Sunday, November 1, 2026 

  

Lighting the Chalice  

  

Prelude  

Elegy – George Thalben-Ball 

Grant Wareham, organ 

 
 

Call to Worship  

  

*Hymn #358 

Rank by Rank Again We Stand –  

Words: from John Huntley Skrine and Carl G. Seaburg 

Music: Henry Walford Davies 

Descant: Grant Wareham 

 

 

Rank by rank again we stand, 
from the four winds gathered hither. 
Loud the hallowed walls demand 
whence we come and how, and whither. 
From their stillness breaking clear, 
echoes wake to warn or cheer; 
higher truth from saint and seer 
call to us assembled here. 

Ours the years’ memorial store, 
honored days and names we reckon, 
days of comrades gone before, 
lives that speak and deeds that beckon. 
From the dreaming of the night 
to the labors of the day, 
shines their everlasting light, 
guiding us upon our way. 

Though the path be hard and long, 
still we strive in expectation; 
join we now their ageless song 
one with them in aspiration. 
One in name, in honor one, 
guard we well the crown they won; 
what they dreamed be ours to do, 
hope their hopes, and seal them true. 

 

  

*Affirmation  

Love is the doctrine of our church; 

The quest of truth is its sacrament, 

And service is its prayer. 

To dwell together in peace, 

To seek knowledge in freedom, 

To serve humanity in fellowship, 

To the end that all souls shall grow 

in harmony with the divine— 

Thus do we covenant with each other.         

 

 

 

*Doxology  

From all that dwell below the skies  

Let songs of faith and hope arise; 

Let peace, goodwill on Earth be sung 

Through every land, by every tongue.  

        

Story 

We sing our children to their classes at 11:00am 

 

Welcome  

  

Offertory  

Lux Aeterna – Julija Ovseičiuk  

Sanctuary Choir; Alan Dyer, Piano; Grant Wareham, Director 

 

  

Plate collection supports Transforming Hearts Collective.  

To contribute by text, please text DALLASUU to 73256 & follow the link. Standard text message and data rates may apply.  

  

Reading  

Payphones in the Underworld by Justin Hamm 

  

Interlude           

Breaths – Ysaÿe Barnwell 

  

Prayer  

  

Hymn #6  

Just as Long as I Have Breath –  

Words: Alicia S. Carpenter, Music: Johann G. Ebeling 

 

Just as long as I have breath, I must answer, “Yes,” to life; 
though with pain I made my way, still with hope I meet each day. 
if they ask what I did well, tell them I said, “Yes,” to life. 

Just as long as vision lasts, I must answer, “Yes,” to truth; 
in my dream and in my dark, always that elusive spark. 
If they ask what I did well, tell them I said, “Yes,” to truth. 

Just as long as my heart beats, I must answer, “Yes,” to love; 
disappointment pierced me through, still I kept on loving you. 
If they ask what I did best, tell them I said, “Yes,” to love. 

 

  

Sermon  

“Rank by Rank” Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter  

 

Ritual of Remembrance 

 

Hymn #103  

For All The Saints – William Walsham How,  

Music: Ralph Vaughan Williams 

Descant: Joel Martinson 

          

For all the saints who from their labors rest, 
who thee by faith before the world confessed, 
thy name most holy be forever blest. Alleluia! Alleluia! 

Thou wast their rock, their shelter, and their might; 
their strength and solace in the well-fought fight; 
thou, in the darkness deep their one true light. Alleluia! Alleluia! 

O blest communion of the saints divine! 
We live in struggle, they in glory shine; 
yet all are one in thee, for all are thine. Alleluia! Alleluia! 

And when the strife is fierce, the conflict long, 
steals on the ear the distant triumph-song, 
and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong. Alleluia! Alleluia! 

 

 

Benediction  

  

Postlude  

Postlude on “For All The Saints” – Ethan Haman 

 

  

  

*The work of this church is made possible by the generous contributions of those who find comfort and inspiration here. To contribute by text, please text DALLASUU to 73256 and follow the link. 

  

* To donate flower for worship visit dallasuu.org/flowers. 

  

*Please rise as you are able. 

Congregational Losses This Year

Music Notes: 

Organist, pianist, and composer George Thalben-Ball (1896-1987) was born in Australia, but spent nearly his whole life in England. Organist at Temple Church in London (where the organ parts for the film Interstellar were recorded) for many years, Thalben-Ball is known for his choral and organ works, none perhaps more widely known than “Elegy.” The piece originated as an improvisation during a live broadcast service on the BBC during World War II. The service finished several minutes prior to its scheduled ending, and Thalben-Ball improvised to fill the time. Afterwards, the BBC received so many telephone calls asking for the name of the piece performed at the end of this broadcast, Thalben-Ball did his best to write down what he did. The piece was performed for the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997 at Westminster Abbey, London.  

Ysaÿe Maria Barnwell (b. 1946) is a singer and composer born in New York City.  She became the 15th member of the African American vocal ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock in 1979, with whom she sang until 2013. Dr. Barnwell attended All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington D.C. in the 1970s. After observing that the racial makeup of the congregation did not match that of the choir, she founded the Jubilee Singers at the church in 1977 and directed the ensemble for three years. Her father named her after the Belgian violinist Eugéne Ysaÿe.  

Julija Ovseičiuk (b. 1981) is a Lithuanian composer who writes secular and religious choral music in Latin, English, and Lithuanian. Lux aeterna uses text from the Catholic requiem mass, but states that she wanted the piece “to maintain a clear, optimistic, and very simple harmony instead of a complex, dark, mournful mood.” (information from Choral Music Composed by Women, Carus-Verlag, 2024) 

Ethan Haman (b. 1997) is a composer, organist, and improviser from the San Francisco Bay Area. Currently studying in Stuttgart, Haman has degrees from University of Southern California and Yale University. He studied improvisation with Morton Lauridsen, Jeffrey Brillhart, and won numerous prizes for his performances. 

Haman writes 

“Postlude on Sine Nomine was improvised at the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic in November 2020, then written down in March 2021. Incorporating Vaughan Williams’ timeless hymn tune Sine Nomine, and [Parisian organist] Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin’s signature grand improvisatory style, the piece depicts what I imagine to be a soul’s process of accepting that life on earth has finished, and rising to be welcomed into the life hereafter. It was my hope that the piece would comfort the world in a time of collective trauma. The piece’s dedication “in memory of all the victims of the Covid-19 Pandemic” drew closer to home when my brother Nathan also passed suddenly in 2022, and I hope it continues to comfort loved ones of the fallen for years to come as we express our gratitude ‘for all the saints, who from their labors rest.’”