Christ is risen indeed!

I have to say, this is probably going to be the most memorable Lent season ever. Many church musician colleagues are saying things like “In 40 years I have never missed Holy Week with all its preparations, practicing, and liturgies.”  But as I heard said this past Easter Sunday, “It’s Easter. It doesn’t look like it, but it is.” How true. Easter is not an annual “SURPRISE!”  We live in a state of “Easter life” – which cannot be taken away. Easter, IS.

So, I thought this week, time for some happiness. A little dance. Darkness is gradually diminishing, as will our stay-at-home disciplines to protect other.

For now, enjoy a bright spot with these two Easter hymns: “Alleluia, Christ is Arisen,” and “Now the Green Blade Rises.”

Cantor David Cherwien

Today’s Cantor’s Corner focuses on the Passion Chorale, or “O Sacred Head Now Wounded.” The Passion narrative stays in our minds and souls all week, beginning last Sunday at Passion/Palm Sunday, until Friday when all goes dark. Of course, we don’t pretend to not know where this is all headed – the Resurrection. But for now we remember this very human act of love.

This hymn reminds me of an opportunity: how’s your memory box? We have a lifetime to add to it – this would be a good text/tune to include. We don’t know when we will need to make use of what we keep in that box, but I do know that hymns and psalms would be extremely helpful. Just a thought.

I hope you find this video and recording helpful for your journey this Holy Week.

Cantor Cherwien

A Prayer by Bach

One of the Minneapolis events I had been looking forward to attending during this interim time was the annual “Bach Birthday Bash,” a marathon of Bach’s organ works played at a number of different locations by different organists. That event was supposed to be held today, March 21, what would have been Bach’s 335th birthday (at least according to our present-day calendar).

But thanks to groups such as the Netherlands Bach Society and their ongoing “All of Bach” project, anyone can create and enjoy their own Bach marathon virtually anytime and anywhere. Unfortunately, though, not all of Bach’s music is yet available on their site. After all, Bach wrote quite a bit of music, and it takes lots of practice, preparation, and a fairly robust budget to complete such a project!

During these uncertain days, one piece of Bach’s that has returned again and again to my mind is his prelude on a sixteenth-century chorale by Paul Eber (1511-1569). The first two stanzas, in English, read:

Whenever we are in deepest need,

and do not know which way to turn,

and find neither help nor counsel,

whether we try early or late

then this alone is our comfort,

that we together

can call on You, O true God,

for rescue from fear and want.

Bach’s setting is short – only nine measures long – and easily fits on a single page. It’s what organists call an “ornamented” chorale, in which the melody is made more complex through addition of many extra notes, flourishes, trills, turns, and other intricate maneuvers. But Bach didn’t ornament this tune just to be fancy. Rather, his ornaments capture the nature of prayer-of longing, of the rise and fall of the pray-er’s voice, the sometimes uneven cadence of speech, of breathlessness, of calm. And even though melody sometimes seems as if it does “not know which way to turn,” the supporting voices carry it along with a comforting, steady assurance. In anxious days-when our sighs are too deep for words-we trust confidently in God’s promise to receive our prayers.

Since this chorale prelude is not yet available on the All of Bach website, it’s offered here on our Mount Olive YouTube channel in a recording made this past Thursday with the help of Paul Nixdorf and David Molvik. As this piece has done for me over the years, may it offer you some measure of consolation, hope, and peace.

In Christ,

Chad Fothergill

Dear friends,

Although we are not able to gather in person for a little while, we are still the body of Christ for one another. We are seeking volunteers for two different initiatives to help keep our community members connected and safe during this time. The first initiative is geared toward personal communication, primarily via phone calls. The second initiative aims to help those who aren’t able to move as freely through the Cities at this time.

First: We are seeking 20-25 volunteers to make phone calls to the Mount Olive community, to “check in”, and help ward off social isolation.

Second: Because this virus is so contagious and poses particular danger to immunocompromised people and older people with preexisting health conditions, some errands that were previously a part of ordinary life are now notably riskier for some Mount Olive members. Furthermore, if a member of a family becomes ill, isolating the entire household for 14 days is imperative in hindering the spread of the virus. In order both to limit the exposure of the higher-risk portion of the community, and to help ill households self-isolate, we are looking for volunteers who would be willing to run a few extra errands per week. Would you be willing to make a grocery store or pharmacy run and then make a safe (6-ft-distance) delivery to someone in need?

Finally — are you a member of this higher-risk population, and could use some help with errands? Please let us know.

If you are interested in any of these three requests, please let us know. Email Lora Dundek, evangelism@mountolivechurch.org  if you’re willing to make phone calls. Email Katie Krueger, education@mountolivechurch.org if you’re willing to run errands, or if you could use someone to run an errand. Or call Pr. Crippen, 612-280-4593 for any of these, and he’ll pass your name along.

Dear Mount Olive Community,

There’s no avoiding one serious tragic aspect of this time of separation. We are not able to gather to express, gain strength, or powerfully feel God’s presence in the way that we usually find so deeply meaningful: singing together. This act is one of Mount Olive’s more distinct qualities and values and we miss it dearly.

During this time, it seems most appropriate to keep in touch with that aspect of our life together in whatever ways we can. Our use of recordings from past years (ironically, for “shut ins”) for our current virtual worship time seems most appropriate. Our corporate voice is heard in a strong fashion, even if we long for the day when it can be live again. I hope you consider singing along, even though this will be very different. We are grateful to David Molvik who has faithfully made these recordings over the years, and for Interim Cantor Chad Fothergill for helping format them for our current use. Who knew we would need them like this?

Also to that end, with this TWIG, I begin a series called “Cantor’s Corner,” giving us time and opportunity to learn more about these hymns we find so meaningful – especially now – and some inside sharing of what drives our treatments, or arrangements of them. I am making these available to both you at Mount Olive, and the community of the National Lutheran Choir.

I hope you find them meaningful.

Cantor David Cherwien