Patricia Brintle (Crucifixion– it Is Finished, 2009)

Judas, slave of jealousy, where are you?
Peter, slave of fear, where are you?
Thomas, slave of doubt, where are you?
Women and men of Jerusalem, ruled by public opinion, where are you?
Pilate, slave of expediency, where are you?

We are here.
This is Good Friday.
A time to remember the passion of Jesus Christ in solidarity with us, for us and our salvation.
A time to remember that to follow Christ is to be servants of all.
A time to pray, that as we watch and wait with Christ, we may have courage in the hour of our testing.

I invite you to join an online combined Good Friday service, bringing together the congregations of St. Mark’s Lutheran, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, Chalmers-Syndenham Street and Princess Street congregations. It will feature the reading of John 18-19 and some of the great hymns of the Christian faith, and will be available Friday morning from 8:30 a.m. at 
Youtube video – https://youtu.be/Tz6f8vtU2sI
and as Podcast – https://anchor.fm/dashboard/episode/ecj900

            This is our first attempt at putting together a pre-recorded service for Good Friday and I am very happy that we were able to include the participation of readers and clergy from other churches. It is very disappointing however, that we could not put our choirs together for some anthems. There are several hymns included in the service, which were sung thanks to the generosity and talents of my immediate family members. This was recorded a few weeks ago before the pandemic situation became so serious. It was very awkward even then for the five of us to be spread out in the choir loft and to try to sound like a choir. The hymns were accompanied by the St. Andrew’s pipe organ. The organ music at the beginning and at the end was recorded at Chalmers United Church and performed by Aurora Dokken, the organist of Chalmers and Sydenham St. United Churches. Chalmers and the other churches have some beautiful stained glass windows which are quite inspiring and some are very appropriate for this service. However, since St. Andrew’s is in a way hosting this event, we are confining our visuals to what this church has to offer. Along with this, I discovered in the choir room an old bible printed in 1855 and presented to St. Andrew’s in 1892. It contains some remarkable engravings which are shown during the Postlude. Christopher’s violin solo is a hymn tune from Walker’s Southern Harmony of 1835 and I asked him to play it in the style of that period.

            We live in a marvellous new age of technology with devices that too often get misused. But what a blessing that we have recording and broadcast tools in this time of crisis. I think that although we are not able to get together for worship this year, you will still find the service very meaningful.                  (John Hall, Director of Music, St. Andrew’s)

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