Prelude I — Danse Festiva
Paul McKlveen · Ringers on the Square
Prelude II — This Joyful Eastertide
arr. Jane McFadden · Ringers on the Square
Introit — An Easter Carol
Jan Broeck · choir & organ
This choral work originated as a setting of Kerstvisioen — “Vision of Christ” — a Flemish poem by Lambrecht Lambrechts (1865–1932), with English words adapted by Adrian Ross. The music begins in a place of searching — voices emerging with the quiet gravity of something being revealed — before building, layer upon layer, toward a full-throated Easter declaration.
The vision is no longer distant. It is here, in this room, among us now. Christ is risen — and we must sing!
Hymn of Praise — Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
Charles Wesley (1739) · HPP #196, vv. 1–4
For nearly three centuries, this has been the hymn that opens Easter morning for English-speaking Christians around the world. It is a hymn with two centuries of hands on it — a medieval Latin acclamation, an anonymous 18th-century melody, Wesley’s theological brilliance, and a congregation’s irrepressible need to shout “Alleluia” after every line.
The tomb is empty. Let the world know!
Interlude — Behold the Lamb of God
organ
Presented as a brief organ meditation, this piece draws us back to the image that has threaded through our entire Holy Week: the Lamb. After Palm Sunday’s procession, Maundy Thursday’s table, and Good Friday’s cross, the Lamb appears once more — not as victim, but as victor.
Behold.
Anthem — Set Me As a Seal
René Clausen · organ & choir
The text of our Easter anthem is drawn from Song of Solomon 8:6–7:
Set me as a seal upon your heart… for love is strong as death. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.
On Palm Sunday, our worship opened with Debussy’s cathedral submerged beneath the waves. This Easter morning, the waters return — but they cannot win. Clausen’s setting is exposed and luminous, declaring in hushed confidence what this entire Holy Week has been building toward: love is stronger than death. It always was.
Hymn of Reflection — Easter People, Raise Your Voices
William M. James · HPP #200, all
William M. James wrote this hymn text insisting that Easter is not a single day but a permanent identity: we are Easter people, defined not by the cross alone but by what happened after it. Raise your voices! Yes, the darkness was real, but it does not get the last word.
Offertory — While the Earth Remains (ARIRAM)
organ & choir
The tune ARIRAM draws from the Korean folk song tradition of Arirang — one of Korea’s most beloved and ancient melodies. Paired with a text affirming God’s sustaining presence “while the earth remains,” it reminds us that the Easter promise belongs to every culture, every tongue, every hill that has ever echoed with the sound of the people singing.
Closing Hymn — Alleluia! The Strife Is O’er
Latin, 17th century · HPP #199, vv. 1, 3, & 4
This 17th-century Latin hymn declares the resurrection in the language of battle: “The strife is o’er, the battle done; the victory of life is won.” After the long journey from Palm Sunday through the darkness of Good Friday, this hymn is the banner planted on the far side of the grave.
Closing Response — Hallelujah Chorus
G. F. Handel (1741) · organ, choir & congregation
Handel composed Messiah in 1741, and the “Hallelujah” chorus premiered in Dublin on April 13, 1742. Legend holds that King George II stood during its London performance, prompting the entire audience to rise — a tradition that persists to this day.
The congregation is invited to stand and sing. This isn’t a performance, it’s a proclamation!
Postlude — Interstellar Suite (excerpt)
Hans Zimmer (2014) · organ
Hans Zimmer’s score for the 2014 film Interstellar placed the pipe organ at the center of a story about love, time, and the human impulse to reach beyond what we can see. The movie’s director famously asked Zimmer to compose the music based only on a single page of text about a parent’s relationship with a child — without revealing it was actually for a science fiction film. The result was a score of startling emotional honesty, anchored by the ancient, cathedral voice of the organ.
Today, that voice fills this sanctuary, joined by sonic textures that expand the space beyond these walls — outward and upward. We end Easter Sunday looking outward into the vast, uncharted everything that the resurrection opens before us.
He is risen. Now go — into the stars.