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any in the ELCA are delighted that our “new” Evangelical Lutheran Worship is the inclusive worship book that it is. You can literally “sing your way around the world” through cultures and traditions including Germany
and Scandinavia, Africa and Central America, and the American folk tradition. One “folk music champion” among the ELCA’s
musical leadership contributed three hymns to the new hymnal. John Ylvisaker, whose roots are Norwegian American, embraced traditional folk music early in his career. He ended up writing more than 1,000 spiritual songs and ballads.
“My best work has always been writing ballads,” he said. “The best folk music pieces are ballads.” Ylvisaker, who is 75 this year, will be honored at a June 1-2 celebration at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa (
www.borningcrycelebration.com). It will be something of a lovefest on the part of contemporary church musi- cians who have embraced Ylvisaker’s music style. The list includes Agape, Ken Medema, the singing duo Lost and Found, and Jonathan Rundman.
Lutherans have occasionally debated what sort of music is appropriate for worship. Ylvisaker entered the fray when he became convinced that Lutherans don’t sing very well at worship, and that young people may be drop- ping out altogether in part because of music they can’t— or won’t—embrace. A study of ethnomusicology at the University of Min- nesota, Minneapolis, helped convince Ylvisaker, who grew up on classical music and sang in the Concordia Col- lege Choir (Moorhead, Minn.), that worshipers need some tunes they can easily embrace—and arrangements that enable them to sing in harmony, if they’re so inclined. That raised a point of controversy for worship leaders. The celebrated Lutheran theologian and martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, famously argued that Christians should not sing in harmony at worship, but only in unison. This would encourage, he was convinced, a unity the church badly needed.
By contrast, the famous choral director (whom some believe “invented” the Lutheran college choir movement), F. Melius Christiansen, embraced four-part harmony for performances and for worship alike. Ylvisaker stands with Christiansen.
“I was disappointed when the Lutheran Book of Wor- ship changed so many of the hymn arrangements, making them difficult for the congregation to sing in harmony,” Ylvisaker said. “Our new Evangelical Lutheran Worship has restored a lot of those good harmonies.” Paradoxically, what is perhaps the most famous of all
the Ylvisaker folk hymns is one that seems to cry out for unison singing. “I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry” (ELW, 732) has been known to reduce singers to tears as the stanzas unfold. Perhaps that’s because it’s appropriate for emotionally charged moments in the Christian life— baptisms, confirmations, marriages and funerals. Ylvisaker’s mail testifies to the life-changing impact this hymn has had on Lutherans—and other Christians as well.
The composition of “Borning Cry” is a story in itself. Ylvisaker was working at a media center in an ELCA pre- decessor church body. At the time Richard Jensen was the voice of Lutheran Vespers, a nationally broadcast radio program (now discontinued). He had created scripts for a video series, “Reflections,” an exploration of Christian baptism, and was looking for music to accompany the visuals.
Ylvisaker composed “Borning Cry” for that series in
1985. The videos served their intended purpose, but the folk hymn took on a life of its own. These days, when Lutherans are asked to name a favorite hymn, “Borning Cry” regularly is near or at the top of the list. During his long career as a musical troubadour for the
church, Ylvisaker crisscrossed the country, doing con- certs, leading workshops, participating in festive worship services, and performing at national youth gatherings (he reports he composed music for every national Lutheran youth gathering between the early 1960s and the early 21st century). He’s had several anthologies published and, before his health began to decline (he no longer travels), he had performed at concerts and led workshops in 49 states and completed more than 320 musical tours. Collections of Ylvisaker’s folk songs have been gath- ered into a pair of volumes, Borning Cry I and II (www.
ylvisaker.com). Today, Ylvisaker lives with his wife, Fern Kruger, in a retirement community within sight of the Wartburg Col- lege campus. Although he’s slowing down and no longer responds to invitations to perform, he keeps moving. An avid golfer, he regularly visits the local course when Iowa weather permits. He was heard to declare, during the recently ended snowy season, “I need some black golf balls so I can get out there any time of year.”
Sherer is emeritus editor of the Metro Lutheran, an independent newspaper in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn. A freelance writer, he lives in Waverly, Iowa. June 2013 17
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