Sunday, December 18, 2022 9:00 a.m.

Fourth Sunday of Advent Wonder - Rev. Dr. Andrew McDonald Worship/Music Notes Today we are blessed by the singing of our youth choirs as well as our adult choir, singing carols and hymns of the season. The arrangement of ʺO Li.le Town of Bethlehemʺ is to a less-familiar tune called Barnby, which is named for the composer of the tune, Sir Joseph Barnby (1838 – 1896) who was an English conductor and composer. The author of the text, Phillips Brooks, was born in Boston in 1835, graduated from Harvard College 1855, and was ordained in 1859. Brooks was rector of the Church of the Advent, Philadelphia, and Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston (there is a statue of Brooks in Copley Square). He died in Boston in 1893. His carol, ʺO little town of Bethlehem,ʺ was written for his Sunday School in 1868, the author having spent Christmas 1866, in Bethlehem. The Ave Maria de Caccini is a much-recorded aria composed by the Russian composer Vladimir Vavilov around 1970. Vavilov wrote this aria with the ascription Anonymous, and it was later mis-attributed to Giulio Caccini. Sue Ellen Page was the Director of Choirs for Children and Youth at Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton, NJ, a position she held from 1982 until her death in 2016. Natalie Sleeth (1930-1992) was a prolific American composer of hymns and anthems for the church. Born in Evanston, IL, she wrote nearly 200 works for church and school. We are grateful to all these singers for their talent and dedication, as they lead us in joyful song to prepare for the birth of the Christ Child. Copyright Information The following is used with permission, OneLicense.net License No. 717156-A All rights reserved. The Gift of Love, text by Eric D. Johnson, © 1979, Hinshaw Music, Inc. Do You Hear What I Hear, text by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne, © 1963 Shawnee Press. Were You There on that Christmas Night? Words by Natalie Sleeth, © 1976 Hope Publishing Company.