Event details

Join us online for Sunday Worship! The service will have magnificent music provided by Penna Rose, Director of Chapel Music, and Eric Plutz, University Organist. The recorded service is available Sunday at 8am here Chapel Service.  This service will remain archived after the premiere (along with concerts and other amazing programs), and we encourage you to return to them whenever you might find that to be helpful.

Please note this is a fully virtual event.

Guest preaching today is Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart, Director for Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs, City of Philadelphia, PA; Faith Work Director, National LGBTQ Task Force; Adjunct Professor, Villanova University. The soloist is Sean Crites '22.

Bulletin for Sunday, April 18, 2021 – Third Sunday of Easter

Invitatory: Prelude in G Major, BWV 541 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Welcome and Announcements: Dean Boden

Call to Worship: Dean Thames

Reading: Psalm 4 (Read by Jonathan A. Ort ’21)

Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer. How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame? How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies? But know that the God has set apart the faithful for God’s self; God hears when I call. When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in God. There are many who say, ‘O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O God! ‘You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and wine abound. I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O God, make me lie down in safety.

Solo: Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee by Eric Thiman (1900-1975) with Sean Crites ’22, soloist

Reading: Luke 24:36-48

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

Sermon by Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart

Hymn: I Greet You, Sure Redeemer (Toulon)

I greet you, sure Redeemer with my heart, glad for the saving love that you impart, who pain did undergo for my poor sake; I pray you from our hearts, all cares to take.

You are the life, by which alone we live, and all our substance and our strength receive. Sustain us by your faith and by your power, and give us strength in every trying hour.

Our hope is all in you and you alone; we trust the promise that your word makes known. O dear Redeemer, make us calm and sure, that in your strength we ever more endure.

Pastoral Prayer: Alexandra Miller-Knaack

Lord’s Prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for Princeton: O Eternal God, the source of life and light for all peoples, we pray you would endow this University with your grace and wisdom: give inspiration and understanding to those who teach and to those who learn; grant vision to its trustees and administrators; to all who work here and to all who bear her name give your guiding Spirit of sacrificial courage and loving service.  Amen.

Solo: How Deep the Silence of the Soul (Tallis’ Third Tune) withSean Crites ’22, soloist

Benediction

Voluntary: Toccata on "Great Day" by Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941)

The University Chapel is a welcoming community of faith.  We gather to sing God's praises, to hear God's living Word, to seek justice, and to proclaim God's love for all people.

University Chapel Staff: The Rev. Alison L. Boden, Ph.D., Dean of Religious Life and of the Chapel; The Rev. Dr. Theresa S. Thames, Associate Dean of Religious Life and of the Chapel; Penna Rose, Director of Chapel Music; Eric Plutz, University Organist; Elizabeth Powers, Chapel Administrator; Alexandra Miller-Knaack, Seminarian Intern; Edgar Gomez, Sexton; Lisa McGurr, Sexton

Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart, a daughter of Detroit, is the Director for Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs for the city of Philadelphia. In this role, she serves as a public facing leader, liaison and subject matter expert for the Mayor’s Office on local and national matters that impact diverse communities of faith. She also manages the Mayor’s Commission on Interfaith Affairs. Naomi is also an adjunct professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University, with joint affiliations with the University’s Center for Peace and Justice Education and Africana Studies program. In 2019, Naomi received the Pohlhaus-Stracciolini Award for Teaching Excellence, which recognizes an adjunct faculty member at Villanova who demonstrates a commitment to the life of the mind and to the well-being of students through teaching that is intellectually stimulating, challenging, and accessible, with efforts extending beyond the classroom. Naomi was most recently the Faith Work Director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, the country's oldest national LGBTQ justice and equality group. In that role, she coordinated the Task Force's public faith messaging and advocacy and leadership development work in faith communities. Before joining the Task Force, Naomi was a faith organizer for POWER, a multi-faith, multi-racial network of congregations in Southeastern and Central Pennsylvania. She also served as Co-Pastor and Minister of Music at the Wisdom's Table at St. Peter's United Church of Christ. An ordained minister, she earned the Master of Divinity degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary in 2016 and is proudly affiliated with the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries.

Calendar: All events are fully virtual and available online at chapel.princeton.edu

Sunday, April 18, 2021, 10 A.M. (Eastern Daylight Time)  A zoom discussion with our preacher will be held.  All are invited to reflect further with Rev. Washington-Leapheart’s sermon’s themes.  The link is: https://princeton.zoom.us/j/92171840688?pwd=OTRxcGJPd0Yyb0Q2OFJ2b2ZJbFdEQT09.

Sunday, April 25, 2021, University Chapel Service. The preacher will be Dean Boden.

For additional information, please visit chapel.princeton.edu or call 609-258-3047.