St. John's Episcopal Church

Grace Notes

The newsletter of the St. John's Music Program.

Special Thanks

A special thank you to Cecelia Z. and Georgia H. for their help this summer.  For the first time ever, Ms. Calhoun is not frantic getting ready for the Fall choir season.  Cecelia and Georgia cleaned, organized music and started working on scrapbooks for the choir.  We are lucky to have two such dedicated choristers.

RSCM Ribbons

Congratulations to choristers and adults for their hard work in earning an RSCM Ribbon.

CHORISTERS

ADULTS

Andrew – Light Blue
Bryant – Light Blue
Caroline – Light Blue
Cameron – Light Blue
Caty – Light Blue
Cecelia – Dark Blue
Georgia – Dark Blue
Jesse – Light Blue
Jon – Red
Jordan – Light Blue
Mary Margaret – Light Blue
Morgan – Light Blue
Rachel H. – Light Blue
Ruthie – Light Blue
Zola – Light Blue

Alison – Yellow
Anne – Red
Jaqueline – Red
Karen – Dark Blue
Liz – Light Blue
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Happy 300th Birthday!

Charles Wesley: December 18, 1707 – March 29, 1788

This year is the 300th anniversary of the birth of Charles Wesley, who wrote the words to many of the hymns we sing at St. John's. You're probably familiar with “Hark the herald angels sing,” one of Wesley's most well-known hymns. Click the links below to learn more about Charles Wesley. Cyberhymnal gives MIDI files, so you can actually listen to some of the hymns. 

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A brief history of Evensong

In the early church, prayer was offered eight times a day, at services which were not part of Mass (Eucharist).  The prayer services included psalms, canticles, antiphons, responsories, hymns and readings, and were referred to as the “Divine Services”. The two services which came at the end of the day, Mattins and Vespers, were often referred to as “Evensong” by the English. Following the reformation and the publication of the 1549 prayer book, a separate order of worship was created for Evensong, independent of the Divine Services. Evensong continued to evolve and was eventually published in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

The service is sung by the choir with some participation from the congregation. The primary elements of Evensong are preces and responses, the psalm, the canticles (Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis) and anthems. Originally Evensong was sung on Saturday evenings as a preparation for Eucharist the next morning. Now it is customary to have Evensong on Sunday afternoons. At St. John's we traditionally sing Evensong three times a year, in October, February and May. 

  • Next Evensong: Sunday, October 28, 2007 at 4:00 p.m.  The public is most welcome.
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