Here’s a brief selection from Pastor Peter’s post.

We ARE heirs of an astonishingly rich heritage. But what we receive from those who have gone before is not some museum piece but a living faith and a living heritage. From them we learn, to them we add the best of what we have, and through these both we pass on the grand legacy to those whose voices have not yet been added to theirs and ours . . .

Thanks for reading A Case for Hymnody.

Wanted: One Outstanding Church Organist.
Music adds much to our worship, but musicians can be hard to find. Well, look no further.

The reality is that many churches have a difficult time finding an organist or even someone who can play the piano for worship services. Enter CPH. They have created Concordia Organist, a 31-CD set of all the hymns in LSB which can be used to accompany hymn singing. CPH is having an “essay” contest (though the Official Rules say it will be a random drawing) to give away a free copy of the Concordia Organist (retail value: $699 with an introductory price of $499) to a LCMS or LCC congregation.

On the plus side, the hymns are played by the very capable Paul Grime, Kevin Hildebrand, and Richard Resch of Concordia Theological Seminary on the wonderful Schlicker organ in Kramer Chapel. Any congregation would be blessed to have either of these organists and/or the Kramer Chapel pipe organ. (As an aside: I have to remind myself to not covet my neighbor’s pipe organ.)

However, I’m a little unsettled on the use of a CD as a hymn accompaniment in congregational worship. I understand that for some churches the Concordia Organist may be the only way that they can have a “church musician” for worship. Singing to a recording, though, lacks the vibrancy of the relationship between the musician and the congregation. On some Sundays, my own hymn playing will take on a new dimension as a result of the energy of the hymn singing. And conversely, the congregation’s hymn singing can be energized by skillful hymn playing. I would hope that these CDs are a last resort and not a substitute for a “live” church musician if one is available.

And we need not forget the possibility of a capella singing. You never know when the organ might “blow up” just before the service begins and “Let my prayer rise before You as incense” takes on an entirely new meaning as electrical parts are burning. Singing without accompaniment can add a new dimension to worship that is often hidden when there is always background music.

I suppose, though, that the moral of the story is to encourage our young people to pursue church music – either as a profession or avocation. Our churches are always in need of faithful musicians with a passion for the church’s song. If we had sufficient numbers of church musicians, a product like Concordia Organist wouldn’t have much of a market.

Thanks for reading The Concordia Organist.

I recently discovered Southern Lutheran Kantor who has some thoughtful and extensive commentaries on a number of hymnic treasures – Including “Lord, Thee Will I Love With All My Heart.” This is a wonderful hymn to be sung at a funeral (particularly stanza 3). At most any funeral I will without doubt play an organ chorale prelude on it even if it is not sung.

Another blogger I follow is Vicar Josh Osbun at Holy Holy Hymnody. He has reviewed a number of Stephen Starke hymns. Josh has also tackled the questionable, bad, and ugly of hymnody — past and present. By the looks of it, he has an extensive hymnal collection.

If your church uses Lutheran Service Book or Hymnal Supplement 98, it’s likely you have become acquainted with some of the hymn texts of Stephen Starke. He has his own blog starke Kirchenlieder where he provides occasional brief commentaries, but generally just posts of some great hymn texts by himself and others.

Thanks for reading Diving into Hymnody.

Both are excellent CD compilations of some of the finest Lutheran hymnody and a worthy addition to your audio library.

Thanks for reading CPH Goes MP3.

If you’ve never heard the hymn, here is a video of a setting written by K. Lee Scott.  The setting is available from CPH and performance scores are available for the optional instrumentation.  Enjoy!

Thanks for reading Joy to the Heart.

This study has been motivated by a trend in parts of the LCMS to embrace the “praise and worship” genre of music.  The Commission was directed by convention resolution to provide “guidance and direction in the use of diverse/contemporary worship resources.”  Given the plethora of “diverse/contemporary worship resources” [there are over 200,000 songs available for use via the CCLI church copyright license], some guidance seems appropriate to steer professional church workers and laity toward resources that are in harmony with the Lutheran faith and confessions.

Before looking at the list of the songs, I’d like to to consider several points that the Commission makes in the article prefacing the study.

The commission’s publication Text, Music, Context: A Resource for Reviewing Worship Materials was used to determine that each song would be considered in light of the Holy Scriptures, the church year, the lectionary, the Sacraments, law/gospel balance, confessional/doctrinal thought, redemption and forgiveness in Christ, and the use of Trinitarian language.

I have a copy of Text, Music, Context: A Resource for Reviewing Worship Materials and appreciate the diagnostic questions included to review any type of worship music (hymns, choral pieces, or “songs”).  The questions consider the text, music, and the “big picture.”  It would have been helpful if the study documents included these questions somewhere in the study or website since they were apparently one of the fundamental diagnostic tools.  As a courtesy, I have scanned the questions and have them available here as a PDF (the Commission on Worship notated on each of these sheets that “Permission is granted to reproduce this page.”).

The songs listed in the chart have not been subjected to the same in-depth process that selected hymns receive before being included in a synodically approved hymnal. The rapidly changing scene of Christian contemporary music requires constant attention to evaluate emerging songs in a timely manner.

I was surprised (and disappointed) to read that the contents of this study did not undergo the same doctrinal review process as the hymns for a hymnal –  in part because the Synod’s June 2008 Reporter article said the songs were “subsequently approved over the past six months through the church body’s doctrinal review process.”  I found their reasoning to be less than adequate — timeliness essentially trumps the standard process.  What would have happened if they had gone through the same in-depth process as a hymn — would the song be obsolete before a recommendation was made?  It would be interesting to know how the review processes differs between a hymn and a “song”.

It is imperative to note that songs are not hymns.

. . .

The words of songs frequently convey simple scriptural thoughts that are wedded to stirring rhythmic melodies.

. . .

Hymn texts, in their role in Lutheran worship provide sequences of poetic stanzas that expound on the life of Christ and the life of the Church.  The life cycle of a hymn potentially spans centuries. The life cycle of a song spans weeks, months, perhaps years.

I was a bit startled at the unexpected frankness of the difference between hymns and songs – particularly the life cycles of a hymn and a song.  Perhaps I’m a bit naive, but if asked to choose between a hymn that might be a gift to current and future generations for centuries or a song that might be around until next year or a few years later, I would hands down go for the hymn.

Granted, I have no idea how a “current” hymn by say Stephen Starke or Herman Stuempfle will be received decades or centuries from now, but I do know that they will be available in LSB for years to come.  I don’t doubt that some of them will be treasures that future generations will sing.

I suppose the deeper question I have is why the life cycles are so different?  Yes, I know this too, not every hymn will have a long life cycle and it is possible that a song could live for quite some time.  Any thoughts?

In a future post I’ll take look at the actual list of songs.

Thanks for reading The LCMS 100 “Song” Study: Part 1.

While listening to my Christmas iPod playlist, I came across a recording of a delightful hymn setting of O Sing of Christ that I discovered a few years back.  After a little bit of Internet research I found the source of it — Outer Rim Territories.  The setting is by Kevin Hildebrand and is a rehearsal recording of one of the seminary choral groups.  You can even sing along if you like.

As a hint to the organists out there, Hildebrand’s instrumental introduction has been set for organ in his volume of Christmas music — Bethlehem’s Rose.  Though, I’m not sure how many “average” organs have a Flute 2′ in the pedal division (unless you couple a 3rd manual with a 2′ stop to the pedal or you are playing the Kramer Chapel organ).

Todd Wilken with Issues Etc interviewed Stephen Starke about this hymn on December 21, 2006.  The interview is archived here — just ignore all the references to supporting Issues Etc. via KFUO and the Reformation Club — to support Issues Etc., go here.

Thanks for reading O Sing of Christ.

Schalk had a reflection that was particularly relevant to the Advent season based on Ambrose, the author of the Hymn of the Day for this First Sunday in Advent – “Savior of the Nations, Come” (LSB 332)

As the story goes, Ambrose (340-397), the great Bishop of Milan, was having trouble with the Arians, a heretical sect which denied Christ’s divinity.  When the Empress Justina, who favored the Arians, tried to get Ambrose to open one of the churches–the Basilica Portina–for her adherents, Ambrose adamantly refused.  Fearing reprisal from the Empress, Ambrose gathered the faithful in the basilica, singing psalms and hymns to buoy their spirits in this time of persecution.  When the soldiers sent by the Empress arrived at the basilica, so tremendous was the effect of the people’s song that the soldiers are said to have joined in the singing.  The Empress finally was forced to abandon her plans.

St. Augustine, one of Ambrose’s converts–who as a young man was present with his mother at the Basilica Portina–wrote some years later in his Confession about the moving experience and how the singing had made a profound impression on him.  (p. 17)

Schalk next asks a question that propels this historical situation to our own day: “But where were the children?”  His conclusion, based on Augustine and that society’s lack of child care centers, is that the children, with the whole family, were at the Basilica singing the strong hymns of Ambrose.   The whole church family–young and old–were spiritually nurtured and grew by these hymns.

His encouragement to the church today is to continue (or reinstate, as the case may be) the practice of teaching children the strong and sturdy hymns of the faith — not “Twinkie Tunes with Ding Dong Theology” (title of another reflection).  These hymns can be formative in the faith development of the children.

Why not start with Ambrose’s Advent hymn?

Thanks for reading Ambrose, the Children, and Advent.

This evening I copied the CDs over to my iPod and have been listening to them as I walked the dog and did other evening tasks.  The music is glorious – a melding of instrumental and vocal settings – some old and some new – some on period instruments and some on the organ.  This set is truly a feast for the ears; a proclamation of the Word through some great texts and music.

One thing I appreciate about this set, the Martin Luther set, and the Hymns for All Saints series is the clear diction of the singers.  The singing is clear and the listener does not have to strain to listen.  This set and the Martin Luther set come with a booklet with complete hymn texts and also commentaries of each text. Both of these booklets are available on the CPH product page at the above links.

And if you’re a music director, organist, or choir director, the booklet has the CPH item numbers for most of the settings.  You might get some ideas for your own use.  I’ve already rediscovered some organ settings that I use (Kevin Hildebrand’s organ setting of In Thee Is Gladness and Mark Sedio’s organ setting of Jesus Thy Boundless Love).

The Heirs of the Reformation set and Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth would both be excellent resources that complement the Good Shepherd Institute’s Singing the Faith DVD.

Just as the title says, these are “Treasures of the Singing Church.”  We are the heirs of these treasures, just as the composers and poets were the heirs of what came before them.  Moreover, though, we are all heirs of Christ through the gracious gifts God richly gives us through Word and Sacrament.

Now I’m just awaiting the arrival of the Treasury of Daily Prayer.  Can we all say, “CPH, ship that book!”?

Thanks for reading Heirs of the Reformation CD Set.

A brief excerpt:

Have you ever asked, “Why do we sing all these different hymns during church?” I have. Wouldn’t the service go much faster if we just started with the Invocation instead of singing all of the verses of some hymn before it? Do we really need a Hymn of the Day, doesn’t that just take up more time? I guess communion hymns are okay, they give us something to do while everyone else is receiving communion. Does Pastor really need to make the service even longer by having a closing hymn? What’s the point?

. . .

No, hymns aren’t there to keep us entertained. They are there to teach us. They are gifts to remind us of all that Christ has done for us and is doing for us.

Speaking of “long hymns”, the Hymn of the Day for September 21 is Salvation Unto Us Has Come.  If you don’t sing all 10 stanzas in LSB, take the time to read them.

Thanks for reading Higher Hymnody: The Gifts Christ Freely Gives.