Festal Eucharist

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Above: The head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now.

Included in this Festal Eucharist are hymns sung by the congregation and choir, additional music sung exclusively by the choir, lessons, prayers, a sermon, and a Rite I Mass. All baptized Christians are welcome to receive Holy Communion. Details of the service may be seen in the leaflet, which is posted at the bottom of this page, where you will also find links to the webcast during and after the service.

‚ñ∫The Rector speaks about this final week of the church year, which includes Christ the King followed by Thanksgving Day, in his Weekly Audio Message.

‚ñ∫Today is Commitment Sunday, which completes the opening phase of the 2012 Every Member Canvass, through which we raise the money to pay for the annual operating expenses of the Church and Choir School. This morning co-chairs Heather Cross and Steve Kelly will present pledge cards at the altar on behalf of everyone who has undertaken a financial commitment to Saint Thomas for the coming year. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has pledged, and we humbly give thanks to God whose Providence sustains us all. Read more about the EMC here and consider making a pledge online. We need everyone who worships with us, including the many thousands from around the globe who have listened to at least one webcast, to consider making a pledge in support of our mission.

Music notes: Kenneth Leighton (1929-1988) was a key figure in British composition in the latter half of the Twentieth Century. He was a chorister at Wakefield Cathedral and studied under Bernard Rose at Oxford, before going on to take up a number of academic posts in Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh and Oxford respectively.

The Missa Christi was composed for the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis, in 1988. The work exhibits all the hallmarks of Leighton’s style (strongly-profiled rhythmic figures and recurrent use of unusual chromatic intervals) yet in this, his last choral work, the tension and energy of the louder sections are balanced by a calmness and lyricism of intense beauty (most notably in the Benedictus and Agnus Dei). It is a fitting valediction for a composer who found church music a profound means for expression and whose days as a chorister were an essential formative influence. As he said ‚ÄúIn my music ‚Ķ I speak as one who comes from inside the Church.‚Äù

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