For worship on the Fourth Sunday of Easter — and this is true every year — The Common Lectionary assigns Psalm 23 as the Psalm of the

Day, and a reading from John 10 as the Gospel. As a result, the day has acquired the nickname “Good Shepherd Sunday.” Mostly, I think, people receive the day with welcome and gratitude, but perhaps with a bit of uneasiness too. Very few young people, grow-ing up in America, haven’t chafed against the idea of being called sheep. It isn’t very fl attering. Teach-ers and parents likewise don’t think of themselves as training sheep; quite the opposite, they hope to teach young people not to be sheep who just go along with the fl ock. And yet the image of a good shepherd with sheep is somehow comforting.

This embrace/resist relationship with the imagery of sheep and shepherd isn’t found only in the U.S. I spent the fi rst three years of my life in China as the toddler son and grandson of missionaries. Because of that, I tend to notice news stories about China. One story in the Washington Post back in 2014 caught my eye. It reported that all over China, young couples had been trying anxiously to have babies before “The Year of the Sheep” arrived early in 2015. They didn’t want to burden their children with the bad luck of having been born a “sheep.” Now that the year of the sheep is past, it is safe to have babies again. But that isn’t the whole story. Just this past month I read a report from the Church in China about a program to send hundreds of pastors to more rural churches, and this program is called the “Good Shepherd Campaign.” I guess the Chinese can’t decide either, whether to reject or embrace the imagery of sheep and shepherd. Some-thing about it rubs the wrong way, and something else about it is soothing and exactly right.

As I listened to all the music Jeff O’Donnell and John Ferguson suggested for the “Good Shepherd Sunday” Sing For Joy broadcast, I thought about vulnerabil-ity, in both its positive and negative senses. Some of the music is healing to those who feel wounded and vulnerable to the world. In other words, to those who would welcome a good shepherd in their lives. Other music calls for an increase of vulnerability from those who face life by closing themselves off, those who reject the whole idea of being sheep who need a shepherd. There is a delicate balance here. If being a “sheep” means being too weak to resist the crowd when the crowd is foolish or unjust, there is no vir-tue or wisdom in being a sheep. But too often that is exactly when we are likely to be sheep, and that is ex-actly why we need a Good Shepherd. Being too proud to admit our need for a shepherd is also without virtue or wisdom. “Good Shepherd Sunday” calls us to be vulnerable and open, not to the whims of a fl ock of foolish sheep, but to the way of the Good Shepherd.

Peace be with you,

“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.”

John 10:27

by Pastor Bruce Benson, host

Grand Music

Gracious Word

Sing For Joy® is a production of St. Olaf College. APRIL 2016 / YEAR C

“In some places, Easter has come and gone, but not on Sing For Joy. One day is not enough to

celebrate Easter. The message and the great music continue.”

-Pastor Bruce Benson

APRIL 3, 2016Second Sunday of Easter (Year C)

(1R) Acts 5:27–32(PS) Psalm 118:14–29 or Psalm 150(2R) Revelation 1:4–8(G) John 20:19–31

Jesus Lives! (ST. ALBINUS) – Henry John Gauntlett / Christian Furchtegott Gellert, lyricist / Richard R. Webster, arranger / Frances Elizabeth Cox, translator (G) Choirs of the Parish Church of St. Luke: Evanston, IL / Asbury Brass, ensemble / Richard R. Webster (CD) Blow Ye the Trumpet in Zion / PARISH CHURCH OF ST. LUKE / © Parish Church of St. Luke stlukesevanston.org

All That Hath Life and Breath – René Clausen (PS) The Kansas City Chorale: Kansas City, MO / Charles Bruffy (CD) Life and Breath: Choral Works by René Clausen / CHANDOS / CHSA5105 © 2012 Chandos chandos.net

Psalm 150 – Ruth Watson Henderson (PS) The Elmer Iseler Singers / Lydia Adams (CD) Sing All Ye Joyful / CBC RECORDS / MVCD 1167 © 2004 CBC Records cbcshop.ca

Thine be the Glory (JUDAS MACCABAEUS) – George Frideric Handel / Edmond Budry, lyricist / Stephen Cleobury, arranger / R. Birch Hoyle, translator (G) The Choir of King’s College / The Wallace Collection, ensemble / Benjamin Bayl, accompanist / Stephen Cleobury (CD) Best Loved Hymns / EMI (ANGEL, EMI CLASSICS, EMI RECORDS, LTD) / 7243 5 57026 2 3 © 2001 EMI (Angel, EMI Classics, EMI Records, Ltd) emiclassics.com

Salmo 150 – Ernani Aguiar (PS) The St. Olaf Choir: Northfi eld, MN / Anton Armstrong (CD) A Choral Tapestry / ST. OLAF RECORDS / E-2047 © 1994 St. Olaf Records stolafrecords.com

Psalm 150 – John Rutter (PS) The Cambridge Singers / The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: London, United Kingdom / John Rutter (CD) The Gift of Life / COLLEGIUM RECORDS / COLCD 138 © 2015 Collegium Records, Naxos of America, Inc. collegium.co.uk

“Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,Wheat that in the dark earth many years has lain;

Love lives again, that with the dead has been:Love is come again,

like wheat that springs up green.”-John M.C. Crum

APRIL 10, 2016Third Sunday of Easter (Year C)

(1R) Acts 9:1–6, (7–20)(PS) Psalm 30(2R) Revelation 5:11–14(G) John 21:1–19

Shout for Joy Loud and Long (PERSONENT HODIE) – Piae Cantiones / David Mowbray, lyricist / Gustav Holst, arranger (1R) Sing For Joy 50th Anniversary Massed Choir and Congregation / John Ferguson, accompanist / Anton Armstrong (CD) Through the Church the Song Goes On / ST. OLAF RECORDS / E-2801 © 2005 St. Olaf Records stolafrecords.com

John Saw Duh Numbuh – African American Spiritual / Alice Parker, arranger / Robert Shaw, arranger (2R) The Concordia Choir: Moorhead, MN / René Clausen (CD) Folk Songs, Spirituals & Hymns / CONCORDIA RECORDINGS / E-2052 © Concordia Recordings concordiarecordings.com

Christ the Lord is Risen Again – John Rutter / Michael Weisse, lyricist / Catherine Winkworth, translator (G) The Cambridge Singers / The City of London Sinfonia, ensemble / John Rutter (CD) Te Deum and Other Church Music / COLLEGIUM RECORDS / COLCD 112 © 1990 Collegium Records, Naxos of America, Inc. collegium.co.uk

Now the Green Blade Rises (NOËL NOVELET) – French Carol / John M.C. Crum, lyricist / Simon Lindley, arranger (G) The Choir of All Saints’ Episcopal Church: Beverly Hills, CA / Craig Phillips, accompanist / Thomas Foster (CD) Easter Hymns, Carols, & Anthems / GOTHIC / G 49097 © 1997 Gothic, Gothic Records, Inc. gothicrecords.com

Hark How the Adoring Hosts Above (DESERT or LYNGHAM) – Thomas Jarman (2R) Scottish Philharmonic Singers / John Langdon, accompanist / Ian McCrorie (CD) Psalms of Scotland / ABBEY / SCS MUSIC / SCSCD 2830 © 1988 Abbey / SCS Music

Messiah: Worthy is the lamb that was Slain – George Frideric Handel (2R) Choir of Christ Church Cathedral: Oxford, United Kingdom / The Academy of Ancient Music, ensemble / Christopher Hogwood (CD) Messiah / L’OISEAU-LYRE / 430 488-2 © 1992 L’oiseau-Lyre

“I don’t believe there is such a thing as a literal bottomless well, but Psalm 23, as a metaphorical well,

is one. It appears to have no limit to its richness. It can become fully familiar without

ever becoming trite.”-Pastor Bruce Benson

APRIL 17, 2016Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year C)

(1R) Acts 9:36–43(PS) Psalm 23(2R) Revelation 7:9–17(G) John 10:22–30

The Lord’s My Shepherd (PISGAH) – J.C. Lowry / Francis Rous, lyricist (PS) William Appling Singers: Albany, NY / William Appling (CD) Shall We Gather / ALBANY RECORDS / TROY 476

© 2001 Albany Records

The Twenty-Third Psalm – Samuel Adler (PS) Gloriæ Dei Cantores: Cape Cod, MA / Choirs of Washington National Cathedral: Washington, D.C. / Elizabeth C. Patterson (CD) The Lord Is My Shepherd / GLORIÆ DEI CANTORES / GDCD 030 © 2002 Gloriæ Dei Cantores paracletepress.com/cds-gdc.html

The Lord is my Shepherd – Lennox Berkeley (PS) Choir of St. John’s Church, Elora / Noel Edison (CD) Psalms for the Soul / NAXOS / 8.554823 © 2000 Naxos, Naxos of America, Inc. naxos.com

Psalm 23 – Z. Randall Stroope (PS) Mirinesse Women’s Choir: Seattle, WA / Rebecca Rottsolk: Seattle, WA (CD) Sudden Light / MIRINESSE / © 2011 Mirinesse, Mirinesse Women’s Choir, Seattle WA mirinessewomenschoir.org

The King of Love My Shepherd Is (ST. COLUMBA) – Irish Traditional / Henry W. Baker, lyricist / Sir Edward C. Bairstow, arranger (PS) Saint Clement’s Choir: Philadelphia, PA / Matthew Glandorf, accompanist / Peter Richard Conte (CD) Hymns of Heaven and Earth / SONO LUMINUS / DOR-90259 © 1998 Sono Luminus sonoluminus.com

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul.

He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.”-Psalm 23:1-3

APRIL 24, 2016Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year C)

(1R) Acts 11:1–18(PS) Psalm 148(2R) Revelation 21:1–6(G) John 13:31–35

Love One Another – John L. Bell (G) The Cathedral Singers: Chicago, IL / Richard Proulx (CD) Take This Moment / GIA PUBLICATIONS / GIA CD-464 © 2000 GIA Publications giamusic.com

And I Saw a New Heaven – Sir Edgar Bainton (2R) Voices of Ascension: New York, NY / Dennis Keene (CD) Hear My Prayer / DELOS / DE 3300 © 2005 Delos, Delos Productions, Inc. delosmusic.com

And God Shall Wipe Away All Tears – Paul J. Christiansen (2R) The National Lutheran Choir: Minneapolis, MN / Larry L. Fleming (CD) Jesu, Come / NATIONAL LUTHERAN CHOIR RECORDINGS / NLCA-62 © National Lutheran Choir Recordings nlca.com

All You Works of the Lord – Kenneth Jennings (PS) The St. Olaf Choir: Northfi eld, MN / James Bobb, organ / Anton Armstrong (CD) Winter Tour 2016: Home Concert / ST. OLAF COLLEGE / Not For Resale © 2016 St. Olaf College stolaf.edu

The Holy City – Stephen Adams / Frederic Edward Weatherly, lyricist (2R) Jessye Norman, soprano / Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, accompanist (CD) Sacred Songs / PHILIPS / 400 019-2 © 1991 Philips, PolyGram Records, Inc. deccaclassics.com

NEWS

Last month we had a surprise visit here at the Sing For Joy studio. A listener showed up with a box of old recordings that date back to 1979, far before the ones currently in our archives. We are looking forward to digging into these boxes of Sing For Joy history!

Did you know that Sing For Joy was fi rst called Joy and was produced in St. Louis, Missouri? Of course programs were distributed on vinyl records at the time, like the one pictured here.

LISTENER LETTERS

Thanks to our generous listeners who fuel us with gifts and praise. Your contributions and kind words are a blessing.

“I listen every Sunday morning. What a privilege and a joy!”

-Harrisonburg, Virginia

“Reception in my house doesn’t always carry through, so I often enjoy [Sing For Joy] online.”

-Okmulgee, Oklahoma

“Streaming Sing For Joy on Sunday afternoons is our new ritual. What a joy!”

-Hendersonville, North Carolina

“Pastor Benson’s introduction is always interesting and thought-provoking, and I like having the background

information for the selections on the program.”-Waupun, Wisconsin

Join in the Sing For Joy conversation on Facebook,

Twitter and Instagram (@SingForJoyRadio); email us at singforjoy@stolaf.edu.

Stream programs online at singforjoy.org.

APRIL 2016 / YEAR C

Thank you for your gifts!

In Memory Of:

Richard Caemmerer, artist

Pastor Donals Hoger (my husband)

Janice Wallaker, WWII fi eld nurse

Arleen G. Wiedenhoeft

In Honor Of:

Mr. and Mrs. Mike Argie

grandson, Matthew Bock’s birthday; an Ole choir member

Mark E. Hall, on his birthday

Miss Angela Jones

Sing For JoySt. Olaf College1520 St. Olaf AvenueNorthfi eld, mn 55057

Non-profi t Org.U.S. PostagePAIDSt. Olaf College

Website: singforjoy.org Email: singforjoy@stolaf.eduPhone: 507-786-2600

Sing For Joy staff:

W. Bruce Benson Host

John Ferguson Music Adviser

Jeffrey O’Donnell Producer and Music Director

Joshua Wyatt Associate Producer

Carolyn Pierson Communications Coordinator

Address Service Requested

Sing For Joy® is a production of St. Olaf College.

Sukup Manufacturing Co.sukup.com

stolaf.edu

Sing For Joy® is sponsored by:

singforjoy.org and faithful listeners like you.

acda.org