“From Heaven Above to Earth I Come” was one of Martin Luther’s first hymns, penned in 1535 and translated into English by Catherine Winkworth in… Read More »Seventh Hymn of Christmas: From Heaven Above to Earth I Come
Staying with the theme of German carols, “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” comes from the fifteenth century and was translated by a couple different… Read More »Sixth Hymn of Christmas: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
Known as the “Queen of the Chorales,” this Lutheran hymn by Philpp Nicolai was written in 1599. Unusual for this time period, Nicolai also composed… Read More »Fifth Hymn of Christmas: How Bright Appears the Morning Star
The German Lutheran tradition has a rich heritage of Christmas hymns. “Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light” comes from Lutheran pastor, Johann Rist in 1641.… Read More »Fourth Hymn of Christmas: Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light
Christina Rosetti has written some of the most beautiful Christmas carols, and “Love Came Down at Christmas” is no exception. Penned in 1855, this hymn… Read More »Third Hymn of Christmas: Love Came Down at Christmas
Almost as ancient as “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” this hymn is probably more well-known. “Of the Father’s Love Begotten” was written in the… Read More »Second Hymn of Christmas: Of the Father’s Love Begotten
“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” is one of the oldest, if not the oldest Christian hymn still in common use today. Adapted from the fourth-century Liturgy… Read More »First Hymn of Christmas: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Tomorrow begins the Twelve Days of Christmas, and so in honor of this festive season, I will be highlighting one Christmas hymn each of the… Read More »Twelve Hymns of Christmas
Advent is upon us! This is a wonderful time of year to both remember the prophecies regarding Christ’s first coming and anticipate his coming again.… Read More »Advent Hymns
This weekend I am speaking the the National Center for Family Integrated Churches Conference in Asheville, NC. The theme of the conference is “Repentance: The… Read More »Repentance Hymns
Reformation Sunday is coming up on October 29, and this year is particularly special since we are celebrating the 500 year anniversary of the beginning… Read More »Reformation Hymns
The old Irish hymn “Be Thou My Vision” is a favorite of many, but the way most Americans sing it weakens the poetic parallelism of… Read More »A Better Way to Sing “Be Thou My Vision”
As we move closer to publishing our print hymnal, Hymns to the Living God, I want to continue to highlight some of the new and… Read More »A new hymn pairing
In January I mentioned the sudden passing of our friend, David Oestreich. David had been a supporter and occasional contributor here on the blog, and… Read More »New Hymn by David Oestreich and Josh Bauder
When the topic of music and worship comes up, a favorite slap-down argument against thoughtful discrimination of music is that pastors need not study music… Read More »Pastors – Become Literate in Christian Culture
Paul commands us to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. We can (and do!) debate the identity of hymns and spiritual songs, but we know… Read More »A Resurrection Psalm
Have you ever thought about how many songs your church can sing in a year? If you consult the average transdenominational hymnal published today, you… Read More »How many songs can one church sing?
Christmas: the one time of the year that most churches actually sing good hymns! Some of our traditional Christmas hymns really are quite profound, the… Read More »The profound simplicity of “Away in a Manger”
Understood as poet Christina Rosetti meant it, the answer to the question posed in the title of this post is, Yes. English poet Christina Rosetti… Read More »Was Jesus born in the bleak midwinter?
We are in the midst of a wonderful time in the year when we can reflect upon the advent of our Lord and the redemption that… Read More »Which advent is in view in “Joy to the World”?