministries of the Church.

     In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in Church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.

     In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks, to live holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth, praying, Come, Lord Jesus!

Today is Trinity Sunday, which focuses on the Christian doctrine of the three persons of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the Reformed tradition, Trinity Sunday is observed one week after Pentecost.

     We extend a warm Westminster welcome to the Chancel Choir of Christ Presbyterian Church and to our guest instrumentalists, who join with Westminster’s musicians to lead this worship service in praise of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

     Our service begins with a vibrant setting of the hymn, “Come Thou Almighty King”, the text of which well describes the Trinitarian nature of God. The text of this familiar hymn appears as #139 in the hymnal and you are invited to follow along as you prepare yourself for worship. The introit, “This Is the Day”, is based on the text of Psalm 118 and set by Czech composer Jacobus Gallus (1550-1591). The processional hymn, “Holy, Holy,  Holy!  Lord God Almighty!”, was written especially for Trinity Sunday and published in the classic “Hymns Ancient and Modern” (1861). The familiar tune, Nicea, was composed particularly for this text and so named because it expounded upon the Trinitarian statements found in the Nicene Creed.

     The  text of the “Brief Statement of Faith” of the Presbyterian Church, USA, is woven throughout our communion liturgy this morning. In 1983, when the two largest Presbyterian churches in the U.S. reunited, they wrote a brief statement which would be confessed by the whole congregation in the setting of public worship. The “Brief Statement of Faith” is a Trinitarian confession in which the grace of Jesus Christ has first place as the foundation of our knowledge of God’s  sovereign love and our life together in the Holy Spirit. The “Brief  Statement of Faith” is, thus, divided into three essential components: we trust in Jesus Christ; we trust in God, whom Jesus called Abba, Father; and we trust in God the Holy Spirit. It celebrates our rediscovery that we are bound together by a common faith and a common task.

     The musical setting of the “Brief Statement of Faith”, entitled “The Spirit That Sets Us Free”, is set in five movements for chamber orchestra and organ by Minnesota composer Stephen Paulus (b. 1949). In worship this  morning, this work is integrated into our liturgy as follows:

Prayer of Confession and Declaration of Forgiveness –  “III.  We Trust in God”

Anthem – “II.  We Trust in Jesus Christ”

Affirmation of Faith (spoken) – “IV.  We Trust in the Holy  Spirit”

Communion – “I.  We Belong to God”

Benediction Response – “V.  We Believe”

As we gather around the Lord’s Table, “Draw Us In the Spirit’s Tether”, speaks of our community of faith and God’s call for us to be his “disciples true.” The tune Union Seminary, is a 1957 composition of Harold Friedell (1905-1958), faculty member of the Juilliard School of Music, the Guilmont Organ School, and Union Theological Seminary School of Sacred Music. The offertory anthem, “Salvation Is Created”, was composed in 1912 for use in the sacramental liturgy by Russian Orthodox musician Pavel Tschesnokoff  (1877-1944). With its basis in Psalm 74:12, this beautiful anthem speaks of the salvation God offers to us in the form of  his son, Jesus Christ. The music offered during communion includes three trio sonatas on the Trinity Sunday hymn, “All Glory Be to God on High”, which appears as #133 in the hymnal. In the trio sonata form, each voice on the organ offers a distinct melodic pattern simultaneously (one in the left hand, one in the right hand, and one in the feet). This collection of pieces include German-influenced settings by Sweelinck (1562-1621), Armsdorff (1670-1699), and Marpurg (1718-1795).

     On this special Sunday in which we have professed the tenants of our Presbyterian beliefs through song, our worship ends with “When in Our Music God Is Glorified, “the text of which was written by Fred Pratt Green in 1972. The tune Engelberg was originally composed in 1904 as a setting for the hymn text, “For All the Saints”. The tune fell out of favor when the text of “For All the Saints” was published with a new tune by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1906 called Sine Nomine”. After worship, you may experiment with the pairing of the tune Engelberg and the text of “For All the Saints”, which is #526 in the hymnal. The postlude is an  energetic piano/organ duet that pairs the Nicea tune with the theme of the  beloved toccata from Charles-Marie Widor’s (1844-1937) Fifth Organ  Symphony.