# Selected Stories of Memorial Church ![Clouds and sky around MemChurch](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/thememorialchurch/files/clouds_memchurch.png) ## News & Announcements [### Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost Sermon ](/news/2026/10/twenty-first-sunday-after-pentecost-sermon) October 22, 2026 By The Rev. Emmanuel Akyeampong Minister for Worship and Foundation, the Memorial Church, and the Ellen Gurney Professor of History and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University (The following is a transcript of the service audio, Oct... ![Smiling pastor, the Rev. Emmanuel Akyeampong, in white robe and green stole delivering sermon at church pulpit with hymn numbers displayed on board.](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-10/261018SundaySermonEmmanuel.jpg?itok=aEzFM4yk) [### Book Discussion: The Practice of Wisdom ](https://www.harvard.com/event/practice-wisdom26) October 15, 2026 ![Book Talk Poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-10/image.jpg?itok=PXIDMuhe) - Previous page chevron\_left - [1](?page=0 "Current page") - [2](?page=1 "Go to page 2") - [3](?page=2 "Go to page 3") - [4](?page=3 "Go to page 4") - [5](?page=4 "Go to page 5") - [6](?page=5 "Go to page 6") - [7](?page=6 "Go to page 7") - [8](?page=7 "Go to page 8") - [9](?page=8 "Go to page 9") - [ Last page 530 ](?page=529 "Go to last page") - [ Next page chevron\_right ](?page=1 "Go to next page") [ Read more news & announcements arrow\_circle\_right ](/news) #### Selected Stories [Students Discovering an Oasis in the Center of Harvard Yard](/news/students-discovering-oasis-center-harvard-yard) [Sunday School Tradition at Memorial Church Thrives at 60](/news/sunday-school-tradition-memorial-church-perseveres) [Honoring Service and Sacrifice in Celebration of Memorial Church Anniversary](/news/honoring-service-and-sacrifice-celebration-memorial-church-anniversary) [MemChurch Documentary: “The Chorus Line,” an inside look at Harvard University Choir auditions](/news/harvard-memorial-church-presents-chorus-line-inside-look-harvard-university) [Seminarians Speak from Their Hearts and Minds](/blog/memorial-church-seminarians-speak-hearts-and-minds) [Meet David von Behren, the New Artist at the Keyboards of Memorial Church](/blog/meet-david-von-behren-new-artist-keyboards-memorial-church) [Annual Christmas Carols Service Collection Benefits Local Youth Homeless Shelter](/blog/annual-christmas-carols-service-collection-benefits-harvard-square-homeless) [Harvard Memorial Church: A look back at 2017-2018](/blog/harvard-memorial-church-look-back-2017-2018) [A peek backstage at the Harvard University Choir](/blog/backstage-harvard-university-choir) [Holy Week at Memorial Church](/blog/holy-week-moments) #### Selected Concert Videos [Joseph Haydn: The Creation (April 2017)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6O3NQMo-jM) [Remembering: A Concert Commemorating the Centennial of the End of World War I (Nov 2018)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkXMR6o_oCs) [Music Of Haydn, Mozart & C.P.E. Bach (Nov 2019)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVJeIiOmoAE) [Claudio Monteverdi: L'Orfeo (Oct 2017)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzWTP0d1HNA) [George Frideric Handel: Judas Maccabaeus, Oratorio in Three Parts (April 2019)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nimx_bCi4_o) [Claudio Monteverdi: Vespers (1610) (April 2018)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UChJl_wkHiQ) [Christoph Willibald Gluck: Alceste (Oct 2018)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDFnGqG7qt8) ## Latest Posts [### Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost Sermon ](/news/2026/10/twenty-first-sunday-after-pentecost-sermon) October 22, 2026 By The Rev. Emmanuel Akyeampong Minister for Worship and Foundation, the Memorial Church, and the Ellen Gurney Professor of History and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University (The following is a transcript of the service audio, Oct... ![Smiling pastor, the Rev. Emmanuel Akyeampong, in white robe and green stole delivering sermon at church pulpit with hymn numbers displayed on board.](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-10/261018SundaySermonEmmanuel.jpg?itok=aEzFM4yk) [### Book Discussion: The Practice of Wisdom ](https://www.harvard.com/event/practice-wisdom26) October 15, 2026 ![Book Talk Poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-10/image.jpg?itok=PXIDMuhe) [### Twentieth Sunday of Pentecost Sermon ](/news/2026/10/twentieth-sunday-pentecost-sermon) October 14, 2026 By Elizabeth Propst MDiv '26 Ministry Fellow, the Memorial Church (The following is a transcript of the service audio, Oct. 11, 2026) Morning. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our rock... ![241117sundaysermon_propst_0.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/thememorialchurch/files/241117sundaysermon_propst_0.jpg?itok=20rRbGZv) [### In a blessing of pets, the blessers are as blessed as the blessed! ](https://youtu.be/TEjeUOzdzJ8?si=u42_Y68WmHrhs-rT) October 08, 2026 ![Marty Martinage kneels and blesses Nacho, a tiny dog on the Memorial Church Porch](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-10/261003PetBlessing10.jpg?itok=2YH8M9js) [### Nineteenth Sunday of Pentecost Sermon ](/news/2026/10/nineteenth-sunday-pentecost-sermon) October 07, 2026 By Professor Glen Pettigrove Chair of Philosophy, University of Glasgow (The following is a transcript of the service audio, Oct. 4, 2026) The website where almost every academic job in the United Kingdom is posted is called jobs.ac.uk. I sometimes dream... ![Professor Glen Pettigrove preaches from the MemChurch pulpit Oct. 4, 2026](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-10/261004SundaySermon_Glen%20Pettigrove.jpg?itok=fjq1XOJ-) [### MemChurch Prison Ministry: Lessons Beyond the Walls ](/news/2026/10/memchurch-prison-ministry-lessons-beyond-walls) October 05, 2026 Richard Johnson holds a copy of his book, Turn Little Wins Into Big Wins: Ignite the Light Within You, at Clark University in Worcester. Johnson is a student in Clark University's Liberal Arts for Returning Citizens program. Photos by Jeffrey Blackwell... ![Richard Johnson, holds a copy of his book, Turn Little Wins Into Big Wins: Ignite the Light Within You, at Clark University in Worcester. ](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-10/260713RichardJohnson1_1.jpg?itok=-p4qn8bo) [### Students Discovering an Oasis in the Center of Harvard Yard ](/news/students-discovering-oasis-center-harvard-yard) April 05, 2018 By Jeffrey Blackwell/Memorial Church Communications For freshman Wassim Marrakchi, the Student Oasis on the ground level of the Memorial Church is a secret sanctuary for study, for quiet socializing and for making slatetblankit, a dish from his Tunisian... ![Students hunker down for study and for conversations in the Student Oasis.](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/thememorialchurch/files/180201studentoasis1.jpg?itok=Qgv962DH) [### Sunday School Tradition at Memorial Church Thrives at 60 ](/news/sunday-school-tradition-memorial-church-perseveres) November 03, 2017 By Jeffrey Blackwell/Memorial Church Communications On a sunny fall morning, the bell in the steeple of Harvard’s Memorial Church calls worshippers to Sunday services and a flock of sleepy undergraduates, hurried graduate students and long-time... ![Church Schoo teacher Sophie Iosue works with students during Sunday class.](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/thememorialchurch/files/churchschool10.jpg?itok=ATM11Xvh) [### Honoring Service and Sacrifice in Celebration of Memorial Church Anniversary ](/news/honoring-service-and-sacrifice-celebration-memorial-church-anniversary) November 09, 2017 By Jeffrey Blackwell/Memorial Church Communications Four men, uniquely connected to Harvard University, sacrificed their lives in a tragic moment on the high seas during World War II, but their names are not among the nearly 1,100 carved in stone on the... ![Names in the Memorial Room](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/thememorialchurch/files/170721memorialroom7.jpg?itok=5awl9ZM_) [### MemChurch Documentary: “The Chorus Line,” an inside look at Harvard University Choir auditions ](/news/harvard-memorial-church-presents-chorus-line-inside-look-harvard-university) December 01, 2016 Harvard University is an institution cultivated, in part, on the foundation of long-standing traditions that inhabit nearly every corner of the institution. The Harvard University Choir is one of those traditions. For the past 189 years, the student choir... ![160901choirauditions2.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/thememorialchurch/files/160901choirauditions2.jpg?itok=AH36qU3d) [### Seminarians Speak from Their Hearts and Minds ](/blog/memorial-church-seminarians-speak-hearts-and-minds) September 30, 2019 Memorial Church Seminarian KMarie Tejeda MDiv III speaks at Morning Prayers in Appleton Chapel on Sept. 25. Photo by Jeffrey Blackwell/Memorial Church Communications Morning Prayers at the Memorial Church often features the thoughtful voices of our... ![KMarie Tejeda speaks at Morning Prayers](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/thememorialchurch/files/190926kmarietejeda3.jpg?itok=Satq-Y7v) [### Meet David von Behren, the New Artist at the Keyboards of Memorial Church ](/blog/meet-david-von-behren-new-artist-keyboards-memorial-church) September 24, 2019 David von Behren is the latest addition to the acclaimed music department at the Memorial Church. Video and photos by Jeffrey Blackwell/Memorial Church Communications By Jeffrey Blackwell/Memorial Church Communications If the two organs at the Memorial... ![David von Behren](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/thememorialchurch/files/190916davidvonbehren3.jpg?itok=Y_eUmY17) [### Annual Christmas Carols Service Collection Benefits Local Youth Homeless Shelter ](/blog/annual-christmas-carols-service-collection-benefits-harvard-square-homeless) February 04, 2019 Y2Y student volunteers Grace O'Brian '19 (front) and Andrew Lewis '21 clean up the youth shelter after clients leave for the day. The shelter on Church Street provides services for nearly 30 homeless youth a night. Photo Jeffrey Blackwell/Memorial Church... ![Y2Y volunteers Grace O'Brian '19 and Andrew Lewis '21 clean up the youth shelter after clients leave for the day. The shelter on Church Street provides services for nearly 30 homeless youth a night.](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/thememorialchurch/files/100207y2y3.jpg?itok=BlDjRxRs) [### Harvard Memorial Church: A look back at 2017-2018 ](/blog/harvard-memorial-church-look-back-2017-2018) June 25, 2018 It was an extraordinary academic year at the Memorial Church. This multimedia review is a glimpse into the sights and sounds of the past year. Multimedia presentation by Jeffrey Blackwell/Memorial Church Communications. description [### A peek backstage at the Harvard University Choir ](/blog/backstage-harvard-university-choir) August 09, 2019 Follow the Harvard University Choir as they prepare for a performance of Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers (1610) at the Memorial Church of Harvard University, April 28, 2018. The choir, soloists and members of the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra invested... description [### Holy Week at Memorial Church ](/blog/holy-week-moments) May 02, 2019 Hundreds of people from across the Harvard community and beyond attended Holy Week services at the Memorial Church. Captured in still makes and video, this montage recounds the moments of Palm Sunday and Easter services. Video by Jeffrey Blackwell/... description ## Listen to Archived Sunday Sermons [](https://soundcloud.com/memorial-church/sets/sunday-sermons-at-the-memorial) ![Listen on SoundCloud](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_1_1__100x100_scale/public/thememorialchurch/files/listen_soundcloud-48x48.png?itok=L3bfjDBh) [Sunday Sermons on SoundCloud](https://soundcloud.com/memorial-church/sets/sunday-sermons-at-the-memorial?si=799cee3a342648f391646185c43057f2&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing) ## Listen to Morning Prayers [](https://soundcloud.com/memorial-church/sets/morning-prayers-at-harvard-4?si=6db9b5def49746f3b36c40a6aed60cfe&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing) ![Listen on SoundCloud](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_1_1__100x100_scale/public/thememorialchurch/files/listen_soundcloud-48x48.png?itok=L3bfjDBh) [Morning Prayers on SoundCloud ](https://soundcloud.com/memorial-church/sets/morning-prayers-at-harvard-6?si=aa0a59ccc9834b27a6f1cd966a51c568&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing)