Each week as I prepare for the upcoming worship services, I’m continually reminded of the rich worship and musical heritage we have in Christendom and Lutheranism. At any given service we hear the timeless Word speaking to us in readings and sermon. The psalms, whether spoken, chanted, or sung, still resonate with us as they did with Israel. We sing first century New Testament canticles and historic liturgical texts set to musical settings spanning hundreds of years. Our hymn texts are gems collected from the early years of Christianity to the present and set to tunes ancient and modern. Our prayers and collects have been prayed by the great cloud of witnesses before us and added to judiciously by the present. The instrumental and choral music is chosen from a rich treasury that our musical forebears have passed down and is supplemented by composers of today.
Tag Archives: Resch
J.S. Bach: Kantor for Today
Today the church commemorates Kantor Johann Sebastian Bach, a gifted musician and servant of the church. Because of his combined musical creativity and fidelity to Christ, he has become known as the Fifth Evangelist.
Kantor Resch, in an essay in the first journal of the Good Shepherd Institute (which by the way is available as a complimentary download), mentions that Bach’s “unbelievable source of faithful confession, of teaching and admonishing, of prayer, of praise and thanksgiving, and of healing and comfort–has become a hidden treasure.” He goes on to write,
It is time for a sacred music reformation. It is time for coming home to a practice that is just waiting for pastors, kantors, church musicians, choirs, instrumentalists to pick up, learn well, teach lovingly to their people, and begin using again. We need to wake up to what we have! (The Gift of the Church’s Song: Sacred Music as Healing and Comfort, 96).
Higher Hymnody: The Gifts Christ Freely Gives
Here’s a good article by Jonathon Kohlmeier over at Higher Things on hymnody. In particular, he takes a look at Kantor Richard Resch’s hymn “The Gifts Christ Freely Gives” (LSB 602) and comments on the gifts we receive in the Divine Service. Thanks Jonathon!
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.
Lutheran Hymnody Makes the Evening News
How often do you hear Lutheran hymnody on television? Not often. How often does it make the evening news? Almost never . . . that is until “Singing the Faith: Living the Lutheran Liturgical Heritage” was produced by the Good Shepherd Institute. I stumbled across the news story “Seminary Prof. Produces Music Documentary” at the Indiana NewsCenter website via a Google search. There is a text news story and an online streaming video from the evening news with that Seminary Prof. – Kantor Resch. Not bad for only a 1 or 2 minute video.
I received my copy of the DVD this past weekend and am working my way through the videos and the study guide. Eventually I might write a review on Singing the Faith. If you’d like more information, surf on over to the Good Shepherd Institute website and view the introductory video – it’s only about 12 minutes +/-.
Dare to Be A Lutheran Choir
What are the characteristics of a Lutheran choir? Find out in this article Kantor Richard Resch wrote for Higher Things entitled Encouraging Your Choir . . . Dare to Be Lutheran.