Notes from the Music Director

May Message From Scott Kamman

Dear friends in Christ,

“And down the stretch they come!!” Does this phrase sound familiar to you? If you are acquainted with our state’s love for horse racing, then you know that this is a rallying cry that the announcer shouts just as the horses round the last corner and head for the straight path to the finish. It’s one of my favorite parts of the Kentucky Derby. It adds to the excitement of those final moments of the race. We’re on our feet yelling and cheering. All too soon, however, the race is over, our excitement wanes, and we move on.

We are in a time of the church year when we are nearing the end of an exciting occasion. We have recently celebrated the joy of Easter in all its triumph and glory. The trumpets have sounded and we have been filled with excitement and elation! As we come down the stretch through the month of May and approach the month of June, we are entering into the second half of the church year. From Advent and Christmas all the way to the Easter season, we have been focusing on the major events in Christ’s life. We call this time the “Festival Half” of the church year. When we reach the festival of Pentecost, we then enter into the “Non-Festival Half” of the church year that lasts all the way to Thanksgiving. The readings focus more on our response to God’s love. As its name implies, there are far fewer occasions to celebrate.

A great temptation for us is to think that the race is over. We’ve experienced the festivities of Christmas and Easter, and now we face a long period of worship without a festival. Sometimes the devil tempts us to lose interest. Summer comes upon us with its warm weather. Vacations beckon. We sometimes lose our focus and become distracted. Our time is more important.

But our worship continues, as it well should! God forgives us our short attention span and calls us back to Himself. He sees our weakness and encourages us on. This is all the more reason to join with our fellow Christians in corporate worship to praise our loving God. We can also learn a lot about ourselves and our relationship to God in these Pentecost weeks.

I pray that you will be able to continue to worship regularly this summer. If you are vacationing, look up a church in the phone book. It can be a very edifying experience for both you and the church itself. Many summers ago, my family attended a very small church that met in the living room of a converted ranch style home. We weren’t very dressed up, but that didn’t matter. The people were so delighted to have us there to worship with them. It was a beneficial service for all of us. Another time, we had our own family worship service in our hotel room. Try it!

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122:1

Hope to see you in worship!

Scott Kamman

Director of Music

Our Savior Music “Notes”

Chapel worship:
Everyone is invited to worship with the school children each week as they gather for chapel on Wednesdays at 8:45 AM in the sanctuary. It is an excellent opportunity for midweek worship. Come and join us!
May 1 Grade 4
May 8 Pastor Cook
May 15 Mr. Kamman
May 24 (Friday) Mr. Davidson

Hymn of the month:
The children in our dayschool learn a special hymn or song of the month as part of their worship and religion class experience. For the month of May, they will be learning “O Holy Spirit, Enter In.” Adapting a tune written for Psalm 100 found in Wolff Köphel's Psalter (1538), Philipp Nicolai composed Wie Schön Leuchtet, which was published with the text in 1599. J. S. Bach used this tune in his cantatas 1, 36, 37, 61, and 172 and wrote a chorale prelude based on it (as have many other–especially Lutheran–composers).

O Holy Spirit, enter in,
And in our hearts Your work begin,
Your dwelling place now make us.
Sun of the soul, O Light divine,
Around and in us brightly shine,
To joy and gladness wake us
That we may be
Truly living,
To You giving
Prayer unceasing
And in love be still increasing.

Give to Your Word impressive pow’r,
That in our hearts from this good hour
As fire it may be glowing,
That in true Christian unity
We faithful witnesses may be,
Your glory ever showing.
Hear us, cheer us
By Your teaching;
Let our preaching
And our labor
Praise You, Lord, and serve our neighbor.

O mighty Rock, O Source of life,
Let Your dear Word, in doubt and strife,
In us be strongly burning
That we be faithful unto death
And live in love and holy faith,
From You true wisdom learning.
Your grace and peace
On us shower;
By Your power
Christ confessing,
Let us see our Savior’s blessing. Public domain

Thank you!
Thanks to our Adult Choir and Handbell Choir, our Praise Team, organists, and musicians who faithfully provide music for our worship. Your serving is a blessing!

Drummer/Bass Player/Singers Needed for Contemporary Worship Teams
In case you haven’t noticed, we are not running on a full Praise Band. We are in need of some new blood in our Praise Team Band! Talk to Scott Kamman if you’d be interested in helping out. We’ve also lost a couple of singers and instrumentalists in our roster. If you would like to sing or play on a regular basis, talk to Scott: (502) 426-1130 or scott.kamman@gmail.com). Time commitment depends solely on you, as little or as much as you desire. We need you!

Worship Notes!
In an effort to try to help us all learn about our worship life and liturgy, we offer this little “tidbit” of information each month. It can serve as a review for you, an answer to that question, “Why do we do that?”, or as a teaching tool for our children or grandchildren. Please share this with your family. Discuss it prior to worship. If there is something you would like to have answered, let me know. I’ll do my best to find out! Check out this month’s edition of “Worship Notes” below.

This month’s Worship Note:

The Divine Service, our weekly liturgical worship celebration, contains both changing and unchanging parts. Within the service, there are certain parts – called “the Propers,” that are different every Sunday. These include: the Collect, Scripture Readings, Introit and Gradual, Prayers, and Hymns. These changing parts of the service ensure that we hear and tell the “whole story” of our salvation over the course of a year. They provide something new for each Sunday.

Our congregation rotates the Propers on a three year cycle so that different Propers are used each Sunday for three years straight. We are currently on Cycle A.

Communion reminder: If you partake of the individual communion cup, please clearly hold the empty cup in front of you to help the communion assistant who is serving the common cup to see that you have already communed. Thank you.

Small children:

Did you know that weekly church attendance with the whole family throughout the childhood and teen years is highly correlated with faith continuing into adulthood? We love having your children in worship and are so excited you are bringing them to church! We are here to support you in this vitally important work. Here are some resources available to you for moments when your children become antsy:

Busy bags with Christian books, coloring materials, and soft toys are available to help small children during the service. These are located on hooks to the right of the sanctuary doors.
A newly-renovated nursery is available for times when small ones become overly busy or upset and need a change of scenery. We have many toys, books, and a comfy chair for nursing moms. A TV with a livestream of the service also runs in there so parents don't have to miss a beat. The nursery is located opposite the elevator and bathroom on the same level as the sanctuary.
Need a helping hand? Ask any of the other families with young children. Our Savior's kids often sit with friends and move around so that parents can better take care of younger ones. Don't be afraid to speak up -- we are here for you!

Worship Reminders:
Please respect the quiet time of meditation before the service begins. Silence your phone. Enter the sanctuary reverently and with worship in mind, and help teach these habits to your children. Socializing is best done in the narthex or lounge areas before and after the service. Also, please remember that if you arrive late for church, wait until the congregation begins singing a hymn or piece of the liturgy before being seated. That is the appropriate time to enter into worship. Thank you for maintaining a worshipful atmosphere.

Monthly rotation of hymnal liturgies for 8:30am services:

First week: Divine Service Setting 1

Second week: Divine Service Setting 4

Third week: Divine Service Setting 5

Fourth week: Divine Service Setting 3

Fifth week: Matins (with communion)