JEFF HIGH
grim, with only a 58 percent sur- vival rate for a 1 pound baby born at 24 weeks. In just a few hours I went from being in control of my life to having all power stripped away. As I lay in the dark hospital room, anger, fear and despair run- ning out of con- trol, ‘Surrender’ by Glenn Kaiser, a praise song from my youth, crept into my thoughts. I began to focus on the words.” “Our God is amazing,” she
said. Noelle was born at 27 weeks, with a greater than 80 percent sur- vival rate, weighing 2.5 pounds.
Hymns they turn to “Is my favorite hymn about to be lost to the church?” asked Robert Smith, a retired pastor in Greens- burg, Pa., pointing to “Lord Christ, When First you Came to Earth” (Lutheran Book of Worship, 491), which wasn’t included in the ELW. He was among dozens of readers who submitted hymns published in previous hymnals. “It’s the hymn to which I turn in times of doubt or sor- row because I believe it is the clear- est expression of the Christian faith in the hymnal. … Sure, it never had an easily singable tune, but it’s the words that count,” he said. Others were glad to see their
favorites in newer resources, a sign they “withstood the test of time,” wrote Nancy Rosenbaum, Salem Lutheran Church, Brenham, Texas. Rosenbaum appreciated the way
editors freshened the language of “If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee,” which now appears as “If You But Trust in God to Guide You” (ELW, 769). “No matter if some of the words have been changed,” she said. “It’s still beautiful and poetic and profound.”
The imagery used in hymns shapes our thinking, said Ilse Bur- ris, a member of St. Peter Lutheran Church, Point Pleasant,
W.Va. Burris grew up singing her favorite—Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” (ELW, 504)—in Hochst, a sub- urb of Frankfurt, Germany. Castles and fortresses could be seen on every outing or school field trip, she wrote, so as a child she learned to see God as something so steadfast, so sturdy. Readers have good reasons for
naming all these hymns as favorites. But it’s important to note that what we sing at worship and what we find in our hymnals isn’t really about favorites, said Paul Westermeyer, professor of sacred music at Luther
Fact from fiction I
Seminary, St. Paul, Minn. “We have texts that go back to Ambrose, Hildegard and Luther,” he said. “But they take shape and embodiment in a congregation of people who speak Swahili and Eng- lish, or who are of Norwegian and Hmong heritage, for example, and are enriched by other streams. We are a mix of folks from different gen- erations and heritages. “We don’t deny the past, but
we take into account the commu- nity. The congregation that sings is expressing the priesthood of all believers and, for Luther, music is related to proclamation.” Martin Seltz, publisher for wor- ship and music at Augsburg Fortress, agrees: “A hymn is the people’s opportunity to preach. A distinctive thing about Lutherans is that the preacher gets her or his chance to preach, and we do too. We sing the hymn of the day, and stand, preach and proclaim the word of God to each other.”
s it true that when Martin Luther wrote the text for “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” he borrowed the tune from a popular bar song? No, said com- poser Carl Schalk, who has composed music for many a Lutheran hymn, including “Now the Silence” (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, 460). “Both the words and the music of ‘A Mighty Fortress’ are ascribed to Luther,” Schalk said.
Why is this myth so popular? “The musical form of ‘A Mighty Fortress’
was called ‘bar’ form, and people interpreted this to mean it was written in a bar,” Schalk said. “But bar form is simply a technical German term meaning that a song is in three parts, AAB.” Perhaps this myth also gained traction because people “loved the songs they sang about their faith and wouldn’t just sing them at church,” he added. “They’d sing them at work and everywhere.” Yes, some secular tunes have found their way into the church, mostly
after a tune’s secular associations waned, Schalk said. “ ‘O Sacred Head Now Wounded’ uses the tune of a 1600s secular song about unrequited love. And folk songs like ‘Greensleeves’ and ‘Morning Has Broken’ became ‘What Child is This’ and ‘Baptized in Water’ [respectively].”
Elizabeth Hunter May 2013 25
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