THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT AND OFFICERS DAY

MUSIC & WORSHIP RESOURCES

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Ramón D. Bryant, Guest Lectionary Liturgist
Director of Music Chancel Choir, Douglas Memorial Community Church, Baltimore, MD

Worship Planning Notes
To highlight Officers’ Day, have all church officers wear name badges that include the office they hold, and have them serve as greeters to entering congregants. Following the worship service, host a reception where church officers can interact with the congregation and speak personally with them, describing their responsibilities as a church officer. Have a display area or booths set up in a common fellowship area that visually displays the church ministries individually, with representatives from the ministry there to highlight the goals and responsibilities of the ministry, as well as the need for more volunteers.

1. Prelude and Call to Worship
Instrumental
(a) O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Arr. by Gilbert Martin. For organ

(b) Great Day (Toccata). By Adolphus Hailstork. For organ

Choral Call to Worship
(c) Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light. From Christmas Oratorio. By J. S. Bach. Arr. by
Robert Shaw and Alice Parker

(d) While We Are Waiting, Come. By Claire Cloniger. Tune by Don Cason

Spoken Call to Worship
(e) “Lift Up Your Heads!”

Lift Up Your Heads!

Lift up your heads!
Lift up your voices with shouts of praise.
For behold, salvation is coming out of Zion!
Let us honor our God with a spirit of gratefulness that banishes despair.
Honor him with a spirit of love that eradicates suffering.
Honor him with a spirit of joy that restores hope through his coming redemption.
Let us honor him with a spirit of thanksgiving that revokes worry.
Lift your hands in praise that he may strengthen your arms in his service.
Let us sing together, let us pray together, let us dance together,
Let us prepare the way of our God!

3. Hymns or Congregational Songs
(a) I Am Thine. By Fannie J. Crosby. Tune, (I Am Thine) by William H. Doane

(b) Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus. By Charles Wesley. Tune, (Hyfrydol) by Roland H.
Prichard

(c) Hail to the Lord’s Anointed. By James Montgomery. Tune, (Sheffield) English Melody

(d) Renew Thy Church, Her Ministries Restore. By Kenneth L. Cober. Tune, All Is Well

(e) All People That on Earth Do Dwell. From Psalm 100. Tune, (Old Hundredth) by Louis
Bourgeois

4. Spirituals or Traditional Songs
(a) Behold the Star. Arr. By William L. Dawson

(b) Would You Be Ready. By Uzee Brown, Jr. For SATB, a capella

(c) Done Made My Vow to the Lord. Arr. By John W. Work. For SATB, a capella

(d) We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder. Traditional Spiritual

5. Gospel Songs for Choirs, Ensembles, or Praise Teams
(a) All of My Help. Text and Tune by Cleophus Robinson

(b) For the Rest of My Life (I’ll Serve the Lord). By Timothy Wright

(c) Not Unto Us. By Melvin E. Bryant, Jr.

(d) Power Belongs to God. By David Frazier and Hezekiah Walker

(e) Yes, Lord, Yes. By Lynn Keesecker

6. Liturgical Dance or Mime Music
(a) Yes. By Valencia Lacy

(b) Well Done. By Tye Tribbett

7. Anthems
(a) Every Valley. By John Ness Beck

(b) Lord, Make Me an Instrument. By John Rutter. For SATB with organ or TTBB with piano

(c) O Love, How Deep. By Everett Titcomb. For SATB with organ

(d) The Word Was God. By Rosephanye Powell. For SATB, a capella

8. Modern Songs
(a) Come and Let Us Worship. By Richard Smallwood

(b) Holiness. By Scott Underwood

(c) My Life Is Available to You. By Timothy Clifton

(d) Open the Eyes of My Heart. By Paul Baloche

9. Song or Instrumental for the Offertory Period
(a) Bring a Gift of Love. By Mary Kay Bottens

(b) My Offering. By Nolan E. Williams, Jr.

(c) He Has Done Great Things for Me. By Jesse Dixon

10. Song or Instrumental for the Period of Prayer
(a) Lord, Be Glorified. By Bob Kilpatrick

(b) O Lord, Fix Me. By Eli Wilson, Jr.

(c) Come Here Jesus, If You Please. African American Traditional. Adapt. By Roland M. Carter

11. Sermonic Selection
(a) Lord, Make Me an Instrument. By M. Roger Holland, II. For SATB with piano

(b) A Charge to Keep I Have. By Charles Wesley. Tune, (Boylston) by Lowell Mason

(c) It Pays to Serve Jesus. By Frank C. Huston. Arr. By Nathan Carter. For mixed chorus, tenor
solo, piano

12. Invitational Song or Instrumental
(a) Here Am I. Tune and Text by Nolan E. Williams, Jr.

(b) Lord, I’m Available to You. By Carlis Moody, Jr.

13. Benediction Sung or Spoken
Sung
(a) A Gaelic Blessing. By John Rutter. For SATB with organ

(b) Lord, I Don’ Don’. African American Traditional. Arr. By James W. Norris. For SATB,
baritone solo, a capella

Spoken
(c) 1 Peter: 4:8-11

(d) “Above All Things” by Ramón DeMar Bryant

Above All Things…
Go, an d on our Father’s behalf,
Share kindness to the disregarded,
Restore hope in a desolate place,
Become peace in our troubled streets.
Honor the gift of Christ by giving the gift of love.
Let your light shine before all God’s people,
That they may reap your good works and praise your Father in heaven.

14. Audio Visual Suggestions
(a) Display on banners, multi-media screens or projectors a variety of images of working hands and laborers.

(b) Design a dramatic presentation that reflects the overly-taxed individuals who are few in number that volunteer in the church on a regular basis. Present sketches or images that highlight the urban blight of the church’s surrounding community and the need for more “hands on” Christian intervention.

Cites and Additional Information for Music and Material Listed

Spoken Call to Worship
(e) “Lift Up Your Heads.” By Ramón DeMar Bryant

Spoken
(c) 1 Peter 4:8-11

(d) “Above All Things.” By Ramón DeMar Bryant. With adaptations from 1 Peter 4:8-11;
Mathew 5:16, NIV

14. Audio Visual Suggestions (See above.)