This Sunday is an exciting one for many reasons. It is Pentecost, the “Birthday of The Church!” We get to hear from my friend and Hebrew Bible professor, Dr. Mark Biddle. We get to worship outside (weather permitting, which does seem questionable in the extended forecast). We are being joined in worship by the brass quintet and timpani from the Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra, who are accompanying some hymns we’ve sung together before with them. I’ll include some video links below. We are also singing a brand new hymn, written by Eli Cooper-Nelson, one of two upcoming hymns by Eli. So much to look forward to.

To my knowledge, Eli is the first transgender hymnwriter being published by a major house (GIA), and has a talent for somehow succinctly expanding language (you’ll see what I mean). You can read more about him here: https://elishymns.wordpress.com/bio/

Here is his Pentecost hymn, Be Our Inhale, that we will sing this week. The tune is written someone I hope you recognize, Ben Brody, who joined us for worship last fall.

Eli writes about Be Our Inhale:

This text originated with a fifty-mile hike along the shores of Lake Superior on Isle Royale. On a particularly uphill day, I discovered that forecasting on my breathing made the ascent far more manageable. In connecting to my own breath I connected to the breezes of the Greenstone Ridge, the forests of birch, the loons, and the skilled beaver whose marsh interrupted our trail one afternoon.

In this way, we feel the way the Holy Spirit connects our breath with the breath of all creation. Each sip of water, each breath, each thing we take in, joins us all together.

You can see another Holy Spirit text of Eli’s, that we will sing on June 7th, here:

https://giamusic.com/resource/breath-of-compassion-pdf-du01816

In addition to helping us sing Ben and Eli’s hymn, the RPO Brass will also help us to sing the rest of our worship.

Wind Who Makes All Winds that Blow/HUMILITY we sang back in 2023 with the brass (beginning at 53:30):

If you’re wondering how you know this tune, it is one we typically sing at Christmas with See Amid the Winter’s Snow. It was, in fact, that paired rhymes of Snow/Below and Blow/low that drew the connection between the two texts.

The choir, along with the brass, will also lead us in singing O Spirit, All-Embracing/THAXTED, as arranged by Richard Proulx. We sang this back in October of 2023 (beginning at 1:00:37)

Lastly, we will sing Summoned By the God Who Made Us, with the tune HYMN TO JOY.

Delores Dufner’s rich text is always worth sharing:

Summoned by the God who made us rich in our diversity,

gathered in the name of Jesus, richer still in unity:

Refrain:

Let us bring the gifts that differ and, in splendid, varied ways,

sing a new church into being, one in faith and love and praise.

Radiant risen from the water, robed in holiness and light,

ev’ry person in God’s image, ev’ry person, God’s delight.

Refrain

Trust the goodness of creation; trust the Spirit strong within.

Dare to dream the vision promised sprung from seed of what has been.

Refrain

Bring the hopes of ev’ry nation; bring the art of ev’ry race.

Weave a song of peace and justice; let it sound through time and space.

Refrain

Draw together at one table all the human family;

shape a circle ever wider and a people ever free.

Refrain

It is going to be a lot of singing. Remember, congregational singing is a team sport, you aren’t responsible for singing everything, but I do hope that you stay engaged and experience the Holy Spirit dancing as we sing.

Happy Pentecost 2026!

The Payoff Pitch…