m u s i c t h i s w e e k

introit Let Us Live in the Light

Chancel Choir

anthem Carried By Love

Chancel Choir Kelly Moore, solo

benediction Til We Meet Again

Chancel Choir

hymns I Stand Amazed in the Presence

We Have Come at Christ’s Own Bidding

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

InCHOIRing Minds the weekly newsletter of the Trinity United Methodist Church Music Ministry

worship this week TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD

Matthew 17:1-9 Rev. Neal Woods

The term transfiguration is not in the general vocabulary of most people. Even if we know that it means to change the outward appearance of, we will not often find opportunities to use it in daily conversation. We may give our houses new shingles, shutters, paint, and shrubs, but we call it home improvement, not transfiguration. We may have plastic surgery to remove some wrinkles or tighten up some skin, but we call it a face lift, not transfiguration.

This Sunday’s gospel does use this unique term. “And Jesus was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.” Hymnwriter Brian Wren helps us sing of the awe and excitement in a song that begins:

Jesus on the mountain peak stands alone in glory blazing… JESUS ON THE MOUNTAIN PEAK

Jesus, who always looked so fully human, was once again revealed to be more. He had one foot—no, rather he had both feet—in this world and both in another. He walks up the mountain with his human disciples, but there he speaks with the long-dead Moses and Elijah. To top it all, a voice from heaven says, “This is my son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” Talk about a mountaintop experience!

So, the Epiphany season comes to a close as it began: with a heavenly voice confirming that this Jesus truly is the Son of God and commanding us to listen to him. The Holy Days of Baptism of Our Lord and the Transfiguration are the

Volume 12

Issue

19 week of February 23, 2020

bookends of the Epiphany season. Both are mountaintop experiences and both pack enough energy to carry us through the “ordinary” times of life.

Christ is ever present for us in our own high and low points—as present in our times of joy and assuredness as in our times of pain and doubt, in spite of our perceptions otherwise. Life, like a landscape, is not all peaks nor all valleys. And, as in music, the highs and lows define each other and need each other to express the heights and depths and richness of life.

This will be a Sunday for joyous praise and glorious alleluias. But be assured that Lent is just around the corner, and the story of salvation travels a route straight through the streets of Jerusalem on its journey to Easter.

c e l e b r a t e !

3/22 – Terrell Ball 4/9 – Steve Noblin 4/23 – Ben Chumley 4/24 – Shawn McClure 4/28 – Holly Wingard

Our next Mobile Food Pantry is just around the corner!

Fri, March 20 unload food truck &

organize groceries in the gym

Sat, March 21 distribution

Plan to come help us feed hundreds of our neighbors in need (and have a great time doing it!)

Trinity on Stage

Tryon Little Theatre’s production of Steve

Martin’s Bright Star, a bluegrass musical

based on a true North Carolina story,

music directed by Ben Chumley, runs

March 5-8 (Thurs-Sat 7:30pm, Sat-Sun

2:30pm) at the Tryon Fine Arts Center (34

Melrose Avenue, Tryon, NC 28782).

Tickets ($25) are available at TLTinfo.org

or by phone at 828.859.2466.

Our next blood drive will be Sunday, February 23 from 8:00am – 1:00pm. Sign up after worship or contact the church office

to reserve your spot!

SPOT 11 DIFFERENCES IN THE PICTURES BELOW

news & happenings

In the early 1900s, Charles H. Gabriel was the king of gospel music. He wrote the words and music for a number of hymns used by popular evangelists of his day, such as Billy

Sunday and his song leader, Homer Rodeheaver. Gabriel’s hymns reflect a change in the style of gospel music. In the

1800s, hymns were deeply theological and often meditative. But with the revivals of Moody and Sunday, congregations learned to love songs that were fun to sing, highly energetic, and easy to remember.

Among Gabriel’s credits are hymns such as O That Will Be Glory for Me, Send the Light, and one we’ll sing this week, I Stand Amazed in the Presence. All of these songs focus on a simple emotion and celebrate it. In the case of I Stand Amazed in the Presence, it is raw amazement at the sheer magnitude of Christ and his love. Like many of Gabriel’s other hymns, we can identify with it. How can we help but stand amazed in his presence? How marvelous! How wonderful!

h y m n o d y t h i s w e e k

Praise for a lovely anthem, There Is a Happy Land, by the Chancel Choir and handbell ringers Amanda Atkinson, Jim Griffis, Ina Reynolds, & Paula Towe!

Prayer for our church and its ministries as we prepare for several special services and outreach projects during the upcoming Lenten season.

Prayer for Trinity and our United Methodist Church as we prayerfully continue to hold listening sessions in preparation for General Conference 2020.

Continued prayer for Music Ministry members past and present: Monalisa Smith, George Bass, & Walt Douglass.

Prayer for several fellow Music Ministry members and their families who are facing continuing personal, medical, family, and financial challenges.

Prayer for Lucy Russell, who is recovering with a broken arm after a fall last week.

Praise for a nice job on Sunday’s prelude, Praise to the Lord, The Almighty, by our Grace Notes handbell quartet!

p r a y e r s & p r a i s e s

upcoming dates

February 23 e Blood Drive

February 25 e Shrove Tuesday

February 26 e Ash Wednesday

March 2-4 e no bell/choir rhsls

March 20-21 e TOTAL Ministries

Mobile Food Pantry

March 30 e SPIHN dinner (choir)

April 5 e Palm/Passion Sunday

April 9 e Maundy Thursday

April 10 e Good Friday

April 12 e Easter Sunday

April 13-19 e All ensembles off

upcoming music

March 1 FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

Holy Jesus Chancel Choir

March 8 Lonesome Valley

Chancel Choir

March 15 The Road to Damascus

Chancel Choir

March 22 Like a River in My Soul

Chancel Choir

March 29 Come, Ye Sinners…

Chancel Choir

April 5 PALM/PASSION SUNDAY

Blessed Is He Chancel Choir, Trinity Bronze,

Joyful Noise Choir

Arise, My Soul, Arise Chancel Choir &

Peter Moore, violin

Treble Sunday will be April 26. Handbell Sunday will be May 17. TRINITY BRONZE – upcoming ring dates: 3/15 – God of Grace and God of Glory 4/5 – Palm Sunday; Blessed is He 4/10 – Good Friday; Were You There 5/17 – Handbell Sunday! Chancel Choir – our SPIHN guests will be with us three more times this year. We will provide & serve dinner on the following Mondays: 3/30, 6/22, & 10/5. For March, Evelyn Barganier has volunteered to serve as coordinator. We have decided on a pasta bar menu and will need (usually 15ish servings):

● noodles ● grilled chicken ● marinara/meat sauce ● salad & dressing ● alfredo sauce ● bread ● meatballs ● dessert

If you are able to help with any of these, please see Evelyn. (And if not, we have 2 more SPIHN dinners this year!)

Lent/Holy Week Services: Tues 2/25 – 6:00 Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner Wed 2/26 – 6:30 Ash Wednesday (choir rehearsal follows) Sun 4/5 – Palm/Passion Sunday (all ensembles!) Thurs 4/9 – 6:30 Maundy Thursday service/meal (no music) Fri 4/10 – 6:30 Good Friday (handbells play) Sun 4/12 – Easter Sunday:

6:30am – Sunrise service (no music) 8:30 & 10:30 services (choir sings both)

Chancel Choir – rehearsal tracks for our Palm/Passion Sunday and Easter music are ready! CDs are available in the choir room and digital copies of all tracks can be downloaded from the MUSIC NEWSLETTERS & FORMS page of TrinitySpartanburg.org. Please begin working on all 4 pieces between Wednesdays:

PALM/PASSION SUNDAY: Blessed is He and Arise, My Soul, Arise EASTER: He Is Risen! and To the Lamb on the Throne

Please send prayer & praise notices by noon on Monday for inclusion in our weekly newsletter.

February 23, 1685, marks the birth of George Frideric Handel, German-born English composer of Messiah (first performed in 1742). He also composed hymn tunes such as Christmas (“While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night”), Maccabeus (“Thine Be the Glory”), and Antioch (“Joy to the World!”).

c h u r c h h i s t o r y

t h i s w e e k

SPIHN