08/30/2026
Join us for worship at Grace UMC this morning at 10 am, either in person or via the live stream.
Worship begins with the Prelude: "I Want Jesus to Walk with Me" a setting by June Edison
Hymns for the Day: Holy, Holy Holy UMH 64, Deep in the Shadows of the Past FWS 2246 and Where He Leads Me UMH 3338
Alto Soloist, Patricia Hengen-Shields will sing the Solo "I’ll Reach to Heaven" by Margaret Bonds and the Offertory Solo "Poem" by Harold Bruce Forsythe
Worship ends with the Postlude: "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus" a setting by Martin Ellis
The two art songs presented by Patricia Hengen-Shields offer profound musical interpretations of spiritual ascension, sacrifice and divine calling. Written by highly influential African American classical composers of the 20th century, these pieces mirror the theological weights found in today’s readings: Exodus 3:1-15; the calling of Moses at the burning bush and Matthew 16:21-26; Jesus’ call to deny oneself and take up the cross.
“I’ll Reach to Heaven” relies on traditional, biblical, and spiritual imagery - including lyrics detailing a mother in a long white robe outshining the sun. In Exodus, God speaks from a burning bush, asserting his holy authority and commanding Moses to lead Israel out of bo***ge. In Bonds’ piece, the cosmic disruption (sun refusing to shine) mirrors the terrifying, awe-inspiring presence of the divine. Christ states that anyone who wants to save their life must lose it, warning of the physical suffering tied to ultimate spiritual salvation. Bonds’ setting directly highlights this duality: the painful physical reality of the singer (“my side’s a-rackin’ wid a pain”) juxtaposed against the absolute spiritual certainty of ultimate victory (I’ll reach to heaven”). The song was composed by Margaret Bonds, a groundbreaking African American pianist and composer, born in Chicago. Bonds is widely celebrated for her art song arrangement and her deep artistic collaborations with Harlem Renaissance icon Langston Hughes.
The song “Poem” is a musical setting of a text by poet Langston Hughes. The composer, Harold Bruce Forsythe utilized a cantabile (singing) tempo to elevate the composer's text in the realm of classical art music. In Exodus, Moses demands to know God’s identity, and God responses: “I Am Who I Am”. Forsythe’s setting of Hughes’ poetry often deals with the hidden, sacred inner world of Black identity amidst a hostile society. In Matthew 16, Jesus demands the ultimate sacrifice: “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” Forsythe’s own life was defined by a rejection of commercial, mainstream compromise in favor of protecting his artistic and spiritual integrity, even at the cost of obscurity. His setting of “Poem” captures the quiet, melancholic beauty of self-reckoning, echoing the somber, reflective space a believer enters when deciding to take up their own cross. The composer, Harold Bruce Forsythe was a brilliant but highly underrepresented African American composer, pianist and writer who attempted to forge a bold classical modernity that bridged the Harlem Renaissance with international avant-garde influences.
