God of love,

as we prepare to remember the events of this poignant night,

open our eyes to see the beauty of Jesus’ self-giving love,

and by your Spirit work in our community a desire and commitment

to serve each other and our hurting world.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Covenant God,

we bless and thank you for the gift of the meal

that Jesus commanded us to share.

We thank you for this sign of your presence with us

and your love for the world that Jesus came to redeem.

We long to feast with Jesus in the fullness of the coming kingdom.

May our worship today deepen our anticipation of that glory. Amen.

I will bless the Lord at all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

O magnify the Lord with me,

and let us exalt his name together.

O taste and see that the Lord is good;

—Psalm 34:1-4, 8, NRSV

God of love, truly we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ,

who offered himself in humble service to his disciples

even on the night he was betrayed.

Truly you shine in our hearts

when we show your love to others

in Christlike acts of service and fellowship.

Covenant God,

we bless and thank you for the gift of the meal

that Jesus commanded us to share.

We thank you for this sign of your presence with us

and your love for the world that Jesus came to redeem.

Paul A. Richardson (b. 1951) was Professor and Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies in the School of Music of Samford University in Birmingham, AL, where he taught voice and church music. A past-president of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, he served on the editorial committee for The Worshiping Church and wrote for its Worship Leader's Edition. He also contributed to Handbook to The Baptist Hymnal and The New Century Hymnal Companion. Together with Harry Eskew and David Music, he is joint author of Singing Baptists: Studies in Baptist Hymnody in America and edited an expanded edition of Erik Routley's A Panorama Of Christian Hymnody. His principal current project is an extensive revision, with Michael Hawn of Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, of Sing with Understanding, a textbook for congregational song by Harry Eskew and Hugh T. McElrath.  He has also participated in several conferences funded by grants from the Lilly Endowment: "Christian Scholarship and Academic Culture," "Teaching Theology through Music," "Teaching Hymnology," and "Singing What We Believe."

Christian F. Witt (b. Altenburg, Germany, e. 1660; d. Altenburg, 1716) was an editor and compiler of Psalmodia Sacra (1715), one of the most significant hymnals in the early eighteenth century. About 100 (of the 774) tunes in that collection are considered to be composed by him, including STUTTGART, which was set to the text "Sollt' es gleich." Witt was chamber organist and later Kapellmeister at the Gotha court. He composed vocal and instrumental music, including some sixty-five cantatas.

When he was nine years old, Henry John Gauntlett (b. Wellington, Shropshire, England, 1805; d. Kensington, London, England, 1876) became organist at his father's church in Olney, Buckinghamshire. At his father's insistence he studied law, practicing it until 1844, after which he chose to devote the rest of his life to music. He was an organist in various churches in the London area and became an important figure in the history of British pipe organs. A designer of organs for William Hill's company, Gauntlett extend­ed the organ pedal range and in 1851 took out a patent on electric action for organs. Felix Mendelssohn chose him to play the organ part at the first performance of Elijah in Birmingham, England, in 1846. Gauntlett is said to have composed some ten thousand hymn tunes, most of which have been forgotten. Also a supporter of the use of plainchant in the church, Gauntlett published the Gregorian Hymnal of Matins and Evensong (1844).