Home Worship for April 18, 2021

Dear members of God’s family at Resurrection Church,

Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia! Eastertide continues as we both celebrate Christ’s resurrection and ponder its meanings for us and for the world as we are engaged by today’s readings. If you are able, join the congregation with your own worship at home at 10am EDT on Sunday or otherwise engage our home worship resources in ways appropriate to your circumstances.

Worship Service

A pre-recorded worship service, complete with readings, Pastor Linman's sermon, prayers, and music will broadcast at 10am EDT on Sunday, April 18, on our YouTube channel and will be available below:

Worship material for April 18, 2021

The following have been posted to YouTube; here is the YouTube Playlist for April 18, 2021:

Music Notes

Hymn of the Day: ELW #364 "Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia"
Tune: MFURAHINI, HALELUYA, Tanzanian traditional
Text: Bernard Kyamanywa (1938) tr. Howard S. Olsen (1922 - 2010)

Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia comes to us from African Lutheranism. Rev. Bernard Kyamanywa wrote the original Swahili text while he was in seminary in Tanzania. He wrote it in a very African style, envisioning a story-teller and congregation responding; the story- teller presents the simple story of the Easter Gospel, and the congregation responds with the refrain.

Howard Olson, longtime missionary/teacher in Africa, compiled a number of African songs in Set Free (Augsburg Fortress, 1993). Many were folk tunes like this one, to which Christian Swahili texts were later added.

Musical Reflection: Dance: Gaudeamus paritur, Mary Beth Bennett

Today’s Musical Reflection is a setting of the hymn tune Gaudeamus Paritur, by Johann Roh (1487-1547), which leads us to speak of pseudonyms. Johann Roh was a native of Bohemia. Roh was his name in Bohemian, but when he wrote in Latin he called himself Cornu, and when he wrote in German, he called himself Horn. In the ELW, this tune is paired with the text “Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain.”

Mary Beth Bennett is a nationally recognized performer, composer and improviser living in historic Richmond, Virginia where she serves on the adjunct music faculty of the University of Richmond and is Organist of Second Baptist Church. She has previously held various positions in Washington, D.C., including at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.