Details
Join us each Sunday for worship in the University Chapel, led by the dean and the associate dean of religious life and of the chapel, that draws students, faculty, staff, and townspeople together to hear God’s word, to sing God’s praise, to lift up the University in prayer. Each season, marvelous guest preachers are invited to preach in the chapel as well. We hope you can join us!
The bulletin for this week's service is posted below.
Princeton University Chapel, March 26, 2023, Fifth Sunday in Lent
You are invited to rise, in body or spirit, for those parts of the service marked with an asterisk (*)
Invitatory: Prelude and Fugue in d minor, Op. 37, No. 3 by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Welcome and Announcements by Dean Thames
*Hymn No. 479: God Is My Shepherd
*Call to Worship by Natalie Harvey
*Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess our sins to God.
All: Almighty and everlasting God, always more ready to hear than we are to pray, always willing to give more than we either desire or deserve: pour upon us the abundance of your mercy; forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
*Assurance of Forgiveness
Reading: Amos 5:21-24
“I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.”
Anthem: Teach Me the Measure of My Days arr. Alice Parker (b. 1925)
Teach me the measure of my days, thou maker of my frame
I would survey life’s narrow space, and learn how frail I am.
A span is all that we can boast, an inch or two of time;
We are but vanity and dust in all our flow’r and prime.
See the vain race of mortals move like shadows o’er the plain;
They rage and strive, desire and love, but all the noise is vain.
What should I wish or wait for then, from creatures, earth, and dust?
They make our expectations vain and disappoint our trust.
Now I forbid my earthly hope, my fond desires recall;
I give my mortal interest up and make my God my all.
Psalm 39:4-7, para. Isaac Watts
Reading: John 11:1-45
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Judeans were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Judeans had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Judeans who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Judeans who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Judeans said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “God, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Many of the Judeans therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
Sermon: “Only a Christian Can be a Good Atheist” by Rev. Dr. Samuel Cruz
*Hymn No. 484: O Come to Me, You Weary
Prayers of the People: (If there are prayer requests that you would like to share, please raise your hand.)
After each petition:
One: God of love and mercy,
All: Hear our prayer.
Lord’s Prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
Choral Response: Amen
*Exchange of the Peace
One: The peace of God be always with you.
All: And also with you.
(The people may exchange the peace with one another.)
Offertory Sentence
Music at the Offering: God Is Seen arr. Alice Parker
Through all the world below God is seen all around,
Search hills and valleys through, there God’s found.
The growing of the corn, the lily and the thorn,
The pleasant and forlorn, all declare, God is there,
In meadows drest in green, God is seen.
See springing waters rise, fountains flow, rivers run,
The mist that veils the sky hides the sun.
Then down the rain doth pour, the ocean, it doth roar
And beat upon the shore, and all praise, in their ways,
The God who ne’er declines these designs.
The sun with all his rays speaks of God as he flies
The comet in her blaze, “God,” she cries;
The shining of the stars, the moon when she appears,
God’s awful name declares; see them fly through the sky,
And join the solemn sound all around.
The Cluster of Spiritual Songs, Divine Hymns, and Sacred Poems (“Mercer’s Cluster”)
*Doxology
Praise God the Source of life and birth, Praise God the Word enfleshed on earth, Praise God, the Spirit, Holy Flame, All glory, honor to God’s name!
*Prayer for Princeton : To be said by all.
O Eternal God, the source of life and light for all peoples, we pray you would endow this University with your grace and wisdom: Give inspiration and understanding to those who teach and to those who learn; Grant vision to its trustees and administrators; To all who work here and to all who bear her name give your guiding Spirit of sacrificial courage and loving service. Amen.
*Hymn No. 461: Let Us Hope When Hope Seems Hopeless
*Benediction
Voluntary: Fugue in c minor, BWV 537 by Johann Sebastian Bach(1685-1750)
University Chapel Staff: The Rev. Alison L. Boden, Ph.D., Dean of Religious Life and of the Chapel; The Rev. Dr. Theresa S. Thames, Associate Dean of Religious Life and of the Chapel; Dr. Nicole Aldrich, Director of Chapel Music; Eric Plutz, University Organist; Elizabeth Powers, Chapel Administrator; Natalie Harvey and Becky Schad, Seminary Interns; Edgar Gomez, Sexton; Lisa McGurr, Sexton
The University Chapel is a welcoming community of faith. We gather to sing God's praises, to hear God's living Word, to seek justice, and to proclaim God's love for all people. If you are interested in making a contribution toward Sunday flowers in the chapel as a memorial please contact Liz Powers for details at 258-3048.
Every Sunday of every month the congregation is invited to bring non-perishable food items to be donated to Arm in Arm.
The offering this morning will go to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971. In 1999, MSF received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Rev. Dr. Samuel Cruz is Associate Professor of Religion and Society at Union Theological Seminary, NYC. Rev. Cruz is Senior Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, NY. He is the author of two books: Masked Africanisms: Puerto Rican Pentecostalism and Christianity and Culture in the City: A Post-Colonial Approach. He has published columns on civil rights for El Diario and The New York Daily News, and has been a commentator on MSNBC, WBAI, Univision, most recently advocating for humane immigration policies, marriage equality, opposing “Stop and Frisk” police practices and critiquing the prison industrial complex. Dr. Cruz has been recently featured in the Stop and Frisk docu-series: “The Pastor”.
Today we welcome guest organist Brenda Day. She recently retired from a career as Minister of Music at the First Presbyterian Church of Metuchen, where she served for 39 years. Brenda is a graduate of Westminster Choir College, where she studied with Donald McDonald. She looks forward to subbing at area churches in her retirement as well as accompanying and teaching piano and organ.
Women’s History Month Music Series. The month of March is set aside as Women’s History Month, a time to commemorate and celebrate the contributions of women to society across history. Today’s music honors the work of Alice Parker. Alice Parker is an American composer, arranger, conductor, and teacher. She has authored five operas, eleven song-cycles, thirty-three cantatas, eleven works for chorus and orchestra, forty-seven choral suites, and more than forty hymns, all original compositions. Also, to be noted are wealth of arrangements based on pre-existing folk-songs and hymns, many of which were produced in collaboration with conductor Robert Shaw. She is a founder of Melodious Accord, a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to bringing together composers, performers, and listeners in the creation and re-creation of music.
She received professional training successively as a composer, conductor and teacher. Her work is founded on the interaction of these fields, and their extension into writing, theorizing and mentoring. It is founded upon the conviction that music is first and foremost sound, and that a paper diagram is a very imperfect medium for its transmission. Parker believes that wonderfully musical sounds can come from amateur as well as professional singers, from children as well as adults, and from churches, schools and family groups. She writes, " I believe that melody is the foundation of human music-making, and that song issuing from one human throat is the essential first-step to a musical life. I am fascinated with the combination of words and music; therefore, I have concentrated on choral and vocal works, using the very best texts that I can find."
Her over fifty years' experience in teaching has given her the ability to express her ideas in clear and memorable language. Her love of poetry and of the lyric line in both words and songs undergirds her understanding. She has identified techniques which work for composers, performers and teachers, and inspires any group which works with her into wonderfully musical, expressive and communicative singers.
© 2018 Melodious Accord
Calendar:
Today, March 26, 2023— 1:30 p.m. Hallelujah Church @ Princeton, Murray-Dodge Hall, Room 104 — A service of exciting worship, inspiring music, and a place of grace where love, hope and faith come alive.
Wednesday, March 29, 2023—12:00 noon—Hour of Power, Murray-Dodge Hall 104—an interdenominational weekly Christian service of praise, prayer, music, and proclamation.
Thursday, March 30, 2023—12:30 p.m.—After Noon Concert Series—The concerts are free and all are invited. The performers will be The Practitioners of Musick, Princeton, New Jersey.
Sunday, April 2, 2023—11:00 a.m. University Chapel Service with Communion, Palm Sunday. The service will begin in McCosh Courtyard, below the Bright Pulpit. All who are able are invited to gather there. The preacher will be Dean Thames.
Holy Week Services Sponsored by the Office of Religious Life:
Tuesday, April 4, 2023. 8:00 pm
Stations of the Cross by Marcel Dupre with poetry of Paul ClaudeI.
Ken Cowan, organist
Theresa Thames, reader
Maundy Thursday, April 6, 2023. 8:00 pm
The service will be held in the Chancellor Green Rotunda.
Good Friday Services, April 7, 2023. 12:00 noon
Contemplative service of meditation including the reproaches from the cross.
8:00pm Tenebrae
Candlelight service of readings and devotional music.
Easter Services
Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023 8:00 am. Holy Communion.
Dean Boden will be the preacher.
11:00 am.
Easter Festival Service with Holy Communion.
Dean Boden will be the preacher.
1:30 pm.
Hallelujah! Murray-Dodge Hall