Pageant Music

As we all adjust to a new normal of social distancing and stay-at-home orders, this Psalm, which has long been a favorite, became one of several quarantine composition projects. I heard and saw on Facebook a good friend Rob Bigley and his wife Kendra singing Ned Rorem songs in their living room, and was inspired; messaged him and said, I have something cooking that I would like to send you. In that week I composed a setting of Psalm 91 for voice and piano (it could also serve as a congregational song, though probably would work better for soloist or choir). God will save you from the deadly pestilence, and you will not fear the plague that stalks at noonday. Looking forward to hearing Rob and Kendra perform this sometime – maybe even in person!

Psalm 91 – Score

Check out Rob and Kendra perform this Psalm setting here!

Our Good Friday service this year focussed on the seven last words of Christ from the cross. Seven congregation members took time to reflect on the words and give a personal meditation. The Scripture passages and mediations were punctuated by Passion hymns and original interludes by Caleb Cossick, Matt Monticchio and Greyson Kemper. Watch and listen at the Second City Facebook page.

Everhart’s Songs for Holy Week

It has been a long time in coming, but it is here – Pageant Music and Everhart have completed the Holy Week album. Everhart had written 7 deep and devotional songs, one for each day in holy week, and we spent the last year recording these songs. They are finished! The official release is Tuesday, March 24th.

We hope these songs will serve as a musical and poetical journey through holy week, offering you a guide as you reflect of the Son of God and the plan of redemption. The next post will provide the sheet music for these beautiful songs. This is Everhart’s reflection on the album and it’s theme:

From Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, Christians around the world walk with Jesus Christ through the last days of his life. In the time between his Triumphant entry on Sunday and lying dead in the tomb six days later, Christ exposed hypocrisy, restored purity of worship to the temple, and wept like a child for the coming destruction of his beloved city, Jerusalem.  

He was deserted by his friends. 

From his pores flowed blood. 

From his mouth, prayers of grief and anxiety. 

From his heart, unceasing compassion toward even his killers. 

From his soul, heaving cries to His father as he gave up his last breath.

While walking with Christ through this week, I see firsthand that God is not distant or unfeeling. He has plummeted the depths of human suffering. My sin, putting me at odds with God, was nailed into his bloodied flesh, and dealt with forever. I am free to be myself because I am identified by nothing other than his Love. His wounds give me a place to belong.

As I look toward the resurrection on Easter Sunday, I take hold of life. Death is a cloak of darkness, an impending future of unknown realities that haunts every member of humanity. Jesus lived, walked, died alone, and rose to life so that death, though it tries so very hard, and its sting goes very deep, will not have the last word. 

Holy Week-LambAd

Re: The previous post on Singing for the Gospel – This setting of Christ’s words has become a regular song that we sing before the Gospel reading. By and by the congregation maybe picking up on these somewhat outside the box harmonies!

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”

ETERNAL WORD 1 SATB

At Second City Church, as we prepare to hear the preaching of God’s Word in our Sunday services, there is a reading of an Old Testament passage, a reading from an Epistle, and last a reading from the Gospels. These readings follow the calendar which you can learn more about here  We have a tradition of singing before and/or after the Gospel reading, and as is historically done, the song often includes and alleluia. There are obviously many hymns, songs and Psalms (particularly Psalm 1, 119 and other “wisdom’ Psalms) that would work well at this point as a joyful response to the Gospel. Attached here are several that we have been using. Eternal Word provides a setting of the words of Jesus and presented here are 3 different settings of this same text – one is a gospel sounding version, another is a 4-part traditional version and the last could be sung and musically dressed in various ways from folky, to jazzy, etc. This has been a great practice as we sing praise to God for His sure Word to us, and it’s eternal power in shaping our souls. I hope these provide at least some thoughts for you to consider in your worship planning. Feel free to use the attached lead sheets. I hope to post more of these  “Gospel reading songs” soon. PEACE.

Lead Me Lord w: Alleluia CHORDS.mus

Lead Me Lord w- Alleluia PIANO.mus

O Lord of Light

Eternal Word FOLK MASS.mus

Eternal Word PREACHER CHORDS.mus

Heaven and Earth-Eternal Word.mus

John 14 (ESV)

⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

You Are the Way

What a beautiful and meaningful week of services at Second City Church. I found myself exhausted Sunday afternoon after our Easter service, but filled with joy and peace in Jesus. Palm Sunday began with a energetic processional with marching percussion, children waving palms and the parade shouting hosannas. We had the children and adults (whoever was brave enough) march in from the other side of the church, into the sanctuary and up to the front sing a “Hosanna!” chorus. What a joyful and festive way to start a service. The week moved reverently through a healing service on Wednesday night, Maundy Thursday service filled with the Lord’s Supper, foot washing and the choir singing Thomas Tallis’ If Ye Love Me. Finally there was a Good Friday Tenebrae service. Easter morning was filled of course with a burst of triumphant singing. Attached is the Palm Sunday Processional, a communion hymn fitting for Maundy Thursday, a song appropriate for Good Friday called A Crown and Thorns, and a song we sang on Easter called The Strife is Over the Battle Done. Happy Easter!

Palm Sunday Procession

Communion Hymn

A Crown and Thorns

Strife is Over the Battle Done

At Second City Church we, like many churches throughout the world, use the Lectionary to guide the reading and themes throughout the church year. This coming week’s Psalm, the fifth Sunday in Lent, is Psalm 130. The opening line, and very title, of the hymn Out of the Deep I Call is drawn from Psalm 130. You can listen to a Pageant Music contemporary setting from the album 12 Pearls here. You can also see and download the lead sheet below. Grace and Peace!

Out of the Deep I Call

Today Pastor Jed Slaboda preached on John 4, Jesus’ amazing discussion with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well. Jed reminded us of the “living water” Jesus offers to those who would hear and believe his message. It brought to mind a number of songs, including an original musical setting of beautiful words by John Samuel Bewley Monsell (1811-1875).

I hunger and I thirst,
Jesu, my manna be;
Ye living waters, burst
Out of the rock for me.

Thou bruised and broken Bread,
My life-long wants supply;
As living souls are fed,
O feed me, or I die.

Thou true life-giving Vine,
Let me Thy sweetness prove;
Renew my life with Thine,
Refresh my soul with love.

Rough paths my feet have trod
Since first their course began;
Feed me, Thou Bread of God;
Help me, Thou Son of Man.

For still the desert lies
My thirsting soul before;
O living waters, rise
Within me evermore.

The song is on Pageant Music’s album 12 Gates. This song is a good one for Communion, baptism, or the preaching of related Scripture passages such as John 4, Exodus 17, etc. Here is a lead sheet of I Hunger and I Thirst:

I Hunger and I Thirst

You can Listen to the song here, as well as all the songs on 12 Gates.

What a great thing to culminate our time worshipping together every week by being fed by the preaching of God’s Word followed with being fed by our Savior Jesus in His supper to which he invites us all! Remembering that he gives us our daily bread, this signifying a food more spiritual that he gives. His very life he gives, and that life eternal. A water by which we will never thirst again, and a food by which we will never be hungry. This is certainly why we call it Eucharist, from the greek meaning “thanksgiving”. At Second City Church we strive to have a celebratory spirit as we partake the Lord’s Supper together. And we strive to serve others and by His grace and power, humbly point others to this precious life giving water, our perfect Savior.

The kyrie is one of the oldest prayers in the Christian church. For those churches that follow the church calendar, or even for those who don’t but would like to recover some of the rich history and rhythm of the church calendar for your church, Lent is a appropriate penitential time to incorporate this reverent prayer; during a time of confession or before the Lord’s Supper. There are thousands of settings of the kyrie eleison, and this is a great time to have the/a choir perform a more liturgical function – choir singing the “Lord have mercy” response to the congregation, or sing with the congregation, leading them in a choral response to the spoken prayer. Below is a short prayerful setting in which I composed the music, and included is an opening sentence for the leader followed by a time of silent meditation. This also allows for a oft ignored element in our services together – Silence. We are often uncomfortable with long silences, feeling like things should be moving along, or “something” should be happening. Wether you use this setting, write one of your own, or use one of the many other settings in existence, I hope this Lent, and throughout the year, you can recover this reflective, penitential, and silently prayerful time as a worshipping community.

Kyrie short 1 chords

Kyrie short instruments