Sunday Bulletin
Celebration Service
Music Sunday - Fanny J. Crosby
February 15, 2026 9:30 am
Prelude Medley of Fanny Crosby Hymns
“Jesus is Tenderly Calling You Home”
“More Like Jesus Would I Be”
“All the Way My Savior Leads Me”
“Safe in the Arms of Jesus”
Introit “Holy, Holy, Holy”
Welcome & Announcements
Call to Worship Lay Leader: Susanna Burnham
O Lord, open our lips,
And our mouths will proclaim your praise.
It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name,
O Most High,
To proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
Unison Prayer
Holy, Creating, Creative God, We sing from the depths of our sorrow. We
sing from the abundance of our joy. We sing in voices separate and
unique. We sing with one voice as your body. May the words of our mouths,
whether in speech or song, and the meditations of our hearts, whether in
prose of poetry, be pleasing in your sight. Amen.
Children’s Message
Hymn Story
Hymn* “Praise Him! Praise Him!” #93
Words by Fanny J. Crosby & Music by Chester G. Allen
The Lord’s Prayer
Reading Psalm 147
Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and
a song of praise is fitting.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
The Lord lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre.
He covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass grow
on the hills.
He gives to the animals their food, and to the young ravens when they cry.
His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the speed of a
runner;
But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his
steadfast love.
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you.
He grants peace within your borders; he fills you with the finest of wheat.
He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes.
He hurls down hail like crumbs – who can stand before his cold?
He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters
flow.
He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances.
Praise the Lord!
Anthem “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross” Crosby/Doane
Hymn Story
Hymn “All the Way My Savior Leads Me” #559
Words: Fanny J. Crosby, Music: Robert Lowry
Hymn Story
Hymn “Blessed Assurance” #543
Words: Fanny J. Crosby, Music: Phoebe P. Knapp
Mission Moment Lamoille Community Food Share Susan Drew
Hymn Story
Hymn “Jesus Is Tenderly Calling Thee Home” #343
Words: Fanny J. Crosby, Music: George C. Stebbins
Hymn “We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations” #484
Offering
Offertory “I Am Thine, O Lord” Crosby/ Doane
Doxology* #46
Offertory Prayer*
Prayers of the People
Hymn Story
Hymn “To God Be the Glory” #72
Words: Fanny J. Crosby, Music: William H. Doane
Benediction
Closing “Fourfold Amen”
Postlude Medley of Fanny Crosby Hymns
“Rescue the Perishing”
“A Wonderful Savior is Jesus My Lord”
Calendar of Events
Monday, 2/16 Noon AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
Tuesday, 2/17 Pancake Dinner in Fellowship Hall
7:30 AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
Wednesday, 2/18 Noon AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
5:30 Choir Rehearsal in Organ Loft
7:00 Ash Wednesday Service
Thursday, 2/19 3:15 Cherub Choir Rehearsal in Sanctuary
4:00 Youth Choir Rehearsal in Sanctuary
Happy Birthday this week to:
Carter Vigneau today 2/15/26
Dillon LaVaile on 2/16
Sarah Hochtl and John Rains on 2/17
Taryn Noelle Eisenberg on 2/18
Heidi Reilly and Jan Johnson on 2/20
Carol Peterman on 2/21
Announcements
The ushers today are Dave and Nan Myers. Thank you for helping today.
Lamoille Community Food Share - Mission Moment - February 15
We are happy to welcome Susan Drew from the Lamoille Community Food Share for our February Mission Moment. While we support this vital ministry year-round, the winter months can be especially difficult for many of our neighbors. We encourage you to consider bringing additional items to donate. Contributions may be placed in the food basket in the Narthex.
The mission of Lamoille Community Food Share is to support and improve the physical well-being of individuals and families who might otherwise go hungry. They provide supplemental food at no cost in a welcoming, supportive environment, with an emphasis on offering healthy choices within their budget to residents of Lamoille County. To learn more about additional ways to donate or volunteer, please visit www.lcfoodshare.org
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner- Feb 17th, 5-7 pm
All are invited to a fun and festive Shrove Tuesday Pancake dinner, hosted by our C.E. Committee.
The children and youth will be making pancakes and serving our congregation as we prepare for Lent.
A suggested donation of $5 will be gladly received to help offset the expenses and support our CE programs.
Please RSVP to info@stowechurch.org
Ash Wednesday Service on February 18, 2026 at 7:00 pm. This is a lovely service with imposition of ashes and communion to begin our journey of Lent. Dan will be outside in front of the church to offer Ashes to Go around noon.
Pastor Dan invites you on a journey of finding God in the world around us, and that surrounds us each day.
Lent is 40 days beginning on Ash Wednesday, leading to Easter. Throughout the centuries, Christians have set aside time to fast, pray, read, reflect, serve, and give with intentionality.
We prepare our hearts for a season of renewal and rebirth.
This year, we are encouraging the following Lenten daily devotional as a guide along the way.
It is free to download, and each daily reflection is only a few minutes to read. However, if possible, please include a few minutes of silence.
https://dianabutlerbass.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Grounded-40-day-devotional.pdf
Dan and family will be on vacation 2/20/26 through 3/3/26. We will have two guest ministers to lead us in worship. On 2/22/26, Rev. Katherine Arthaud will be here and on 3/1/26 Rev. Laura Cadmus will be here. Laura will be the interim minister for us while Dan is on sabbatical.
Musical Notes by Karen Miller
Fanny Jane Crosby (1820-1914) was a prolific writer of hymn lyrics. She became blind at the age of six weeks due to a doctor's negligence and entered the Institute for the blind in New York City in 1835. Here, she became a teacher of English and a gifted poet. In her youth she wrote several volumes of poetry and traveled widely on behalf of the Institute. She shared her literary talent wherever she went and was known for her kindness, compassion, and interest in other people. She didn't begin writing hymn texts until 1864 but then became the most prolific and significant writer of gospel songs in American history. Various sources count her hymn texts as between 6,000 and 9,000. She didn't composer the music to her texts but relied on composer-friends, often associated with music publishing companies, to write the melodies. These included William H. Doane, Ira Sankey, Phoebe P. Knapp, George C. Stebbins, and William Kirkpatrick. They often visited her in her apartment, sometimes bringing a melody that needed a text from her, and sometimes she gave them a text that needed a melody.
Prelude and Postlude: A medley Of Fanny Crosby hymns begins and ends our service.
Prelude: "Jesus is Tenderly Calling You Home" is a Crosby text set to music by Stebbins and intended to be an invitation hymn. "More Like Jesus Would I Be" is a Crosby text set to music by Doane, who donated its profits to the purchase of a pipe organ for the YMCA Hall in Cincinnati. "All the Way My Savior Leads Me" was written after Crosby had been the recipient of good fortune and she meditated on God's goodness. She sent it to Robert Lowry who composed the tune. "Safe in the Arms of Jesus" with a text by Crosby and music by Doane, is thought to be her most popular hymn. It deals with death and dying in an age where life expectancy was low. When Europe and eventually the US lost many lives to cholera, it was a soothing hymn for mourning family members.
Postlude: "Rescue the Perishing" was written when Fanny Crosby visited a mission in the slums of New York City that was filled with sad, desperate men, a mission like many that she frequented and helped. Doane had earlier suggested a title - "Rescue the Perishing" - and as she sat in the mission the words began to form. The hymn text was composed before she retired for the night. She sent it to Doane who created the music. "A Wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord" is a hymn where Kirkpatrick had written the tune and then Crosby wrote the text for it.
Anthem: "Jesus, Keep My Near the Cross" was written by Crosby to fit a tune by Doane. It is No. 587 in the Chalice Hymnal. The choir shares it with us, and we thank Frank Springer, Janet Godin, and Terry Dwyer for their solos in this piece.
Offertory: The choir shares another Crosby hymn "I Am Thine O Lord", that is Hymn No. 601 in the Chalice Hymnal. Crosby was visiting Doane, and they were discussing the nearness of God. She wrote the text that evening and Doane wrote the tune to fit the words.
Many Crosby texts were written for specific purposes (Safe in the Arms of Jesus" - death and dying) ("Rescue the Perishing" - missions) but have fallen out of favor over time. Normally, as new hymnals are created, older, less frequently used hymns are retired to make room for new hymns that appeal to a wider audience. For example, the previous hymnal of the Stowe Community Church, Hymns of the Living Church, had 14 Crosby hymns, while our current Chalice Hymnal has 7. Nevertheless, some Crosby hymns have such universal appeal that they are still with us. "To God Be the Glory", "Praise Him! Praise Him!", and "Blessed Assurance".