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Sacred Song Service Followed By Closing of the 152nd Assembly

The Rt. Rev. Eugene T. Sutton
Presider

Lydia Kushmaul and Eve Kushmaul
Soloists

Joy Bates Boyle
Reader

The Chautauqua Choir

Sonya Subbayya Sutton
Director & Organist

Owen Reyda
Organist

We invite you to quietly prepare your hearts for worship during the Prelude.

* Denotes that the congregation is invited to rise in body or spirit.It is our custom to sing the first and last verses of hymns in unison, the interior verses may be sung in parts.

Prelude Nocturne

Lili Boulanger, 1911

Hymn

“Day is dying in the west”

Chautauqua, William Fisk Sherwin, 1877
Mary Lathbury, 1877

Day is dying in the west;
Heav’n is touching earth with rest;
Wait and worship while the night
Sets her evening lamps alight
through all the sky.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts!
Heav’n and earth are full of Thee;
Heav’en and earth are praising Thee,
O Lord most high!

Litany for the Beginning of a Chautauqua Season

Jared Jacobsen, 2003, alt.

Gracious God, mindful of your vision for all your people, we gather now in this place and give you thanks for Miller and Vincent’s vision for this sacred grove: a haven for heart and mind, a place where roots are put down and lives are shared.

We celebrate coming home.

We thank you for this place that was, from the start, made universal as to creeds; a place for the faithful, a place where we live with the holiness of beauty.

We celebrate the spiritual world around us.

We thank you for this place where we share a common commitment: to the arts, to the growth of our bodies, minds, and spirits, and to each other.

We celebrate community.

We thank you for this place where we learn and laugh. A place where we relish life, where we gather with friends and family.

We celebrate joy.

We thank you for this place where we strive to increase our knowledge, sensitivity, and openness.

We celebrate understanding.

We thank you for this place of century-old trees shading gingerbread cottages, of gardens and birds, of barking dogs, Biblical thunderstorms, and the Miller bells chiming over a moonlit lake.

We celebrate beauty.

We thank you for the diversity of our families, religious backgrounds, life choices, philosophical leanings, and faith journeys.

We celebrate the human.

We thank you for this place where musicians lift the soul, painters excite the eye, dancers defy gravity, sculptors tease space, actors conjure reality, photographers capture the light, and poets ennoble the human spirit.

We celebrate creativity.

We thank you for this place that informs and shapes our lives, that makes us leave as better people than when we arrived.

We celebrate value.

We thank you for this place where we dance, each in our own unique way.

Running or leaning on a cane, we dance with our eyes and hearts as much as our bodies.

We celebrate letting go.

And finally, Lord, we thank you for the Souls of Chautauqua— for all who have created, shaped, and guided this extraordinary place.

We give thanks for the precious gift Chautauqua is.

It is ours to hold close, and to give away without reservation

Anthem

“And All Who Listen”

Music: Carrie Kraft, 2012

Text: Agnes Bishop Jardines

And all who listen, Listen!

In the beginning God created the world;

That was Sculpture.

He painted it with the blue of the sky, the green of the grass,

And the myriad tints of sunset’s glow,

That was Art.

He peopled it with human beings;

And that was the Eternal Drama.

Then He breathed through every living thing,

something of God inspiring us.

And all who listened understood;

That was Music!

Reading

Amy Lowell (1874-1925)

‘Tis you that are the music, not your song. The song is but a door which,

opening wide, Lets forth the pent-up melody inside,

Your spirit’s harmony, which clear and strong

Sing but of you. Throughout your whole life long

Your songs, your thoughts, your doings, each divide This perfect beauty; waves within a tide,

Or single notes amid a glorious throng.

The song of earth has many different chords;

Ocean has many moods and many tones

Yet always ocean. In the damp Spring woods

The painted trillium smiles, while crisp pinecones

Autumn alone can ripen. So is this

One music with a thousand cadences.

Hymn*

"How Blest The Listening Heart"

Reading

1 Kings 19 : 9-13

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him, “What are you doing here Elijah?”

Duet

Hineni
Isaiah 6:6-8

Music: Lee Kesselmann

Then flew unto me one of the seraphim, with a glowing stone in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar, and he touched my mouth with it, and said: Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away. And thy sin expiated. And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Hineni. Here am I: send me, O Lord.” Then, you can call me. Yes, you can call me. Here, you can call me. Now, you can call me. Hineni.

Reading

Generous Listening

Krista Tippet, Becoming Wise, An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living, 2016

Generous listening is powered by curiosity, a virtue we can invite and nurture in ourselves to render it instinctive. It involves a kind of vulnerability – a willingness to be surprised, to let go of assumptions and take in ambiguity. The listener wants to understand the humanity behind the words of the other and patiently summons one’s own best self and one’s own best words and questions.

Generous listening, in fact, yields better questions. Deep listening is a virtue that anchors every kind of love relationship.

Poem

Marilyn Nelson, 2018

Generous Listening

A conversation can be a contest, Or a game of catch with invisible balloons. They bounce between us, growing and shrinking, Sometimes floating like cloud medicine balls, And sometimes bowling at us like round anvils. You toss a phrase and understanding blooms Like an anemone of colored lights.

My mind fireworks with unasked questions. Who is this miracle speaking to me?

And who is this miracle listening?

What amazingness are we creating?

Out of gray matter a star spark of thought Leaps between synapses into the air, And pours through gray matter, into my heart: How can I not listen generously?

Hymn

“Now the Silence”

Tune: Now, Carl F. Schalk, 1969
Text: Jaroslav J. Vajda, 1968

Prayer of Thomas À Kempmis

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

Incline my ear to your words,

and let your speech come to me as dew upon the grass.

If I hear your voice, let me not be condemned

for hearing the word and not following it,

for knowing it and not loving it,

for believing it and not living it.

Speak then, Lord, for your servant listens,

for you have words of eternal life.

Speak to me to comfort my soul

and to change my whole life;

in turn, may it give you praise and honor,

forever and ever.

Amen

Poem

"Sunset" 

Louise Gluck, 2008

My great happiness
Is the sound your voice makes Calling
to me even in despair; my sorrow that I
cannot answer you in speech you accept
as mine.

You have no faith in your own language.
So you invest authority in signs you
cannot read with any accuracy. And yet
your voice reaches me always.

And I answer constantly, My
anger passing as winter passes.
My tenderness should be
apparent to you in the breeze
of summer evening and in the
words that become your own
response.

Anthem

Have You Heard God's Voice

Frederick Chatfield, 2016
Words: Jacqui G. Jones, 2008

Have you heard God’s voice; has your heart been stirred? Are you still prepared to follow? Have you made a choice to remain and serve, though the way be rough and narrow?

Will you use your voice; will you not sit down when the multitudes are silent? Will you make a choice to stand your ground when the crowds are turning violent? Will you walk the path that will cost you much and embrace God’s love and sorrow? Will you trust in One who entrusts to you the disciples of tomorrow?

Will you watch the news with the eyes of faith and believe it could be different? Will you share your views using words of grace? Will you leave a thoughtful imprint? Will you walk the path that will cost you much and embrace God’s love and sorrow? Will you trust in One who entrusts to you the disciples of tomorrow?

In your city streets will you be God’s heart? Will you listen to the voiceless? Will you stop and eat, and when friendships start, will you share your faith with the faithless? We will walk the path that will cost us much and embrace God’s love and sorrow? Will you trust in One who entrusts to you the disciples of tomorrow? Have you heard God’s voice, has your heart been stirred?

Concluding Prayers


Let us pray.

Almighty God, we give you thanks for our return to Chautauqua, for the fellowship of all those who have worshiped in this place, and we pray that all who seek you here may find you, and be filled with your joy and peace. Amen.

O God, in the course of this busy life, give us times of refreshment and peace; and grant that we may so use our leisure to rebuild our bodies and renew our minds, that our spirits may be opened to the goodness of your creation. Amen.

O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in your mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen.

Hymn

"Now the day is over"

Merrial, Joseph Barnaby, 1868
Sabine Barind-Gould, 1865

Now the day is over, night is drawing nigh,
shadows of the evening steal across the sky.

Jesus, give the weary calm and sweet repose
with thy tend’rest blessing may our eyelids close.

When the morning wakens, then may I arise
pure, and fresh, and sinless in thy holy eyes. Amen.

Postlude

Largo

George Frederick Handel, 1738
from the opera Xerxes

Use of this piece to close the Sunday evening service has been Chautauqua’s tradition since the dedication of the Massey Memorial Organ on August 6, 1907. Part of the custom has been to remain in our seats until the piece is finished. It is a gesture that we treasure, and one in which you are invited to join. We invite you to leave the Amphitheater silently—without applause.

Join the Chautauqua Choir

Rehearsal at Fletcher Hall:

6:15–7:45 p.m. Thursdays
6:15–7:45 p.m. Fridays
6:15–7:45 p.m. Saturdays

Do you love to sing? Do you have some choral singing experience? We invite you to join us and sing on Sundays with the Chautauqua Choir, whether for one service or the whole season. You must attend at least one out of three weekly rehearsals (though attending more rehearsals are preferred). We ask that you plan to sing both Sunday Morning and Sunday Evening services when possible. Questions can be directed to choir@chq.org or call 716-357-6321. 

Auditions for the 2027 Motet Choir

The Motet Choir leads our weekday worship services, and the two services on Sunday in conjunction with The Chautauqua Choir. Singers need to have choral singing experience and some sight-reading ability. Selected singers are compensated for their commitment with a gate pass for the week(s) they sing with the choir. A brief audition can be scheduled on Wednesdays mornings, following the worship service. Email: choir@chq.org or call 716-357-6321 to schedule an in-person audition.

CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION
Department of Religion

Robert Wilson-Black
Director of Religion

The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton
Senior Pastor

Sonya Subbayya Sutton
Interim Director of Sacred Music

Owen Reyda
Organ Scholar

Carolyn Snider
Administrative Assistant

Alicen Roberts
Religion Intern

Image for Sacred Song Service
Sacred Song Service Followed By Closing of the 152nd Assembly

The Rt. Rev. Eugene T. Sutton
Presider

Lydia Kushmaul and Eve Kushmaul
Soloists

Joy Bates Boyle
Reader

The Chautauqua Choir

Sonya Subbayya Sutton
Director & Organist

Owen Reyda
Organist

We invite you to quietly prepare your hearts for worship during the Prelude.

* Denotes that the congregation is invited to rise in body or spirit.It is our custom to sing the first and last verses of hymns in unison, the interior verses may be sung in parts.

Prelude Nocturne

Lili Boulanger, 1911

Hymn

“Day is dying in the west”

Chautauqua, William Fisk Sherwin, 1877
Mary Lathbury, 1877

Day is dying in the west;
Heav’n is touching earth with rest;
Wait and worship while the night
Sets her evening lamps alight
through all the sky.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts!
Heav’n and earth are full of Thee;
Heav’en and earth are praising Thee,
O Lord most high!

Litany for the Beginning of a Chautauqua Season

Jared Jacobsen, 2003, alt.

Gracious God, mindful of your vision for all your people, we gather now in this place and give you thanks for Miller and Vincent’s vision for this sacred grove: a haven for heart and mind, a place where roots are put down and lives are shared.

We celebrate coming home.

We thank you for this place that was, from the start, made universal as to creeds; a place for the faithful, a place where we live with the holiness of beauty.

We celebrate the spiritual world around us.

We thank you for this place where we share a common commitment: to the arts, to the growth of our bodies, minds, and spirits, and to each other.

We celebrate community.

We thank you for this place where we learn and laugh. A place where we relish life, where we gather with friends and family.

We celebrate joy.

We thank you for this place where we strive to increase our knowledge, sensitivity, and openness.

We celebrate understanding.

We thank you for this place of century-old trees shading gingerbread cottages, of gardens and birds, of barking dogs, Biblical thunderstorms, and the Miller bells chiming over a moonlit lake.

We celebrate beauty.

We thank you for the diversity of our families, religious backgrounds, life choices, philosophical leanings, and faith journeys.

We celebrate the human.

We thank you for this place where musicians lift the soul, painters excite the eye, dancers defy gravity, sculptors tease space, actors conjure reality, photographers capture the light, and poets ennoble the human spirit.

We celebrate creativity.

We thank you for this place that informs and shapes our lives, that makes us leave as better people than when we arrived.

We celebrate value.

We thank you for this place where we dance, each in our own unique way.

Running or leaning on a cane, we dance with our eyes and hearts as much as our bodies.

We celebrate letting go.

And finally, Lord, we thank you for the Souls of Chautauqua— for all who have created, shaped, and guided this extraordinary place.

We give thanks for the precious gift Chautauqua is.

It is ours to hold close, and to give away without reservation

Anthem

“And All Who Listen”

Music: Carrie Kraft, 2012

Text: Agnes Bishop Jardines

And all who listen, Listen!

In the beginning God created the world;

That was Sculpture.

He painted it with the blue of the sky, the green of the grass,

And the myriad tints of sunset’s glow,

That was Art.

He peopled it with human beings;

And that was the Eternal Drama.

Then He breathed through every living thing,

something of God inspiring us.

And all who listened understood;

That was Music!

Reading

Amy Lowell (1874-1925)

‘Tis you that are the music, not your song. The song is but a door which,

opening wide, Lets forth the pent-up melody inside,

Your spirit’s harmony, which clear and strong

Sing but of you. Throughout your whole life long

Your songs, your thoughts, your doings, each divide This perfect beauty; waves within a tide,

Or single notes amid a glorious throng.

The song of earth has many different chords;

Ocean has many moods and many tones

Yet always ocean. In the damp Spring woods

The painted trillium smiles, while crisp pinecones

Autumn alone can ripen. So is this

One music with a thousand cadences.

Hymn*

"How Blest The Listening Heart"

Reading

1 Kings 19 : 9-13

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him, “What are you doing here Elijah?”

Duet

Hineni
Isaiah 6:6-8

Music: Lee Kesselmann

Then flew unto me one of the seraphim, with a glowing stone in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar, and he touched my mouth with it, and said: Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away. And thy sin expiated. And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Hineni. Here am I: send me, O Lord.” Then, you can call me. Yes, you can call me. Here, you can call me. Now, you can call me. Hineni.

Reading

Generous Listening

Krista Tippet, Becoming Wise, An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living, 2016

Generous listening is powered by curiosity, a virtue we can invite and nurture in ourselves to render it instinctive. It involves a kind of vulnerability – a willingness to be surprised, to let go of assumptions and take in ambiguity. The listener wants to understand the humanity behind the words of the other and patiently summons one’s own best self and one’s own best words and questions.

Generous listening, in fact, yields better questions. Deep listening is a virtue that anchors every kind of love relationship.

Poem

Marilyn Nelson, 2018

Generous Listening

A conversation can be a contest, Or a game of catch with invisible balloons. They bounce between us, growing and shrinking, Sometimes floating like cloud medicine balls, And sometimes bowling at us like round anvils. You toss a phrase and understanding blooms Like an anemone of colored lights.

My mind fireworks with unasked questions. Who is this miracle speaking to me?

And who is this miracle listening?

What amazingness are we creating?

Out of gray matter a star spark of thought Leaps between synapses into the air, And pours through gray matter, into my heart: How can I not listen generously?

Hymn

“Now the Silence”

Tune: Now, Carl F. Schalk, 1969
Text: Jaroslav J. Vajda, 1968

Prayer of Thomas À Kempmis

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

Incline my ear to your words,

and let your speech come to me as dew upon the grass.

If I hear your voice, let me not be condemned

for hearing the word and not following it,

for knowing it and not loving it,

for believing it and not living it.

Speak then, Lord, for your servant listens,

for you have words of eternal life.

Speak to me to comfort my soul

and to change my whole life;

in turn, may it give you praise and honor,

forever and ever.

Amen

Poem

"Sunset" 

Louise Gluck, 2008

My great happiness
Is the sound your voice makes Calling
to me even in despair; my sorrow that I
cannot answer you in speech you accept
as mine.

You have no faith in your own language.
So you invest authority in signs you
cannot read with any accuracy. And yet
your voice reaches me always.

And I answer constantly, My
anger passing as winter passes.
My tenderness should be
apparent to you in the breeze
of summer evening and in the
words that become your own
response.

Anthem

Have You Heard God's Voice

Frederick Chatfield, 2016
Words: Jacqui G. Jones, 2008

Have you heard God’s voice; has your heart been stirred? Are you still prepared to follow? Have you made a choice to remain and serve, though the way be rough and narrow?

Will you use your voice; will you not sit down when the multitudes are silent? Will you make a choice to stand your ground when the crowds are turning violent? Will you walk the path that will cost you much and embrace God’s love and sorrow? Will you trust in One who entrusts to you the disciples of tomorrow?

Will you watch the news with the eyes of faith and believe it could be different? Will you share your views using words of grace? Will you leave a thoughtful imprint? Will you walk the path that will cost you much and embrace God’s love and sorrow? Will you trust in One who entrusts to you the disciples of tomorrow?

In your city streets will you be God’s heart? Will you listen to the voiceless? Will you stop and eat, and when friendships start, will you share your faith with the faithless? We will walk the path that will cost us much and embrace God’s love and sorrow? Will you trust in One who entrusts to you the disciples of tomorrow? Have you heard God’s voice, has your heart been stirred?

Concluding Prayers


Let us pray.

Almighty God, we give you thanks for our return to Chautauqua, for the fellowship of all those who have worshiped in this place, and we pray that all who seek you here may find you, and be filled with your joy and peace. Amen.

O God, in the course of this busy life, give us times of refreshment and peace; and grant that we may so use our leisure to rebuild our bodies and renew our minds, that our spirits may be opened to the goodness of your creation. Amen.

O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in your mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen.

Hymn

"Now the day is over"

Merrial, Joseph Barnaby, 1868
Sabine Barind-Gould, 1865

Now the day is over, night is drawing nigh,
shadows of the evening steal across the sky.

Jesus, give the weary calm and sweet repose
with thy tend’rest blessing may our eyelids close.

When the morning wakens, then may I arise
pure, and fresh, and sinless in thy holy eyes. Amen.

Postlude

Largo

George Frederick Handel, 1738
from the opera Xerxes

Use of this piece to close the Sunday evening service has been Chautauqua’s tradition since the dedication of the Massey Memorial Organ on August 6, 1907. Part of the custom has been to remain in our seats until the piece is finished. It is a gesture that we treasure, and one in which you are invited to join. We invite you to leave the Amphitheater silently—without applause.

Join the Chautauqua Choir

Rehearsal at Fletcher Hall:

6:15–7:45 p.m. Thursdays
6:15–7:45 p.m. Fridays
6:15–7:45 p.m. Saturdays

Do you love to sing? Do you have some choral singing experience? We invite you to join us and sing on Sundays with the Chautauqua Choir, whether for one service or the whole season. You must attend at least one out of three weekly rehearsals (though attending more rehearsals are preferred). We ask that you plan to sing both Sunday Morning and Sunday Evening services when possible. Questions can be directed to choir@chq.org or call 716-357-6321. 

Auditions for the 2027 Motet Choir

The Motet Choir leads our weekday worship services, and the two services on Sunday in conjunction with The Chautauqua Choir. Singers need to have choral singing experience and some sight-reading ability. Selected singers are compensated for their commitment with a gate pass for the week(s) they sing with the choir. A brief audition can be scheduled on Wednesdays mornings, following the worship service. Email: choir@chq.org or call 716-357-6321 to schedule an in-person audition.

CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION
Department of Religion

Robert Wilson-Black
Director of Religion

The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton
Senior Pastor

Sonya Subbayya Sutton
Interim Director of Sacred Music

Owen Reyda
Organ Scholar

Carolyn Snider
Administrative Assistant

Alicen Roberts
Religion Intern