Prelude — Blest Be the Tie that Binds
arr. Sharon Rogers · Jubilation Bells
Introit — Praise
Michael Helman · Jubilation Bells
Hymn of Praise — A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
Martin Luther (c. 1527–1529), tune: EIN FESTE BURG · HPP #382, vv. 1, 2, & 4
Martin Luther wrote this hymn between 1527 and 1529, and it’s been known as “The Battle Hymn of the Reformation” ever since. But here’s the twist: Luther’s “battle hymn” is not about going to war — it’s about refusing to fight on the enemy’s terms.
The fortress holds when we stand unified!
Anthem — O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus / Moonlight Sonata
Samuel Trevor Francis / Ludwig van Beethoven (1801) · Sharon Nelson, piano solo
Samuel Trevor Francis wrote this hymn text after a spiritual crisis, and what emerged was poetry of oceanic love — “vast, unmeasured, boundless, free, rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me.” Beethoven composed the Moonlight Sonata in 1801 as his hearing was failing — music of aching tenderness written by a man who was losing the ability to hear it. Both are meditations on a love so deep it can hardly be contained.
Sharon Nelson will magically weave these two works together at the piano.
Interlude for Reflection — The Sound of Silence
Paul Simon (1963) · organ
Paul Simon wrote this in 1963 at the age of 21 — alone in his bathroom, lights off, taps running for the white noise, because he found the darkness helped him concentrate. But this music comes with a warning label: silence isn’t always peace. Sometimes it’s the sound of people standing in the same room, choosing not to reach for one another.
Hymn of Reflection — Agnus Dei
John L. Bell · choir & organ
The Agnus Dei — “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us… grant us peace” — was introduced into the Mass around 687 AD. John Bell (b. 1949) sets this ancient prayer with characteristic directness. Notice that the request for peace comes only after we have named our need.
The Lamb doesn’t wage war. The Lamb absorbs it.
Response — Dona Nobis Pacem
after Max Richter · organ improvisation on the traditional round
“Dona nobis pacem” — grant us peace — is the closing phrase of the Agnus Dei. This improvisation is itself a lesson in unity: three independent voices creating harmony not through uniformity but through patient, overlapping trust.
Offertory — Love One Another (EWALRY)
choir & organ
The text is blunt: “Love one another, for love is of God.” No qualifications, no footnotes, no exceptions clause. As you bring your offering, consider that the most radical act of unity the church performs might not be a creed or a vote — it’s the stubborn, repeated decision to love people you didn’t choose.
Closing Hymn — I’ve Got Peace Like a River
HPP #394, all verses
These hymn verses compare peace to a river, joy to a fountain, and love to an ocean. All the metaphors move: rivers flow, fountains bubble, oceans roll. Peace, in our tradition, was never a stillness. It was always a current — and it has been carrying people home long before any of us arrived.
Postlude — To a Wild Rose
Edward MacDowell (1896) · piano
Edward MacDowell (1860–1908) composed this miniature in 1896 in Peterborough — just down the road from us! MacDowell’s wife recalled how he would jot down a few measures during breakfast each morning “like exercise” — and yet the result is one of the most tender pieces in the American piano repertoire.
We end today in the quiet company of something small, beautiful, and wild — a rose that nobody planted and nobody owns, blooming anyway. After all the fortresses and battles and silence, here is the peace that simply grows.