Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 16, 2023

3rd Sunday of Advent

Thanks to all who came out last week! I appreciate everyone stepping up to make sure things went smoothly! The SCCS concert was a lot of fun, but I definitely missed you guys too :-).

A remainder that the Christmas Pageant is this Saturday @ 3 PM. We'll meet at 2 PM in Agape Hall to run through the music. After last week's rehearsal with the kids, some final details/logistics went out by email. Thanks Bev, Joe, Lisa, Ginny & Jake for helping with this!

Please welcome back Paul on guitar! Like last week, Paul agreed to help us out in Frank's absence.

With everything going on for the Christmas Celebration, could we try not to use mics during rehearsal? The sound system is piped into the Gathering Space, so we don't want disrupt the tree-decorating festivities. If needed, we can do some sound/balance checks, though.

For Gathering, let's use the same modified arrangement of Prepare! Prepare! from a couple of weeks ago. This seemed to help with shortening the song a bit, while still allowing us to sing all the verses. I can cantor the verses again if needed. Please be careful of those entrances :-).

For Holy is His Name, we'll sing/repeat the refrain before the first verse. This will make the beginning slightly awkward (it's not written this way), but it'll also allow us to use the normal Psalm format.

Let's plan to sing Comfort, Comfort, O My People a capella in parts. We'll keep repeating verses as needed, taking it a bit faster than what's below. In the past, we've tried adding accompaniment in the second half, but it might be best to stick with one approach or the other.

Please take a look at Find Us Ready if unfamiliar. We've only done this a couple of times. Separate harmonies for the refrain are below if anyone's interested. Also, since this is a bit long, it would be good to start singing it right away (one person or part of the group). We'll skip the optional Coda.

Note that for Soon and Very Soon, we'll sing the 3rd/4th Ending after verses 3 & 4 only; the first two verses will be back-to-back. This moves along pretty quickly, so four verses shouldn't be an issue.

Looking ahead, Christmas Eve dress rehearsal will be on Saturday, 12/23 @ 2:30 PM. There were some conflicts on both the Thurs. & Fri. before, so this seems to be the best option. In the event of weather, we'll meet the day-of instead. We could still use singers & instrumentalists if anyone else is available!

Needless to say, Saturday is going to be busier/more eventful than usual. If you have a chance, please check out the music/recordings ahead of time so we're all on the same page (Pageant music too!). And as always, feel free to reach out with any questions!

Thanks so much for everything you so, and see you Saturday!

(All Mass Parts, except the Gospel Acclamation, are from Mass of Joy & Peace, including Penitential Rite, Holy, Eucharistic Acclamation 'A' (We Proclaim Your Death), Doxology & Lamb of God)

Out: Frank

Entrance:

GC3 #398 - Prepare! Prepare! (Pishner)