Dec
5

Worship Service, Second Sunday of Advent

Worship Service - Sundays at 11am

SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE

Sunday, 11am, Princeton University Chapel

Join us for worship in the University Chapel with Guest Preacher Heath W. Carter, Associate Professor of American Christianity, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ. Music by the Princeton University Chapel Choir with Nicole Aldrich, Director of Chapel Music and of the University Chapel Choir and Eric Plutz, University Organist.

The Worship Service is live streamed on the ORL YouTube page each week.

*All persons, including members of the broader community, are welcome to attend this event if they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 if over age 12. Face coverings must be worn at all times by everyone over age 2. Registration is required for contact tracing purposes.

Register in advance through this link


The bulletin for this service is below.

Second Sunday of Advent, December 5, 2021 (A Service of Holy Communion)

You are invited to rise, in body or spirit, for those parts of the service marked with an asterisk (*)

Invitatory: Three settings of “Veni, veni, Emmanuel” by Kenneth Leighton  (1929-1988); by Noël Goemanne (1926-2010); by Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Welcome and Announcements: Dean Thames

*Hymn No. 101: Comfort, Comfort, O My People (Freu dich sehr)

*Call to Worship: Dean Boden

Leader: We have lit a second candle as a sign of the coming light of Christ. Advent means coming. We are preparing ourselves for the days when the nations shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

(All sing) O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.  Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel! O come, O Wisdom from on high, and order all things far and nigh; to us the path of knowledge show, and help us in that way to go.  Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

*Confession - Leader: Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

All: Have mercy on us, most merciful Creator; in your compassion forgive us our sins, known and unknown, things done and left undone; and so uphold us by your Spirit that we may serve you in newness of life, to the honor and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen.
*Assurance of Pardon: Friends, hear the Good News of Advent. God's love is known across time, in Jesus Christ, and at this very moment.  Hear these words of assurance that God, who makes all things new, also covers us with grace, love, and forgiveness.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Reading: Philippians 1:3-11  I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.  I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.  It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.  For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.  And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Anthem: Come, O Long-Expected Jesus (Jefferson; Charles Wesley, alt.)  Come, O long-expected Jesus, born to set all people free; from our fears and sins release us; grant us your true liberty.  Israel’s strength and consolation, hope to all the earth impart; dear desire of every nation, enter every longing heart.  Born all people to deliver, born a child, you came to reign!  Born to rule on earth forever, come, be known to us again.  By your own eternal Spirit, come to claim us as your own; by your all-sufficient merit, let us share your cross and crown.

Reading: Luke 3:1-6  In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.  He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

Sermon: “Impatience is a Virtue” by Professor Heath Carter

*Hymn No. 121: All Earth Is Waiting (Taulé)

Prayers of the People:  Otis Byrd, Jr.  

(If there are prayer requests that you would like to share, please raise your hand.)

After each petition:

Leader: God of love and mercy,

People: Hear our prayer.

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.

*Exchange of the Peace

Leader: The peace of God be always with you.

People: And also with you.

(The people may exchange the peace with one another.)

Offertory Sentence

Music at the Offering: A Tender Shoot by Colin Davey   (Otto Goldschmidt, tr. William Bartholomew)  A tender shoot has started up from a root of grace, as ancient seers imparted from Jesse’s holy race: it blooms without blight, blooms in the cold midwinter, turning darkness into light.  This shoot Isaiah taught us, from Jesse’s root should spring; the Virgin Mary brought us the branch of which we sing. Our God of endless might gave her this child to save us, thus turning darkness into light.

*Doxology: (Sung to the tune of hymn no. 27) Lasst uns erfreuen   Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise God all creatures here below, alleluia, alleluia. Praise God above ye heavenly hosts, Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

*Communion

Invitation to Communion

Kyrie:  Text: Ancient Greek;  Music: Russian Orthodox tradition

Leader: This is the joyful feast of the people of God.

All: Let us rejoice and be glad.

Gloria: Music: Pablo Sosa. 1988 (Cueca dance rhythm)

Leader: Creator God, We bless you and praise you, you spoke and the Earth was formed. You drew a breath and the sea rose.

All: All of creation sings your praises.

Sanctus: Text and music: Anon, Argentina

Leader: From the dust of the Earth, you created our bodies.  You gave us our senses and blessed us with the power of reason and love.  Yet we turned against you and one another.

All: Have mercy on us, mighty God.

Leader: And so you sent us Jesus, the incarnate one, to show us how to love you.  He announced good news to the poor, release to the captive, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed.

All: Through all his life and death, He reconciled us to you and to one another.

Agnus Dei: Music: Kirchenordnung, Braunschweig, 1528

Leader: Witnessing to that reconciliation, on the night he was arrested, in company with his good friends, Jesus took bread.  After giving thanks, he broke it and said:

All: Take. Eat.  This is my body, which is given for you.  Do this, remembering me.

Leader: After supper, he took a cup of wine and said:

All: “Drink this, all of you.  This is the new covenant, sealed in my blood; whenever you drink it, do this, remembering me.”

Leader: Remembering Jesus, we ask you to send the power of the Holy Spirit upon this bread and this wine that these gifts may be for us the sacrament of your healing presence among us in a broken and bleeding world.  Feed us with your power; fill us with your peace; lead us, reconciled and redeemed, into the world, to work for the liberation and reconciliation of all peoples.

All: In the name of God, Creating, Redeeming, and Sanctifying, we pray, Amen.

Leader: The gifts of God for the people of God.

All of God’s People are Welcome at God’s Table. Please come forward to receive Communion.  After receiving the bread, you may either eat it and then drink from the cup, or dip the bread in the cup.  You are then invited to return to your seats to keep silence for meditation and prayer.

Music during Communion

Wait for the Lord by Jacques Berthier (Taizé Community, alt.)

Wait for the Lord, whose day is near. Wait for the Lord: be strong, take heart!

*Thanksgiving: (To be said by all.)  Eternal God, we thank you for graciously calling us into community with Jesus and one another, and for beginning in us the age that is to come.  Grant us courage and send us forth to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ.  To Christ, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever.  Amen.

*Prayer for Princeton: (To be said by all.)  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.

*Hymn: Canticle of the Turning   (Star of County Down)

*Benediction

Voluntary: Toccata on “Veni, Veni Emmanuel” by Andrew Carter (b.1939)

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.

Today’s Guest Preacher: Dr. Heath W. Carter is an associate professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he teaches and writes about the intersection of Christianity and American public life. He is the author of Union Made: Working People and the Rise of Social Christianity in Chicago (Oxford University Press, 2015), which was the runner up for the American Society of Church History’s 2015 Brewer Prize, and the co-editor of three other books. Carter is currently at work on a book entitled On Earth as it is in Heaven: Social Christians and the Fight to End American Inequality (under contract with Oxford University Press). He is also the co-editor of William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company’s award-winning Library of Religious Biography series.

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; Nicole Aldrich, Director of Chapel Music and of the Chapel Choir; Eric Plutz, University Organist; Elizabeth Powers, Chapel Administrator; Otis Byrd, Jr. Seminary Intern; Edgar Gomez, Sexton; Lisa McGurr, Sexton

The flowers today are given in memory of Ginny Kyte, beloved mother, grandmother and aunt, by her loving family.  If you would like to make a contribution toward Sunday flowers in the chapel as a memorial, please contact Liz Powers for details at 609-258-3048.  The offering this morning will go to further the ministry of the University Chapel.  Every Sunday of every month the congregation is invited to bring non-perishable food items to be donated to Arm in Arm.

Singers!  Join the Christmas Eve Chorus at Princeton University chapel.  The service will be on Friday, December 24th at 8pm.  Rehearsals: Sunday, Dec 19, from 1pm to 3pm and Monday Dec 20, from 7pm to 9pm.  Contact Nicole Aldrich, 609-258-3654, naldrich@princeton.edu if you are interested.  All singers must be fully vaccinated and will be masked at all times.

Calendar of Upcoming Services and Events

TODAY, December 5, 2021, You are invited to coffee hour immediately following the service.  TODAY - 2:30 p.m.  Advent Concert —"My Spirit Rejoices" —Princeton Chapel Choir, Nicole Aldrich, Conductor.  Admission free.  

MONDAY, December 6, 2021, 7:30 p.m. Messiah, Community sing with organ, strings and trumpet.  Bring a score or borrow one at the door.  Admission $5, students free.

WEDNESDAY, December 8, 2021, 7:30 p.m.—Candlelight Service of Lessons and Carols, music by the Chapel Choir and Princeton a cappella groups.  Admission free.

SUNDAY, December 12, 2021, 11:00 a.m. University Chapel Service.  The preacher will be Dean Boden.

FRIDAY, December 24, 2021, Christmas Eve Service, 8:00 p.m.  The prelude starts at 7:30 with organ, oboe, strings, and vocalists.  The preacher will be Dean Boden.

SATURDAY, December 25, 2021, Christmas Day Service, 11:00 a.m.  Christmas Day Service with celebration of Holy Communion.  The preacher will be Dean Thames.

Please visit chapel.princeton.edu for more information.

Copyright info: “Veni, veni, Emmanuel,” Kenneth Leighton, © Basil Ramsey (Publisher of Music).  “Veni, veni, Emmanuel,” Noël Goemanne, © H. W. Gray Publications. “Veni, veni, Emmanuel,” Gerald Near, Aureole Editions. Toccata on “Veni, Veni Emmanuel,” Andrew Carter, © Oxford University Press. “Wait for the Lord” text and music © Les Presses de Taizé, admin. GIA Publications, Inc. “Canticle of the Turning” text by Rory Cooney, © GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under OneLicense.net #A-541135.

Date

December 5, 2021

Time

11:00 a.m.

Location

Princeton University Chapel