Easter Sunday Amusement

[njschranz]

The funniest thing happened at church today. </P>


Inthe small Episcopal church I attend (seats about 125) the organ and choir are in the back. The organist had finished her first prelude and she often does two, today being no exception. However because the registration was rather full, as soon as she played the first chord the whole church stood up for the procession hymn. Talk about a bunch of pavlov's dogs.....and they just stood there even though it was quite obvious it wasn't a hymn that was being played. The organist and all of us choir members were laughing and waiting to see how long before they sat back down. Finally after about 2 minutes one of the choir members went up front and motioned for everyone to sit down. But at least they learned their lesson. When the intro to the hymn was finally played, they all looked back at the choir to make sure we were standing.</P>


Anybody else have anything amusing happentoday?</P>


Don</P>
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[Guest]

Re: Easter Sunday Amusement



OMG! That's so funny [:D]</p>

Perhaps one of your choir-members should have started to pass the collection plate round again......[:P]</p>

[Guest]

Re: Easter Sunday Amusement



We had fun at our church today also. When we have a long service planned, we will sometimes omit the Prayer Hymn, and go straight from the Praise Hymn to the Pastoral Prayer and then to the Lord's Prayer etc. The Co-minister gave the prayer request and announsed the Prayer Hymn which was actually the Communion Hymn. We sang, she prayed, then the congrigation sang the Lord's Prayer and at the end of the prayer the Elders and Decons got up to prepair for the Communion service. I all worked out well likeit was planned. </P>


Over all it was a great service. The church was full for both services and the Sunrise Service was well attended also.</P>

[jbird604]

Re: Easter Sunday Amusement



15 minutes before the service this morning,my pastor -- known for over-long sermons --cameto meand asked that we sing only two stanzas of each hymn today so as not to keep the people too long -- there being, of course, a number of CEO worshipers present("Christmas-Easter-Only").</P>


Well, we accomodated him, though I knew that he actually intended to preach every bit as long as he always does -- and he did. He just wanted to get started early.</P>


What I should have said was "OK, we'll only sing the first and last of each hymn if you'll just give us the first and last points of your sermon." But I didn't. Maybe someday I'll do that.</P>


John</P>
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[Austin766]

Re: Easter Sunday Amusement

I think it'd be hilarious, but of course, preachers, in my opinion love to hear themselves talk.

[jbird604]

Re: Easter Sunday Amusement



Why Austin, where did you get such an idea? [*-)]</P>


John</P>

[Guest]

Re: Easter Sunday Amusement

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"<SPAN id=AI2>I</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>think</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>it'd</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>be</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>hilarious,</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>but</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>of</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>course,</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>preachers,</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>in</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>my</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>opinion</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>love</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>to</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>hear</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>themselves</SPAN> <SPAN id=AI2>talk"</SPAN></P>


<SPAN>Yes, it's true, and also, we musicians love to hear ourselves play!! </SPAN></P>


<SPAN>I attended a beautiful Lutheran service today (invited by a friend), and was surprised how closely the Lutheran mass is related to the Catholic and Anglican mass. The organist was very good. The only thing was that his prelude was Bach's famous Toccata and Fugue in Dm, which I thought was just a bit loud and flashy for a prelude. (For some reason, I always think of Halloween when I hear that piece). I think something happy and major-ish, like "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" would have been better, but I was astonished by his playing ability. It was phenominal! But my reason for writing all of this was that the piece wasn't over when the pastor was ready to begin! Wwhen it was time to begin the service, the organist just stopped, cold, and there was dead silence. He didn't resolve the phrase with any kind of final chord, he just stopped, and the pastor began to welcome everyone. That was funny! </SPAN>
</P>

[jbird604]

Re: Easter Sunday Amusement



OH, my! Well, that's one very tolerant organist, or else another church about to be singing along with the Digital Hymnal.</P>


But, I think your observation about that piece being sort of inappropriate is a good one. Yes, we organists love to show off a bit, and there's a temptation to do the show pieces, especially when a big crowd is guaranteed at Easter and so on.</P>


However, that organist might have been better off to do something brief and reducable, owing to the surprises that often happen on Easter and other big occasions. It certainly didn't serve the people well for the piece to end abruptly, and it didn't make for a good impression of either the organist or the pastor.</P>


My feeling is that both sermons and preludesare pretty much likebologna, which you can safely cut off anywhere.</P>


John</P>
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[Guest]

Re: Easter Sunday Amusement



To the moderator:</P>


When reading Austin and JBird's posts, I meant to click reply in order to write my own witty response, but my mouse pointer accidentally clicked "Report Abuse" just because I'm tired. Please disregard this. I'm laughing with you. Sorry about that, I feel bad</P>

[Austin766]

Re: Easter Sunday Amusement

sitting on the Acolyte's bench bored out of my mind and cynical as anything, listening to bad sermons in my mother's church. Honestly I feel I know way more about the management of a parish than their priest (I think he's overpaid harrumph harrumph harrumph

By the way, I don't think I've eaten balogna since I was 7 years old, i8 can't stand it, the worst lunchmeat ever devised, in my opinion.

[buzzyreed]

Re: Easter Sunday Amusement



I once started to play this post lude in D Major that had an uncanny resemblence to the ecuaristic hymn "This is the Feast..." The two ladies who were taking down the flowers on the altar started singing with all their hearts until they realized what had happened. Now, let us never speak of this again...</p>

</p>

buzzy</p>

</p>

[quantum]

Re: Easter Sunday Amusement



My prelude was an improvisation on Victimae Paschali. Went ok considering the organ is half working.</p>

The organ doesn't have a general cancel, so I have to do that manually. Accompanied the Easter sequence with very soft chords under the choir in unison, used manuals throughout until the final cadence. Forgot to take off 16' and 8' reeds in pedal. The organ sputtered as it often does and sounded sort of a ERR...SPLAT. Quite musical [:#]
</p>

If that wasn't enough, I reached over to place the Gospel Acclamation music on the rack, when the priest launched into the Gospel. So the people did not hear the first Alleluia of Easter!</p>

Usually do an improvisation for the postlude as we are pressed for time to leave. I was going superimpose the Victimae Paschali transposed over the final chord to give a lydian mode feel. Worked at home, didn't work so well in church.</p>

***</p>


Relating to the first post. We sang Stabat Mater on Good Friday as a Prelude to service. When the choir stood up, everyone stood up! This was 15 mins before service was scheduled to start. They probably thought it was the processional. Naturally our procession was done in silence.
</p>

[Tutti]

Re: Easter Sunday Amusement



Hmm. . . I've always heard the first Allelluia since Lent at the very beginning of the service. Not immediately before the Gospel. I also think it's silly to read the Passion on Palm Sunday though. Guess the Lectionarists realize no one comes to Good Friday services anyway.</p>

</p>

As for T&amp;F in d for Easter. . . holy cow. Did the choir sing from Rossini's Stabat Mater for an anthem?</p>

[Guest]

Re: Easter Sunday Amusement



I've never heard the term CEO worshipers before (although I know a few of them!)
</p>

Our pastor has a bit of a theatrical penchant, which shows up on special occasions. Yesterday (Easter Sunday) was one of them. In addition to the organ, we also have a digital keyboard MIDI'd into the organ. The service started with the reading about Jesus' burial (Matthew 27: 57-66), after which the bell tolled. After that, a moment of silence, followed by (with the assistance of the digital keyboard) the sound of an earthquake (earthquakes being rare here in Colorado, we had to guess what sounds they make)--LOUD! The congregation was, of course, startled (I presume that some of them thought that I'd really messed up!). The pastor's stentorian "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" got their attention back to the matter at hand....</p>

The question about Easter amusements took me back more than 25 years, to a different church, in a different state. I was in the balcony with the choir that Easter morning. One of the ladies of that congregation was more than a little eccentric. That morning, she arrived late--after the first hymn. The church was full (attendance swelled by some CEO worshipers, no doubt), with the only available space in the very front pew. So, this lady came up the center aisle of the church, wearing a hat that was nearly as wide as the aisle. Her husband couldn't walk beside her in the aisle--there wasn't enough space between the hat and the pews. That hat was adorned with birds, flowers, feathers, fruit--every color of the rainbow, and some colors that have never been seen in any rainbow! One of the choir members, a fellow in his early 20's who had known this lady all his life, immediately clapped his hands over his mouth, turned his back to face the back wall of the balcony, and for the next several minutes attempted to stifle decidedly uncharitable and unworshipful peals of laughter. After more than a quarter-century, I still think of that incident every Easter, even now more than a quarter-century later!
</p>

DR</p>

PS: I'm glad goofy hats have fallen out of fashion!</p>

[Guest]

Re: Easter Sunday Amusement



Nothing really funny. There was a moment of panicky thoughts on my part as the Processional Hymn got underway. This was a new hymn for me, and I had learned it as it is in the hymnal. There was no indication as to how fast the tempo ought to be, so I had practised it up as it felt right and natural to me. Turns out I was half speed! I also got off track in the middle of the first stanza as the notes the people were singing seemed wildly different than the melody I had before me in the book - Oh No! Had I learned the wrong tune? There were no alternative settings indicated... I just kept plugging away through all SIX very long verses until the bitter end. Later I learned that I should have been way faster. I prefer slower, majestic tempos for Procession/Recession. Live and learn. The Hymn was Welcome Happy Morning! #168 in the Book of Common Praise 1938.</P>


Everything else was perfect. I chanted the Introit and Gradual with Alleluias in plainchant, my voice has been scratchy last week, but all came clear and true when the time came.</P>