st of many things in this service the churches of my childhood would have found wicked and sinful. Following the procession came Hymn 360, which all 100 of the parishioners present sang, while accompanied by the organ. It seemed to my untrained ear to go from major to minor and back to major, but the major ending was significantly more solemn than the joyous beginning. Then came Hymn 486 (not to be confused with RU486), which was also sung by everyone and accompanied by organ. It blended seamlessly into the Cantus Missae. In fact, I didnt realize a new piece had begun until it ended and the Kyrie eleison followed. The Kyrie is something I am at least marginally familiar with, having studied it in HT 2. It was sung by the choir, without accompaniment. I think I heard some fugal elements in this piece, when different vocal sections would follow each other with identical musical lines. The minister (priest, friar, monk, reverend, etc. I dont know what to call him in their denomination) performed the "Collect of the Day," which was very similar to recitative operatic style. It was definitely musical, but it held one note predominantly and moved almost entirely rhythmically. This would have been unheard of in any church I had set foot in before. A Bible reading followed, about the end of the world. This was to be the topic of the day. The choir and organ then performed Psalm 60 in a musical style more melodic than the Collect, but still predominantly rhythmic. This was followed by another apocalyptic Bible verse. These allusions to the end of days put me on a familiar footing: they were a favorite in the Hardshell church. Little did I know what was coming.A period of call and response chant between one of the officials of the church and the congregation came next. Then, there was yet another reading, this time from Luke, but again regarding Armageddon. Then came the Sermon, which was both the most familiar part of the ser...
