First Presbyterian Church of Potsdam, New York

A community gathering in Christ and ministering as God leads

Music News

Our Hymn Heritage (more)

From the January, 2006, Parish Paper (Notes from Laura Toland)

“Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Peace to the world is given.
Hushed are the angels, so still is the night;
Then in the East shone a heavenly light.
Join in the chorus, His praises sing!
Glory to God, to the newly born King.
Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Peace to the world is given.”

Gustaf Nordqvist 1886-1946
English Text: Norman Luboff

What a blessing our Christmas Eve service was, and many thanks to all of our musicians, for the loving gifts of music they gave. The service was reverently opened by the Handbell Choir, followed by Natasha Wolpin (our guest accompanist) on the organ. The Brass Quintet (Jim & Tom Madeja, Mark & Nick Hartman, Chuck Guy) completed the preludes with “O Holy Night”, followed by a thrilling fanfare into our processional carol. The “Homecoming Choir”, augmented by members of the Hartman, Madeja, and Stowe families and Donald Anderson, provided 7 anthems. One of the loveliest moments was the lighting of candles during “Wonderful Peace” (See text above), followed by Donald Anderson’s rendition of “Silent Night” on guitar. The sea of candles in our darkened sanctuary, all voices quietly joining the guitar in the singing of this final carol, is a moment many of us will not soon forget.

It was a pleasure to return to church on Christmas Day, and sing many of the carols we could not cover the night before! Pastor Rich gave us a brief history of the eleven carols, sung in chronological order, and a booklet of these stories was available to take home. The Christmas Day Carol Festival was followed by breakfast in the Center, with beverages, egg casserole, pancakes with toppings, and muffins provided by Ray Toland and Barbara Baker.

From the October, 2005, Parish Paper (Notes from Laura Toland)

“I sing a song of the saints of God,
patient and brave and true,
who toiled and fought and lived and died
for the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,
and one was a shepherdess on the green:
they were all of them saints of God,
and I mean, God helping, to be one too.
They loved their Lord so dear, so dear,
and His love made them strong;
and they followed the right, for Jesus' sake,
the whole of their good lives long...
and there's not any reason, no, not the least,
why I shouldn't be one too.
They lived not only in ages past,
there are hundreds of thousands still.
The world is bright with the joyous saints
who love to do Jesus' will.
You can meet them in school,
or in lanes, or at sea,
in church, or in trains, or the P&C,
for the saints of God are just folke like me,
and I mean to be one too."
- Lesbia Scott

Last month we felt like we were literally "drowning" in sorrows. Recovery will probably be measured in months and years, and some scars may never fade. Encouragement comes from the emergence of "saints": churches, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Presbytery Disaster Assistance, the National Guard, police, ordinary (and extraordinary) citizens, neighbors near and far, all doing many small and large acts of kindness. The words of the anthem above will be sung on Oct. 30th. They were written by a mother for her young children, and while the text is sometimes whimsical, it does remind us that "saints" come from all walks of life. We participate with all the saints of the ages during love offerings, community dinners, rummage sales.... May we help brighten our world by helping joyously.

From the September, 2005, Parish Paper (Notes from Laura Toland)

“If you but trust in God to guide you,
with hopeful heart through all your ways,
you will find strength, with God beside you,
to bear the worst of evil days;
for those who trust God’s changeless love
build on the rock that will not move.
What gain is there in futile weeping,
in helpless anger and distress?
If you are in God’s care and keeping,
in sorrow will God love you less?
For Christ who took for you a cross
will bring you safe through ev’ry loss.”

More on our Musical Groups:

The Westminster Choir (teens and up) rehearses every Wednesday evening from 7 to 8 p.m. in classroom 4, and Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. We always have room for more in the choir. We generally work on anthems six weeks in advance, as everyone has to miss the occasional rehearsal. Some of our members are involved in Sunday School, which meets before church on Sunday, so we by having two rehearsal times we can still prepare to sing the Lord’s praises in a prepared and worshipful way.

The Handbell Choir (teens and up) meets in the balcony, following worship. Music reading is a requirement, but we do train new ringers. It is a challenging and rewarding experience; we thank those who have rung for years, and those who have been willing to try something new!

The Philhymnonic, under the able direction of Art Frackenpohl, is a multi-generational group of instrumentalists that forms several times a semester. They meet at 9 a.m. on the Sundays that they lead worship, and prepare several hymns and the offertory. Art arranges the music for a combination of instruments, and it has become one of our most rewarding worship experiences. Dust off your instruments, and let Art know what you play!