There were two services today at Trinity Lutheran Church in Rock Springs, WY. I sang in the choir in both services, two songs in the morning Divine Service and four in the dedication service.
I also had a duet and a solo in the morning service. After everyone was seated, Kantor Steven Hoffman and I did a duet on TLH 656, “Behold a Host, Arrayed in White.” I took melody first and second verses and projected the tenor line for verse three, while Kantor took tenor on the first verse, bass on the second verse, and melody on the third verse to accompany what ended up being a tenor descant.
I should have brought my digital voice recorder to the rehearsal, because that’s was when it sounded the best. I tried to record the morning performance, but the batteries decided to give up. Sunday afternoon, we had one more try to record the song. My voice had cooled back down, so I butchered the E-flat in the tenor line in the third verse. You don’t get to hear that. 
Here are the first two verses of “Behold a Host, Arrayed in White,” to give you an idea of how it sounded. It sounded much better in rehearsal and at the top of the morning service.
For the offertory, I soloed “How Clear is Our Vocation, Lord,” which turned out well.
The church was nearly fully for the dedication service. I actually did not get to see half of it, as the times we were sitting down I was tucked in a corner and did not see what was going on. The balcony was quite crowded with choir, two trumpets, a flute, and a snare drum.
A dedication service is a cool thing to watch — they don’t happen very often. The pastor draws the cross on the approach to the front door, then everyone processes into the sanctuary. The pastor then prays for God to bless the baptismal font, the windows, the organ, and the altar. The gathered pastors, about 15 of them, sang “God’s Word is Our Great Heritage,” LSB 582, and sang the first verse of “All Who Believe and Are Baptized,” LSB 601.
Dinner was held after the service. I got to meet Rev. Marcus Zill, pastor of St. Andrews Lutheran Church and Campus Center in Laramie, WY. Pastor Zill like Pastor Borghardt and Sandra Ostapowich is involved with Higher Things. Small world.
Seeing a new church built is reassuring in a world where Christianity is under constant struggle those outside the church and those who say they are inside the church but preach a different gospel.
iggyantiochus on 
Dan
