THE MUSIC MINISTRY OF COLONIAL HEIGHTS UMC!

JANUARY 1, 2009

Music Notes
Renewal of Baptismal Vows
January 10, 2010
On Sunday, January 10, 2010
we will celebrate a renewal of our
Baptismal vows. David Graves,
Kingsport District UM
Superintendent wil l lead the
service.
The History of Baptism: From
Jewish Ritual to Christian
Doctrine
© Mark L. Porter May 6, 2008
Before Christianity
Originally Baptism was a
purification ritual adapted from
the Jewish faith and performed by
the priests at the temple to make
someone who was deemed as
unclean back into being clean and
presentable in the eyes of God.
This could be from touching an
unclean person, the dealing with
the dead or diseased, being with a
woman during menstruation, or
any number of other things that
the Torah had determined as
‘unclean’. The ritual had the
person being cleansed bringing the
appropriate offering, such as
doves, lambs, or sometimes simply
just grains, to the priest and having
the priest say the appropriate
words to God before ‘washing’ the
unclean person in the waters, oils,
and/or perfumes at the temple.
This procedure was symbolic of
the uncleanliness going from the
person to the water, therefore
allowing the person being baptized
to enter the Temple for worship on
Saturday as the holy day.
Early Christianity
At the start of Christianity, being
as it was at that time a small cult
branching from the mother
religion of Judaism, they kept the
practice of washing away the sins
through the symbolic act, as Jesus
was washed and
performed the
washing from John
the Baptist. They
did not ask for an
offering to the
priest, just a vow
and oath of belief
in the Christian
religion and all
that they stood for.
Students Create iPhone Orchestra
By Amatoor
The University of Michigan offers
students the chance to compose and
perform music with an iPhone or iPod
touch. The class, "Building a Mobile
Phone Ensemble," is taught by George
Essl, an assistant professor of computer
science and music who says he's been
making sweet mobile phone music ever
since 2005. Essl teaches students how to
code their own instruments, using the full
array of sensors that the iPhone so
uniquely offers, along with a few extra
audio tools. Once they've all honed their
iSkills, the entire class gets onstage to
show the world what they've conceived.
What's really cool is the extent to which
some students have experimented with
the medium. One kid even came up with a
way to implement the video display to
create some sort of synaesthetic sound-
color display. The class recently displayed
their iPhone virtuosity at a university
orchestral performance. Although some
m i g h t f i n d t h e m u s i c i n a c ce s s i b l y
ambient, it's hard to discount the
resourceful innovation that went into
creating it. At a time when the music most
of us are creating with our iPhones tends
towards the simplistic, it's refreshing to
see people exploring just how far the
device can take our imaginations.

EPIPHANY & THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD

The earliest reference to Epiphany as a Christian feast was in
A.D. 361, by Ammianus Marcellinus from the celebration of the
feast, as we are reminded that Christ must reign in our hearts,
minds, wills, and bodies. The celebration of the Feast of
Epiphany was established early as January 6. It included the
commemoration of: his birth; the visit of the Magi ("Wise Men",
as Magi were Persian priests) to Bethlehem; all of Jesus'
childhood events, up to and including his baptism in the Jordan
by John the Baptist; and even the miracle at the Wedding of
Cana in Galilee. It seems fairly clear that the Baptism was the
primary event being commemorated. The Dutch and Flemish
call this day Drie Koningen (Three Kings' Day). In the
Netherlands and Belgium, children in groups of three
(symbolising the three kings) proceed in costume from house to
house while singing songs typical for the occasion, and receiving
a coin or some sweets at each door. In France, on Epiphany
people eat a kind of king cake, with a trinket (usually a porcelain
figurine of a king) or a bean hidden inside. The person who gets
the piece of cake with the trinket becomes "king" for a day.

Available online@HTTP://.CHUMCKPT.ORG! PAGE 1

 THE MUSIC MINISTRY OF COLONIAL HEIGHTS UMC!
MEMBER AND FAMILY NEWS The UM Understanding of
(If you have information to share about The Divine Initiative of Grace
yo u o r yo u r fa m i l y, p l e a s e s e n d While we have turned from
information in email jimlyon@mac.com. God, God has not abandoned
If we inadvertently omit your name on us. Instead, God graciously and
the birthday list or omit information you
have submitted, contact Jim. )
Ha p p y Ja n u a r y
Birthdays
Jim Lyon (1/12), Jill
Boateng (1/14), Elise
Horton (1/30)
WOMEN”S ENSEMBLE
Got a Patent Pending?
Nick Jackson (past member of
our Children’s Choirs), son of
Dick (Bass) and Connie Jackson
passed the BAR exam in
No vember and the Patent
BAR. Congratulations!
Writing in the News
C o n g r a t u l a t i o n s t o Ju l e s
Rosario (6th Grade Ensemble)
for her featured writing in
Kingsport Ti m e s - Ne w s
“WriteOn!” in December. She
wrote about some of her
fa vorite things that occur
during the holidays.
Touring China during
Christmas/New Years
De vin Lyon, accompanist at
CHUMC Knoxvil le and pa st
musician at CHUMC Kingsport is
touring China as principle
percussionist with the Arizona
Symphony Orchestra in
conjunction with the US State
Dept. and the Republic of China.
They leave the States on Dec. 26
& return Jan. 12. Concerts include
performances in 10 regions of
China. Devin is a first year Law/
MBA student at the University of
Tennessee.
Available online@HTTP://.CHUMCKPT.ORG!
JANUARY 1, 2009
January Anthems
January 3
Solo (Jim on vacation)
January 10–Renewal of Baptismal
continuously seeks to restore us Vows with DS David Graves
to that loving relationship for As the Water Sings (arr. Christopherson)
Wade in the Water (arr. Trinkley)
which we were created, to make Down to the Water to Pray (arr. Choplin)
us into the persons that God
would have us be. To this end January 17
My Soul’s Gonna Rise Again (arr. Okun)
God acts preveniently, that is, River in Judea (arr. Leavitt)
before we are aware of it,
reaching out to save January 24
Is This Not the Land of Beulah? (arr. Pethel)
humankind. The Old
Testament records the story of
God’s acts in the history of the January 31
Sing O Heavens and Be Joyful O Earth!
covenant community of Israel (Perry/Emert)
to work out the divine will and
purpose. In the New Testament
story, we learn that God came
into this sinful world in the Remember When
person of Jesus Christ to reveal
all that the human mind can
comprehend about who God is
and who God would have us be.
Through Christ’s death and
resurrection, the power of sin
and death was overcome and
we are set free to again be
God’s own people (1 Peter 2:9).
Since God is the only initiator
and source of grace, all grace is
prevenient in that it precedes
and enables any movement that
we can make toward God.
Grace brings us to an awareness
of our sinful predicament and
of our inability to save
ourselves; grace motivates us to
repentance and gives us the
capacity to respond to divine
l o v e In t h e w o r d s o f t h e
baptismal ritual: “All this is
Hanging of the
G o d ’s g i f t , o f f e r e d t o u s
without price” (The United Greens 2009
Methodist Hymnal, page 33).
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