Special music highlights Grace Lutheran's Easter season

Pat Hope
·2 min read
Grace organist David Ensley
Grace organist David Ensley

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, 131 W. Gettysburg Ave., Oak Ridge, is celebrating the Easter season beginning with one service at 10 a.m. on Palm Sunday, April 2.

There will also be services on April 6 at 6:15 p.m. for Maundy Thursday and on April 7 at 6:15 p.m. for Good Friday.

On Easter Sunday, April 9, there will be a sunrise service at 7:30 a.m. in the Memorial Garden, followed by a potluck breakfast at 8:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall, followed by a combined service at 10 a.m., featuring contemporary and traditional musical elements. The 10 a.m. service will open with New Creation (contemporary choir) singing “Celebrate Jesus,” a longstanding Easter favorite. Ringspiration (bell choir) will offer a modern arrangement of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” at the time of offertory. Also, the Chancel Choir (traditional choir) will sing the prelude - Sheldon Ridge Love’s declamatory arrangement of “The Day of Resurrection.” This combined service will feature musicians Ingrid Busch on French horn, David Ensley on organ, Ron Goans on trombone, Michael Hulsey on trumpet, and Robert Stewart on drums.

Musical Director Slade Trammell said, “We are especially grateful to David Ensley for creating brass parts for ELW Communion Setting Six, which will be the perfect vehicle to unite traditional and contemporary musical elements.”

Each Sunday, Grace holds a contemporary service at 9 a.m. and a traditional service at 11:15 a.m. Both services are live streamed on YouTube and archived on Grace’s website. Christian education for all ages starts at 10 a.m.

Grace Lutheran Church is a Christian church dedicated to proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ in a diverse community by loving our neighbors as ourselves, developing vibrant ministries to meet current and emerging needs, and helping people know Jesus. Grace Lutheran is the only Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) congregation in Oak Ridge and Anderson County. The ELCA is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. For more information, call or go online at 865-483-3787; www.graceoakridge.org.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Special music highlights Grace Lutheran's Easter season