Bristol Faith in Action could use your help. If you have an old cell phone that you aren’t using, would you consider donating it? BFIA needs cell phones that are not more than four years (or so) old so that they can use their camera and quick document functions to help process information as clients come in. If you have an old cell phone sitting around, please bring it to the church. We will reset it, wipe it of all your personal information, and convert it for use by BFIA. You can drop it off at the front office. Thank you! /Pastor Sam

On Sunday, June 27, immediately after the 11:00 worship service, we will convene an informational meeting in the Fellowship Hall for those interested in doing evangelism and outreach at the Highlands Juvenile Detention Center (HJDC), a prison in Bristol for young men and women ages 12 to 17.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, several members of FPC and other churches led a Bible study at the HJDC from 12:40 to 1:30 p.m. every Sunday on a six-week rotation. After the reopening of the HJDC for Governor Northam’s visit last week, we are reaching out to everyone in our congregation who would like to learn more about this great ministry opportunity right on our doorstep.

The HJDC is separated into three cell pods, two for young men and one for young women. Ideally, we would like each week’s team to have two men and one woman to help lead studies on their assigned Sunday. We would like to have enough volunteers to create a viable, six-week rotational schedule. All participants must complete a registration document in order to visit the HJDC, and we will have copies available at the meeting.

This is a wonderful opportunity to influence the life of a young person with the transforming love and power of Jesus Christ that will often make the difference between a fruitful and productive life for the Lord or a life of repeated incarceration. If you are being called by the Lord to participate in this exciting ministry opportunity, please contact Pastor Sam, Pastor Dave, or Elder Han Ong, Co-Chair of the Evangelism and Outreach Committee, to confirm your availability to attend the meeting on June 27. Please pray about this ministry opportunity, and come the Fellowship Hall on June 27 to learn more. /Tom King

June 13: The Symphony of the Mountains’ recent performance of Antonio Vivaldi’s (1678–1741) The Four Seasons (Quattro Stagioni, Op. 8) in our sanctuary has emboldened me to dust off my copy of Jonathan Scott’s organ transcription of this timeless classic. Three years ago I performed the “Spring” portion (La Primavera) as part of my organ concert Spring: Gardens, Flowers, Birds. Each of the three movements of this concerto is an appropriate length for use as service music, so that is what I shall play this Sunday for prelude, offertory, and postlude.

In the introduction to his transcription, Scott writes:

“Vivaldi’s four violin concerti known as The Four Seasons were written in 1723 and published in 1725 in Amsterdam. The music is accompanied by a set of sonnets—possibly by Vivaldi—describing the events which Vivaldi’s music evokes, making it one of the earliest examples of ‘program music.’

“The Four Seasons is undoubtedly Vivaldi’s best-known and most widely performed work, and it exists in many versions and arrangements. Although Johann Sebastian Bach made several very effective organ and keyboard arrangements of some of Vivaldi’s other concerti, I have always thought it a shame that he didn’t transcribe The Four Seasons too. It would have been fascinating to know how Bach would have reimagined Vivaldi’s music as an organ solo and how he would translate Vivaldi’s virtuosic violin writing for the keyboard. With this in mind, I wanted to create a version of my own for organ solo—a version which was faithful to Vivaldi’s original score, but created a true organ work and not a poor imitation of the original.”

June 20: Robert J. Powell (b. 1932; Benoit, MS) grew up in sacred music, starting his training in fifth grade and beginning to compose in seventh grade. By age 18, he was providing piano and organ music for worship services, something he continued through college and as a chaplain’s assistant in the U.S. Army. Since 1958 he has published more than 300 compositions for organ, choir, handbells, and instrumental ensembles with leading American and English church music publishers.

In summer I often find myself scouring drawers of organ music in search of hidden treasures. This week I believe I have found one. Four Preludes on Early American Tunes by Robert J. Powell was published in 1961 by Abingdon Press. Judging from the price on the cover ($1.25), it’s most likely a first edition—probably the only edition. It comes complete with “Hammond (organ) registration,” a series of letters and numbers that give the player of a Hammond organ specific instructions on setting the draw bars to produce the desired sound. We have all heard that “you can’t judge a book by its cover,” and this is certainly true for this collection. All the pieces are creative, well-written arrangements, modern sounding but easy to listen to. Just perfect for the first day of summer.

I will play three of the four preludes. Two of the early American tunes Powell chose to arrange are familiar to me: “Morning Song” (prelude) and “Land of Rest” (offertory). The third one, “Fight On, My Soul” (postlude), is new to me. It comes from the Sacred Harp of 1902, which seems a rather late date to be called early American.

June 27: Ever since I learned our June sermon series would focus on Nehemiah and his project of rebuilding the temple walls in Jerusalem, I have not been able to get the hymn “Built On a Rock” out of my head. That hymn was in the hymnal (the Worshipbook) of the United (northern) Presbyterian Church I grew up in, and I relished singing it as a youth.

The words of this hymn were written by N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783–1872), a Danish pastor, who got into some trouble with the established church of his day for his “radical” views. He spent time in England until things cooled off. The tune “Kirken den es et gammett Hus” is by Ludvig Mathias Lindeman (1812–1887), a Norwegian composer and organist. Since this hymn is not in our current hymnal, the text is printed here:

Built on a rock the church does stand, Even when steeples are falling;

Crumpled have spires in every land, Bells still are chiming and calling;

Calling the young and old to rest, But above all the soul distressed,

Longing for rest everlasting.

Surely in temples made with hands God, the most high, is not dwelling;

High above earth his temple stands, All earthly temples excelling;

Yet he whom heavens cannot contain Chose to abide on earth with men,

Built in our bodies his temple.

We are God’s house of living stones, Builded for his habitation;

He through baptismal grace us owns, Heirs of his wondrous salvation;

Were we but two his name to tell, Yet he would deign with us to dwell,

With all his grace and his favor.

Now we may gather with our King, E’en in the lowliest dwelling;

Praises to him we there may bring, His wondrous mercy forthtelling;

Jesus his grace to us accords, Spirit and life are all his words,

His truth does hallow the temple.

Settings of this sturdy tune tend to be rather robust, as you will hear. My setting (prelude) begins with running figures in the accompaniment to give the listener a shifting, unsettled feeling. Then midway it builds up sound to nearly full organ, only to rapidly diminish to a whisper by the end. Wilbur Held’s (1914–2015) version (offertory) is more straightforward and succinct, but no less boisterous. Finally, David Cherwien’s (b. 1957) setting (postlude) instructs the performer to play “With fire!” It features relentless, dissonant chords in the manuals, with the hymn-tune played in the pedals, all while constantly changing time signatures (5/8, 6/8, 4/8, 3/4, 6/4). Hang on tight!

Memorials and honoraria are published in the newsletter only after the family has been personally notified by our business office. Today we acknowledge with gratitude that Ernie and Karen Pennington have given to the Music Projects Fund in memory of Gene and Bonnie Haskins.

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