Month: November 2015

Advent at St. Philip’s

Advent is often described as a season of waiting. Advent waiting is not passive, because this is a time of year pregnant with anticipation!

St. Philip’s has many special services and other events during Advent! Click here for a schedule in pdf form.

Advent kicks off with the annual Advent Festival of Lights Service, on Tuesday, December 1, at 7:00 p.m. This annual candlelit service seeks to illuminate the feminine face of God, with a focus this year on Advent, wisdom, and change. The service will feature readings, prayers, instrumental music, and congregational singing. Following the service, there will be reception with cookies and coffee in the Murphey Gallery at St. Philip’s. A freewill offering will benefit Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse. Emerge! provides domestic abuse crisis intervention and housing, prevention and education, and support and advocacy services to women and children. Emerge! is the largest domestic abuse shelter and provider of domestic abuse prevention programs in Southern Arizona.

The service is followed by cookies and coffee in the Murphey Gallery. The public is cordially invited to attend.

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First Sunday Music, on Sunday, December 6, at the 9 and 11:15 a.m. services is entitled “Welcoming Advent with Masters of the Baroque” with St. Philip’s adult and youth choirs and chamber orchestra. Cantata BWV 61, Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland, by Johann Sebastian Bach and Magnificat by Antonio Vivaldi will be used as a part of the liturgy.

Cantata 61 will begin our worship service with the serious and majestic tone of the Advent season. The famous opening movement combines orchestra in “French overture” style with other movements with soloists depicting the idea of longing for the coming of baby Jesus. “Magnificat,” a hymn of praise by Mary when she visits her cousin Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist, is set to music by Antonio Vivaldi. Movements from the Magnificat will bring a jubilant tone to the conclusion of our service in the midst of our Advent season.

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Beginning on December 6 at 10:15 a.m. in the Murphey Gallery, Dr. Kevin Lane Justus leads a three-part lecture series entitled “Tapestry of Stars—A Renaissance Advent.” Topics are: WONDERMENT: Giotto’s Arena Chapel and the Life of Christ—The New Language of Medieval Spiritualism (December 6); KNOWLEDGE:  Leonardo da Vinci’s Madonna of the Rocks  and The Last Supper—God Is in the Details and the Manifestation of Faith (December 13); and MYSTICISM: Tintoretto’s Scuola Grande di San Rocco—The Glory and Tragedy of Advent; The Intensity of Faith (TBA in January). There is no charge for this series.

On Sunday, December 20, at 4 p.m., the St. Nicholas Choir and Schola Cantorum will lead Solemn Choral Evensong. The service is preceded by a short organ concert, presented by Sara Tobe, Director of Music at First United Methodist Church, Tucson. The choirs will lead us through the rarely heard liturgy from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer with Canticle by Sir Hugh Blair and magnificent anthem, “Evening Hymn” by B. Gardiner. Our youth in these choirs will be traveling to the UK next summer to be the resident choir at Worcester Cathedral.

A special reception follows the service, to celebrate the generous culture of philanthropic giving that exists at St. Philip’s.  There will be wine, soft drinks and food.  Carols will be sung by members of our youth choirs

St. Philip’s is located at 4440 N. Campbell Avenue at River Road. Ample parking is available in the north parking lot or under the solar parking structure on the east side. The office phone number is 299-6421.

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The Kirking o’ the Tartans

bagpipes processionThe “Kirking o’ the Tartans” will be celebrated at St. Philip’s In The Hills Episcopal Church on Sunday, November 20, at the 9 and 11:15 a.m. services. The Tucson Highlanders, a pipe band dedicated to the music of the great Highland bagpipes and Scottish-style drumming, will head the procession to and from the church on that day.

Scottish and nae-Scottish parishioners and visitors are encouraged to wear their tartans to this service. They will be invited forward at the conclusion of the service to have their tartans blessed.

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Kirking o’ the Tartans is said to have originated during the 18th century, when the English rulers attempted to subdue rebellious Scottish people by prohibiting them from wearing tartans, symbols of their clans and family solidarity. Some hid wee bits of their tartans under their clothes and had them blessed at church. However apocryphal this tale, St. Philip’s uses this occasion to celebrate the Scottish heritage of the Episcopal Church. The Scottish Episcopal Church is important in our history because it is independent of the Church of England. This allowed the consecration of the first Episcopal bishop in the fledgling United States, Samuel Seabury, in 1784, because it took place in Scotland and thus he did not have to swear allegiance to the British crown. As a result, the Communion rite adopted by the Episcopal Church in 1790 was closely based on the Scottish liturgy, rather than the English.

The public is cordially invited to attend. A freewill offering will be collected.

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St. Philip’s is located at 4440 N. Campbell Avenue at River Road. Ample parking is available in the north parking lot or under our solar parking structure on the east side. The office phone number is 299-6421.

Hymn Festival and Ice Cream Social

choir fundraising ukWhat’s your favorite hymn? Come and enjoy a fun afternoon with your friends on Sunday afternoon, November 15, at 2 p.m.  Jim Marr will emcee this afternoon of favorite hymns, chosen by you. Schola Cantorum and St. Nicholas youth will sing anthems, Woosug Kang and Jeffrey Campbell will play organ accompaniment and solos, and you will join in four-part harmony often embellished with special descants. You can pick up the list of 30 hymns and buy voting points to choose your favorites on Sunday mornings at the St. Nicholas Youth/UK Residency table in Perry Garden at St. Philip’s.

Have you always wanted to write new words to your favorite hymn tune? Do it now! Choose any hymn in the 1982 Hymnal and create a new verse. Find more information on the verse-writing contest at the UK Residency table.

An Ice Cream Social in the Gallery will conclude the hour of joyful singing. Tickets are $20/person and are available at coffee hour on Sunday mornings or at the door.

The Hymn Festival is a benefit for the July 2016 UK Residency at Worcester Cathedral in England. Your donation supports sending 23 St. Nicholas youth to sing daily Evensong and Sunday Eucharist services for a week. The invitation to serve as the Choir in Residence at the cathedral is a huge honor and privilege and reflects the high level of St. Philip’s youth-oriented music programs. The residency will be a strong sign of sharing our gifts on a global level, and is an amazing growth opportunity. The residency not only will instill in the youth strong leadership skills and a profound sense of accomplishment, but also will provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

hymn sing