SENIORS, ELDERS, AND GRANDPARENTS DAY

MUSIC & WORSHIP RESOURCES

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Raymond Wise, Guest Lectionary Liturgist
Composer, Professor of African American Sacred Music and Worship at Trinity Lutheran Seminary and Indiana University; music ministry clinician and consultant; and gospel artist

Worship Planning Notes

Seniors, elders, and grandparents provide a necessary function and presence within our communities. Their testimonies, experience, and wisdom are to be treasured, celebrated, and shared with younger generations who will one day be responsible for continuing their rich tradition of faith and service. Their very presence provides an affirmation that God is faithful to sustain one's life. As seniors approach the sunset of their lives, it is important to affirm that God is with them. Today your ministry will have an opportunity to honor and celebrate seniors, elders, and grandparents within your faith community to provide the assurance of God's enduring presence and to demonstrate your community's love and appreciation. The following are some suggestions for this special Sunday.

The planning and preparation for this day should occur one to two months in advance to ensure that the service includes thoughtful ways to celebrate your seniors, elders, and grandparents. The special activities should be announced weeks in advance in order to build excitement and increase participation. A flyer can be created and distributed announcing the special day and the various related activities. Church members should be encouraged to invite their senior friends and family members. Seniors should be encouraged to invite their children, grandchildren, and other senior friends.

The objective for this special day is to create an environment into which seniors, elders, and grandparents can come and feel honored, esteemed, and celebrated. It is important to allow seniors, elders, and grandparents the opportunity to participate in leading the worship experience. By the end of the day, it is the hope and expectation that the younger generations will learn, grow, and be empowered from their connection to and interaction with the seniors, elders, and grandparents within your faith community.

There are common phases like “back in the day,” “the good old days,” or “the olden days” that are expressed by seniors. They often make these comments to indicate that life has changed from the time they were children, youth, or young adults. Find below several activities that can be included in the worship to celebrate days gone by that were integral in the development of your seniors, elders, and grandparents.

Senior Presentations

Seniors on display

Seniors can be asked to bring pictures from their youth and young adult days to be included in a special display. Pictures can be collected a week or two in advance and organized to create a mural/collage of pictures to be displayed in the church lobby or fellowship hall. Church members can try to identify the various seniors, elders, and grandparents featured in the pictures. Seniors, elders, and grandparents can share their testimonies and stories regarding the pictures displayed.

Special gifts can be given to all seniors

As seniors, elders, and grandparents enter the church, they can be presented with flowers.

Seniors, elders, and grandparents can be acknowledged during the service and called to the altar for special prayer. Before leaving the altar they can be given a bookmark or other non-perishable memento (such as a lapel pin) as a keepsake from this special day

The church can have certificates or plaques made to distribute to seniors, elders, or grandparents in the following categories:

• The oldest senior in church on that day
  
  
• Most grandchildren award
  
  
• Most generations present in church on that day
  
  
• Longest servant in ministry (preaching, singing, etc.)
  
  
• Newest grandparent

Senior Participation

Seniors can be selected to lead in worship in the following ways:

• A senior can preside over the service.
  
  
• A senior can be called upon to read the scripture, pray, etc.
  
  
• A senior elder may be asked to deliver the sermon on this special day.

The church may consider making arrangements to transport senior members of the church to and from worship (especially those who are unable to attend church on a regular basis due to ongoing personal and physical challenges).

Senior Performances

Seniors can be selected to participate in the worship in the following additional ways:

• A group of seniors can lead the devotionals/praise and worship time in the old- time way (lined singing, spirituals, congregational spirituals, traditional gospel, etc.).
  
  
• A choir comprised of seniors can be rehearsed to perform for the service.
  
  
• A group of seniors can perform a dance or mime.
  
  
• A gifted senior vocalist can sing a solo during the worship.

Senior Testimonies

One or two seniors can be chosen to share their testimonies and stories of faith as an encouragement to the faith community. They can be shared during worship, at a special reception after church, or during the time and place their pictures are being displayed.

A reception to honor seniors, elders, and grandparents can be hosted after church:

• Refreshments can be served.
  
  
• Representatives from various organizations that service seniors can be invited to set up tables in the church lobby or fellowship hall to share information regarding the services they provide for seniors (such as health, legal, and social services).

Other Presentations

In addition to the special possibilities listed above, those ministries that regularly participate in the worship may consider adapting the ministry presentations on this day to honor seniors, elders, and grandparents. For example:

• The Praise Team can sing traditional devotional songs in honor.
  
  
• The Music Ministry/Choir can perform Traditional gospel music in worship.
  
  
• The Liturgical Dance or Mime Ministry can collaborate with the choir to perform a dance in honor of the seniors.
  
  
• The Children's Choir can learn a special song to perform in honor of the seniors.
  
  
• The Children's Ministry/Church can make homemade cards or bookmarks to present to the seniors, elders, and grandparent at a special time in the service or after church.

1. Centering Prayer and Responsive Reading

Centering Prayer/Invocation

Dear Lord, we come into your presence thanking you for this day and for the many days you have given us throughout our life's journey. We thank you for being a loving father who guides, protects, provides for, and nurtures his children. We thank you for being a faithful parent who loves unconditionally and sacrifices for the good of his children. We thank you for being a wise counselor whose words lead us to a full and rewarding life. We thank and praise you for your enduring presence and faithfulness toward us.

On this special day as we celebrate our seniors, elders, and grandparents, we thank you for all the mothers and fathers, uncles and aunts, sisters and brothers you have given to guide, protect, nurture, and provide for us on earth. We thank you for their unconditional love and sacrifices. We thank you for the wise words you have given them to offer unto us to guide us to full and rewarding lives. We praise you for their enduring presence in our lives. We thank you for carrying them through dangers, toils, and snares in the past; for caring for their daily needs in the present; and for promising to keep them in the future.

We thank you for all that you've done for our seniors, elders, and grandparents, but we also thank you for what you've done for us through them. Through our seniors, elders, and grandparents, you've provided an earthly example and witness of your faithfulness. Although their hair has turned to gray and their steps may be slower, their presence demonstrates that you are a sustaining God who will never leave us nor forsake us. It is with this confidence that we worship you today, knowing that you will meet our every need today and tomorrow. For this assurance, we say thank you, and ask these blessings in Jesus' name. Amen.

Responsive Reading

Psalm 71:17-24 (New Revised Standard Version)

2. Opening Songs/Processional
(a) Come and Go with Me. Traditional. Arr. by Kenneth Louis

(b) In the Beauty of Holiness. By Nettie L. Sawyer Lester. Arr. by Stephen Key

(c) We've Come This Far by Faith. By Albert Goodson

3. Hymns and Congregational Songs
(a) Amazing Grace. By John Newton. Arr. by Evelyn Simpson-Currenton

(b) Blessed Assurance. By Fanny J. Crosby. Tune, (ASSURANCE), by Phoebe P. Knapp

(c) Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah. By William Williams. Tune, (ZION), by Thomas Hastings

(d) O God, Our Help in Ages Past. By Isaac Watts. Tune, (ST. ANNE CM), by William Croft

(e) Higher Ground. By Johnson Oatman, Jr. Tune, (HIGHER GROUND), by Charles H. Gabriel

(f) Just a Little Talk with Jesus. Text and Tune, (JUST A LITTLE TALK), by Cleavant Derricks

(g) Leave It There. By Charles A. Tindley. Tune, (LEAVE IT THERE), Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

(h) My Faith Looks Up to Thee. By Ray Palmer. Tune, (OLIVET), by Lowell Mason

(i) No Never Alone. By Anonymous. Tune, (NEVER ALONE), Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

(j) No Not One. By Johnson Oatman, Jr. Tune, (HARPER MEMORIAL), by George C. Hugg

(k) What a Friend We Have in Jesus. By Joseph M. Scriven. Tune, (CONVERSE), by Charles C. Converse

(l) Yield Not to Temptation. By Horatio R. Palmer. Tune, (YIELD NOT), Arr. by Carl Haywood

4. Songs That Can Be Performed as a Solo in Honor of Seniors, Elders, and Grandparents
(a) Because He Lives. By Gloria Gaither and William J. Gaither. Tune, (RESURRECTION), by William J. Gaither. Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

(b) Great Is Thy Faithfulness. By Thomas O. Chisolm. Tune, (FAITHFULNESS), by William Runyan

(c) He Looked Beyond My Faults and Saw My Needs. Dottie Rambo. Tune, (LONDONBERRY AIRE).

(d) He'll Understand and Say Well Done. By Lucie Campbell

(e) He Touched Me. By William J. Gaither

(f) His Eye Is on the Sparrow. By Civilla D. Martin. Tune, (SPARROW), by Charles H. Gabriel

(g) I Know Who Holds Tomorrow. By Ira F. Stamphill. Tune, (TOMORROW), Arr. by Evelyn Simpson-Currenton

(h) It's Real. By H.L. Cox

(i) My Heavenly Father Watches Over Me. By W.C. Martin. Tune, (HEAVENLY FATHER), by Charles H. Gabriel. Arr. by J. Jefferson Cleveland and Verolga Nix-Allen

(j) My Tribute. By Andraé Crouch

(k) Only What You Do for Christ Will Last. By Raymond Rasberry. Tune, (LASTING TREASURES), Arr. by Valerie A. Foster

(l) Precious Lord. By Thomas Dorsey. Tune, (PRECIOUS LORD), by George N. Allen adapted by Thomas A. Dorsey

(m) The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power. By Andraé Crouch. Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

(n) The Lord Will Make a Way Somehow, By Thomas A. Dorsey

(o) Yes God Is Real. By Kenneth Morris. Arr. by Evelyn Simpson-Currenton

5. Spirituals or Traditional Songs
(a) I've Been Buked. Arr. by Hall Johnson

(b) Done Made My Vow to the Lord. Arr. by Nolan Williams

(c) I Opened My Mouth to the Lord. Arr. by Raymond Wise

(d) Give Me Jesus. Arr. by Lela Anderson

(e) I'm Determined to Walk with Jesus. Arr. by Raymond Wise

(f) I Am on the Battlefield for My Lord. By Sylvia Bell and E.V. Banks. Tune, (BATTLEFIELD), Arr. by Joseph Joubert

(g) I Want Jesus to Walk with Me. Traditional. Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

(h) Soon-A Will Be Done. Arr. by William Dawson

(i) Soon-A Will Be Done. Arr. by Raymond Wise

(j) I'm So Glad Jesus Lifted Me. Traditional. Arr. by Evelyn Simpson-Currenton

(k) So Glad I'm Here. Traditional. Arr. by Evelyn Simpson-Currenton

6. Traditional Gospel Songs for Choirs, Ensembles, or Praise Teams
(a) I Really Love the Lord. Text and Tune by Jimmy Dowell. Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

(b) If It Had Not Been for the Lord on My Side. By Margaret Pleasant Douroux

(c) Jesus You Brought Me All the Way. By Kenneth Louis

(d) Jesus You Brought Me. By Raymond Wise

(e) Order My Steps. By Glenn Burleigh

(f) We Just Want to Praise You. By Yvonne Thomas

(g) When I Rose This Morning. Traditional

(h) Your Grace and Mercy. Text and Tune by Franklin D. Williams. Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

7. Songs for Praise Teams
(a) Bless the Lord. By Andraé Crouch. Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

(b) Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus. By Andraé Crouch

(c) God Has Smiled on Me. By Isaiah Jones. Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

(d) God Is a Good God. By Keith Hunter. Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

(e) God Is So Good. Traditional

(f) He's Done So Much for Me. By Theodore R. Frye and Lillian Bowles. Arr. by Nolan Williams

(g) He Has Done Great Things for Me. By Jessy Dixon. Arr. by Stephen Key

(h) I Love You, I Love You, I Love You Lord Today. By William F. Hubbard

(i) I Thank You, Jesus. By Kenneth Morris. Arr. by Joseph Joubert

(j) Lord I Love You Yes I Do. By Raymond Wise

(k) Oh Give Thanks Unto the Lord. By Judith Christie

(l) Oh, What He's Done for Me. Traditional. Arr. by Jimmie Abbington

(m) Satisfied with Jesus. By B.B. McKinney. Tune, (ROUTH).

(n) Thank You Lord. Traditional. Arr. by Stephen Key

8. Anthems for Choirs, Ensembles, or Soloists
(a) O Praise the Lord. By Raymond Wise

(b) The Lord Is My Light. By Frances Allitsen. Arr. by Sumner Salter

(c) I Will Look to the Hills. By Charles Garner

9. Liturgical Dance and Mime Ministry Music
(a) For Every Mountain. By Kurt Carr

(b) I Love the Lord, He Heard My Cry. By Richard Smallwood. Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

(c) I've Never Seen the Righteous Forsaken. By Donald Lawrence

(d) Total Praise. By Richard Smallwood

(e) Trust Me. By Richard Smallwood

10. Modern Songs
(a) Dwell in the House. By Gayle Jones Murphy

(b) Even Me. Arr. by Michael Reid

(c) I'll Be with You Always. By Andraé Crouch

(d) I've Never Seen the Righteous Forsaken. By Donald Lawrence

(e) Trust Me. By Richard Smallwood

11. Offertory Song or Instrumental
(a) Hold to God's Unchanging Hand. By Jennie Wilson. Tune, (UNCHANGING HAND).

(b) I Will Trust in the Lord. Negro Spiritual. Arr. by Jeffrey Radford and Nolan Williams, Jr.

(c) Jesus You Brought Me All the Way. By Kenneth Louis

(d) Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus. By Louisa M. R. Stead. Tune, (TRUST IN JESUS), by William Kirkpatrick

(e) What Shall I Render. By Margaret Pleasant Douroux. Arr. by Stephen Key

(f) You Can't Beat God Giving. By Doris Akers. Arr. by Evelyn Simpson-Currenton

12. Selections Suitable for Instrumental Performance
(a) Great Is Thy Faithfulness. By Thomas O. Chisholm. Tune, (FAITHFULNESS), by William M. Runyan

(b) How Great Thou Art. Text and Tune, (O STORE GUD), by Stuart K. Hine

(c) My Tribute (To God Be the Glory). Text and Tune, (MY TRIBUTE), by Andraé Crouch

13. Song or Instrumental for the Period of Prayer
(a) God Will Take Care of You. By Civilla D. Martin. Tune, (GOD CARES), by W. Stillman Martin

(b) He's Sweet I Know. Traditional. Arr. by Kenneth Louis and Nolan Williams, Jr.

(c) I Don't Feel No Ways Tired. By Curtiss Burrell

(d) I Feel Like Going On. By Andre Woods

(e) I Love the Lord, He Heard My Cry. By Richard Smallwood. Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

(f) I Need Thee Every Hour. By Annie S. Hawkes. Tune, (NEED), by Robert Lowry

(g) Lead Me, Guide Me. By Doris M. Akers

(h) Lord Keep Me Day by Day. By Eddie Williams. Arr. by Valerie A. Foster

(i) Never Alone. Anonymous. Tune, (NEVER ALONE).

(j) No Not One. By Johnson Oatman, Jr. Tune, (HARPER MEMORIAL), by George C. Hugg

(l) Oh, Lord Have Mercy. Traditional. Arr. by Joseph Joubert

(m) Remember Me. Traditional. Arr. by Leon C. Roberts

(n) There's a Bright Side Somewhere. By Betty Hollis. Arr. by Joseph Joubert

(o) What a Friend We Have in Jesus. By Joseph M. Scriven. Tune, (ANNIE LOWERY), Traditional Celtic

14. Sermonic Selection
(a) Order My Steps. By Glenn Burleigh

(b) The Lord Is My Light. By Lillian Bouknight. Arr. by Stephen Key

(c) Walk On Keep the Faith. By Raymond Wise

15. Invitational Song or Instrumental
(a) Amazing Grace. By John Newton. Arr. by Evelyn Simpson-Currenton

(b) Beams of Heaven. By Charles A. Tindley

(c) Come Unto Jesus. By Charles Nicks

(d) Fix Me, Jesus. Traditional. Arr. by Nolan Williams

(e) God Will Take Care of You. By Civilla D. Martin. Tune, (GOD CARES), by W. Stillman Martin

(f) Hold to God's Unchanging Hand. By Jennie Wilson. Tune, (UNCHANGING HAND).

(g) Keep Me Every Day. By F.L. Eiland. Tune, (EVERY DAY), by Emmet S. Dean

(h) Oh to Be Kept by Jesus. By Thurston Frazier. Arr. by Kenneth Morris

(i) Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus. By Louisa M. R. Stead. Tune, (TRUST IN JESUS), by William Kirkpatrick

(j) We'll Understand It Better By and By. By Charles A.Tindley. Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

16. Benediction Song
(a) Always Remember. By Andraé Crouch. Arr. by Evelyn Simpson-Currenton

(b) God Be with You. By Thomas A. Dorsey. Arr. by Horace Clarence Boyer

(c) God Never Fails. By George Jordan. Arr. by Jeffrey Radford

(d) Hold to God's Unchanging Hand. By Jennie Wilson. Tune, (UNCHANGING HAND), by F.L. Eiland, Arr. by Stephen Key

(e) Let the Church Say Amen. By Andraé Crouch

(f) Standing on the Promises. By R. Kelso Carter. Tune, (PROMISES).

(g) Take the Name of Jesus with You. By Lydia Baxter. Tune, (PRECIOUS NAME), by Williams Doane

(h) The Solid Rock. By Edward Mote. Tune, (SOLID ROCK), by William B. Bradbury

(i) This Little Light of Mine. Traditional. Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

(j) Total Praise. By Richard Smallwood. Arr. by Stephen Key

(k) We Won't Leave Here Like We Came. By Maceo Woods. Arr. by Nolan Williams, Jr.

17. Other Recommendation
(Songs for Children's Voices)
Lessons for Life. By Raymond Wise

Cites and Additional Information for Music and Material Listed

1. Centering Prayer and Responsive Reading by Rev. Dr. Raymond Wise, Pataskala, Ohio