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Sacred Song Service – Dreams

The Rt. Rev. Eugene T. Sutton
Presider

James Denvil and Deborah Hazlett
Readers

The Chautauqua Choir

Sonya Subbayya Sutton
Interim Director & Organist

Owen Reyda
Organist

Carl Dupont
Guest Musician

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

Adagio in E Major 

Frank Bridge, 1905

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!

Welcome
A Prayer For Dreamers

Prayers of our Hearts in Word and Action

Vienna Cobb Anderson, 2020

We pray for the dreamers of this life, O God, for those persons who imagine new possibilities, who long for what others cannot perceive, who spin dreams of wonder and majesty in their minds. Defend them from ridicule and harsh criticism, from selfdoubt and lack of faith in their dreams, and from abandonment of this call to make things new. Grant that from their dreams may come forth blessings for all humankind to enrich the quality of life and the wonderment of us all; in Christ’s name we pray.

Amen.

Anthem

We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder

Spiritual, arr. Horace Clarence Boyer

We are climbing Jacob’s ladder, soldiers of the Cross.
Ev’ry round goes higher, higher, soldiers of the Cross.
Sinner, do you love your Jesus, soldiers of the Cross.
Lord, let me walk close by your side; I’ll be your sheep, you’ll be my guide.
Lord, lift me up and let me stand, and I will say at your command:
If you love Him, why not serve Him, soldiers of Cross.

Scripture Reading

Genesis 28:10-16

Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a stairway set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring, and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”

Hymn

“Nearer My God to Thee” 

Tune: Bethany

Reading

To S.M., A Young African Painter, On Seeing His Works
Phillis Wheatley, 1773

To encourage the dreams of another is to show love for them. Phillis Wheatley wrote this poem as an act of such encouragement for a young painter, Scipio Moorheard:

To show the lab’ring bosom’s deep intent,
And thought in living characters to paint,
When first thy pencil did those beauties give,
And breathing figures learnt from thee to live,
How did those prospects give my soul delight,
A new creation rushing on my sight?
Still, wond’rous youth! each noble path pursue,
On deathless glories fix thine ardent view:
Still may the painter’s and the poet’s fire
To aid thy pencil, and thy verse conspire!
And may the charms of each seraphic theme
Conduct thy footsteps to immortal fame!
High to the blissful wonders of the skies
Elate thy soul, and raise thy wishful eyes.
Thrice happy, when exalted to survey
That splendid city, crown’d with endless day,
Whose twice six gates on radiant hinges ring:
Celestial Salem blooms in endless spring.
Calm and serene thy moments glide along,
And may the muse inspire each future song!
Still, with the sweets of contemplation bless’d,
May peace with balmy wings your soul invest!
But when these shades of time are chas’d away,
And darkness ends in everlasting day,
On what seraphic pinions shall we move,
And view the landscapes in the realms above?
There shall thy tongue in heav’nly murmurs flow,
And there my muse with heav’nly transport glow:
No more to tell of Damon’s tender sighs,
Or rising radiance of Aurora’s eyes,
For nobler themes demand a nobler strain,
And purer language on th’ ethereal plain.
Cease, gentle muse! the solemn gloom of night
Now seals the fair creation from my sight.

Solo

Dreams 

Music: Jacqueline Hairston
Text: Langston Hughes, 1923

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Carl DuPont, bass-baritone

Barbara Hois, flute

Scripture Reading

Psalm 126, St. Helena Psalter

When God restored the fortunes of Zion, *
then were we like those who dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter, *
and our tongue with shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations, *
“God has done great things for them.”

God has done great things for us,*
and we are glad indeed.
Restore our fortunes, O God, *
like the watercourses of the Negev.
Those who sowed with tears *
will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, *
will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.

Anthem

The Dream Keeper 

Music: Rollo A. Dilworth, 2006
Text: Langston Hughes, 1960

Dream Keeper
Bring me all of your dreams,
You dreamers,
Bring me all of your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue cloud cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world.

Hymn

“This Time of Darkness Bears a Dream” 

Tune: Wexford Carol

Reading

William Shakespeare, c. 1610
The Tempest, Act IV:1

(PROSPERO)
You do look, my son, in a moved sort,
As if you were dismayed. Be cheerful, sir.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air;
And – like the baseless fabric of this vision –
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

A Prayer For Impossible Dreams

Vision and Imagination 

Joan Brown Campbell, 2013

You are without beginning and without end,
Source and Sustainer of all that is or has been or will be.
God who teaches us a faith that makes ordinary life an extraordinary miracle,
We worship you with open hearts, lusty voices,
inquiring minds, and prayerful attitude.

God of surprises,

since the days of Sarah who birthed a child when more than ninety years of age, 
You continue to amaze us with impossible dreams that become reality.
Forgive us our fear of surprises, our need to protect ourselves from disappointment
and our failure to risk dreams of the seemingly impossible.
Forgive us the limits our fears place on human potential.

God of dreams that stir our souls,

help us to accept the surprise you have in store for those willing to open their hearts to the unfamiliar. Grant us the courage to believe that there is nothing too wonderful for you.

God of hope and promise,

we cry out that we are but your ordinary people. You respond that we are equipped for extraordinary tasks.

Thanks be to you who say to us

fear not, in an uncertain world, fear not the unpredictable future. Remember hat the God of history bid us good tidings of great joy for all people in every time and space and place.

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.

O God, 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.

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 – Dreams

The Rt. Rev. Eugene T. Sutton
Presider

James Denvil and Deborah Hazlett
Readers

The Chautauqua Choir

Sonya Subbayya Sutton
Interim Director & Organist

Owen Reyda
Organist

Carl Dupont
Guest Musician

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

Adagio in E Major 

Frank Bridge, 1905

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!

Welcome
A Prayer For Dreamers

Prayers of our Hearts in Word and Action

Vienna Cobb Anderson, 2020

We pray for the dreamers of this life, O God, for those persons who imagine new possibilities, who long for what others cannot perceive, who spin dreams of wonder and majesty in their minds. Defend them from ridicule and harsh criticism, from selfdoubt and lack of faith in their dreams, and from abandonment of this call to make things new. Grant that from their dreams may come forth blessings for all humankind to enrich the quality of life and the wonderment of us all; in Christ’s name we pray.

Amen.

Anthem

We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder

Spiritual, arr. Horace Clarence Boyer

We are climbing Jacob’s ladder, soldiers of the Cross.
Ev’ry round goes higher, higher, soldiers of the Cross.
Sinner, do you love your Jesus, soldiers of the Cross.
Lord, let me walk close by your side; I’ll be your sheep, you’ll be my guide.
Lord, lift me up and let me stand, and I will say at your command:
If you love Him, why not serve Him, soldiers of Cross.

Scripture Reading

Genesis 28:10-16

Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a stairway set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring, and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”

Hymn

“Nearer My God to Thee” 

Tune: Bethany

Reading

To S.M., A Young African Painter, On Seeing His Works
Phillis Wheatley, 1773

To encourage the dreams of another is to show love for them. Phillis Wheatley wrote this poem as an act of such encouragement for a young painter, Scipio Moorheard:

To show the lab’ring bosom’s deep intent,
And thought in living characters to paint,
When first thy pencil did those beauties give,
And breathing figures learnt from thee to live,
How did those prospects give my soul delight,
A new creation rushing on my sight?
Still, wond’rous youth! each noble path pursue,
On deathless glories fix thine ardent view:
Still may the painter’s and the poet’s fire
To aid thy pencil, and thy verse conspire!
And may the charms of each seraphic theme
Conduct thy footsteps to immortal fame!
High to the blissful wonders of the skies
Elate thy soul, and raise thy wishful eyes.
Thrice happy, when exalted to survey
That splendid city, crown’d with endless day,
Whose twice six gates on radiant hinges ring:
Celestial Salem blooms in endless spring.
Calm and serene thy moments glide along,
And may the muse inspire each future song!
Still, with the sweets of contemplation bless’d,
May peace with balmy wings your soul invest!
But when these shades of time are chas’d away,
And darkness ends in everlasting day,
On what seraphic pinions shall we move,
And view the landscapes in the realms above?
There shall thy tongue in heav’nly murmurs flow,
And there my muse with heav’nly transport glow:
No more to tell of Damon’s tender sighs,
Or rising radiance of Aurora’s eyes,
For nobler themes demand a nobler strain,
And purer language on th’ ethereal plain.
Cease, gentle muse! the solemn gloom of night
Now seals the fair creation from my sight.

Solo

Dreams 

Music: Jacqueline Hairston
Text: Langston Hughes, 1923

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Carl DuPont, bass-baritone

Barbara Hois, flute

Scripture Reading

Psalm 126, St. Helena Psalter

When God restored the fortunes of Zion, *
then were we like those who dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter, *
and our tongue with shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations, *
“God has done great things for them.”

God has done great things for us,*
and we are glad indeed.
Restore our fortunes, O God, *
like the watercourses of the Negev.
Those who sowed with tears *
will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, *
will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.

Anthem

The Dream Keeper 

Music: Rollo A. Dilworth, 2006
Text: Langston Hughes, 1960

Dream Keeper
Bring me all of your dreams,
You dreamers,
Bring me all of your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue cloud cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world.

Hymn

“This Time of Darkness Bears a Dream” 

Tune: Wexford Carol

Reading

William Shakespeare, c. 1610
The Tempest, Act IV:1

(PROSPERO)
You do look, my son, in a moved sort,
As if you were dismayed. Be cheerful, sir.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air;
And – like the baseless fabric of this vision –
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

A Prayer For Impossible Dreams

Vision and Imagination 

Joan Brown Campbell, 2013

You are without beginning and without end,
Source and Sustainer of all that is or has been or will be.
God who teaches us a faith that makes ordinary life an extraordinary miracle,
We worship you with open hearts, lusty voices,
inquiring minds, and prayerful attitude.

God of surprises,

since the days of Sarah who birthed a child when more than ninety years of age, 
You continue to amaze us with impossible dreams that become reality.
Forgive us our fear of surprises, our need to protect ourselves from disappointment
and our failure to risk dreams of the seemingly impossible.
Forgive us the limits our fears place on human potential.

God of dreams that stir our souls,

help us to accept the surprise you have in store for those willing to open their hearts to the unfamiliar. Grant us the courage to believe that there is nothing too wonderful for you.

God of hope and promise,

we cry out that we are but your ordinary people. You respond that we are equipped for extraordinary tasks.

Thanks be to you who say to us

fear not, in an uncertain world, fear not the unpredictable future. Remember hat the God of history bid us good tidings of great joy for all people in every time and space and place.

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.

O God, 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.

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