http://www.pietisten.org/series/SightingsinChristianMusic.htmlSightings in Christian Musicen-ushttp://www.pietisten.org/fall98/music.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/fall98/music.htmlPrior to our own hymnals and song books was the hymnal of the State Church of Sweden, Den Svenska Psalmboken (the Swedish Psalm-book). This was the major literary achievement of the archbishop of the Swedish church, Johan Olof Wallin (1779-1839). Among the 500 hymns in the psalmbook, Wallin wrote 128 original hymns, made 178 revisions, and translated 23 hymns from the German chorales.http://www.pietisten.org/winter99/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/winter99/sightings.htmlWe all sat in perfect silence for thirty minutes until a man with a strong voice began singing a song by Nils Frykman, “O sällhet stor,” literally, “O bliss so great.” No hymn number was announced but all joined in spontaneously singing all five verses by heart. It was truly a moment of ecstasy for me and one that has never worn off. I left the service that evening with a resolve to translate that song—if not for others, at least for myself.http://www.pietisten.org/summer99/music.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/summer99/music.htmlMany years ago, we attended the summer school sponsored by St. Olaf College at the University of Oslo. We were two kids right out of college, married only a few days, going to school together with two hundred American students in a strange land, enjoying it but also a bit homesick at times.http://www.pietisten.org/fall99/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/fall99/sightings.htmlWhen I asked Carleton R. Young, editor of the Methodist hymnal, whether the use of overheads in worship might not make singing from hymnals obsolete, he said: "We have all the technology to do so. But when the light of the overhead goes off, I have nothing in my hands. But when I take up my hymnal in song and prayer, I hold 2000 years of church history in my hands."http://www.pietisten.org/spring00/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/spring00/sightings.htmlOne of the magic moments of our Scandinavian Holiday last summer—a tour of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden led by Eloise and Leroy Nelson—was a visit to Fröderyd, a small, rural com-munity located in the deep forests of Småland and the birthplace of Lina Sandell.http://www.pietisten.org/summer00/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/summer00/sightings.htmlKit Swanson, a Peace Corps volunteer, has been teaching in a university in Buea, Cameroon, West Africa, and one of her courses is Old English Literature. In a letter to her parents, Dave and Ann Swanson of the Bethlehem Covenant Church, Kit describes her class of 200-plus students and "a sightings in Christian music" that is quite remarkable.http://www.pietisten.org/winter00/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/winter00/sightings.html"Blood in the hymnal" seems an odd theme to pursue until you encounter a person with furrowed brow or someone with tongue-in-cheek asking a member of a hymnal commission: "Have you taken the blood out of the hymnal?" Given the near earth-shaking significance in Covenant history of the doctrine of the atonement, it is not a question that should be passed over lightly or answered in a defensive manner.http://www.pietisten.org/spring01/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/spring01/sightings.htmlIn the last issue I spoke of the imagery of blood in Covenant hymnody and how it reflects the centrality of the atoning death of Jesus in our theology. While the Hymnal Commission did not include the hymn by William Cowper, "There is a Fountain Filled with Blood," it was not because it isn’t a good hymn nor because it is blood thirsty but because in a literal-minded culture like ours, it could be misunderstood by many people who would be repulsed by the very thing they need most.http://www.pietisten.org/summer01/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/summer01/sightings.htmlI recall from the earlier years of my ministry—when there were still some first generation Swedes around—that whenever we sang a Swedish translation someone was bound to say after the service: "It just isn't the same in the original."http://www.pietisten.org/winter02/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/winter02/sightings.htmlIn pursuing a favorite pastime of reading through hymnals, I have often wondered why so few of our Swedish heritage hymns have made it into American hymnals. The two hymns that have made it are "Children of the Heavenly Father" and "How Great Thou Art."http://www.pietisten.org/summer02/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/summer02/sightings.htmlThe popularity of How Great Thou Art even on the fringes of American religious culture must surely be due to its repeated use over the years in the Billy Graham crusades and the singing of George Beverly Shea. In The Covenant Hymnal (1973) the concluding sentence in the footnote of hymn 19 “O Mighty God, When I Behold the Wonder” tells its convoluted history: “The text widely known as How Great Thou Art is an English translation of a Russian version based on an earlier German translation of the original.”http://www.pietisten.org/winter0203/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/winter0203/sightings.htmlThis past May, Royce Eckhardt, Minister of Music at the Winnetka, Illinois Presbyterian Church, and I conducted a 50s Plus Conference at Pilgrim Pines on ethnic music in the Covenant Hymnal: A Worshipbook. The theme we chose was "Thinking Globally and Singing Locally." Thinking globally has been, and still is, central to our Christian proclamation and mission. However, with the entry into our vocabulary of the concept of globalization, it has new relevance, particularly as the term "global village" seems suddenly real and near—right at our doorstep.http://www.pietisten.org/summer03/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/summer03/sightings.htmlIn this issue of “Sightings,” I think it appropriate to pay tribute to the gospel singer, Winifred Larson, who was well-known in many of our churches and whose passing was memorialized at First Evangelical Free Church of Minneapolis on May 16th.http://www.pietisten.org/winter0304/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/winter0304/sightings.htmlLina Sandell, the most popular and prolific hymn writer Sweden has produced, was born on October 3, 1832 and died on July 27, 1903. Observances have taken place this past year on the centennial of her death in our own country, in Scandinavia, and wherever her songs are known.http://www.pietisten.org/fall04/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/fall04/sightings.htmlEarly in the 60s I was listening to a classical music station and was stopped dead in my tracks by the deep, mellow voice of the black baritone, William Warfield singing "Shall We Gather at the River."http://www.pietisten.org/winter0405/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/winter0405/sightings.htmlMy sightings in this issue include the use of a new hymn in three services held at the Bethlehem Covenant Church of Minneapolis: a Sunday morning worship service, a funeral, and the blessing of a marriage. I was present at these services and felt in each the awe and wonder of a birthing as a congregation found its song: “Surrounded by God’s Silent, Faithful Angels” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, with music by Sigfried Feitz.http://www.pietisten.org/winter05/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/winter05/sightings.htmlThrough my friendship with Dr. Bernhard Erling, former professor of Gustavus Adolphus in St Peter, Minnesota and the University of Minnesota, I was invited to be a presenter at “Gathering 2004” of the Augustana Heritage Association meeting in St Peter. My subject was the Swedish hymnody shared by the Augustana Lutheran Synod and the Covenant. Dr. Philip Anderson of North Park Seminary presented on our common history as Augustana Lutheran and Covenant at the Association’s meeting in Lindsborg, Kansas two years ago.http://www.pietisten.org/summer06/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/summer06/sightings.htmlI recently finished reading for the second time the English translation of Levi’s Journey, an engaging novel by Swedish author, Per Olof Enquist. The novel brings together fiction and history and makes for fascinating reading. http://www.pietisten.org/christmas06/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/christmas06/sightings.htmlIn the month of October in which I am writing, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is publishing a new hymnal. The last hymnal­—the Lutheran Book of Worship (commonly referred to as “the green hymnal”)—was published in 1978. It has been in use 38 years which exceeds the average life of denominational hymnals by 18 years. Work on the 1978 hymnal began with the cooperation of The Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod but the Missouri Synod dropped out of the process before publication.http://www.pietisten.org/spring07/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/spring07/sightings.htmlOn February 26, 2007, several hundred guests attended an extra-ordinary concert at Landmark Center in St. Paul. The concert with the inviting title “Listen to the Song of Life” celebrated the life of Bruce Carlson whose death occurred on July 28, 2006, after a three-year battle with disease.http://www.pietisten.org/christmas07/sightings.htmlhttp://www.pietisten.org/christmas07/sightings.htmlThrough my friendship with Phyllis Holmer, I have begun a correspondence with a longstanding friend of the Holmers, Dr Andrew Burgess, Professor of Philosophy and a Kierkegaard scholar at The University of New Mexico in, Albuquerque. Dr Burgess is also a graduate of Minnehaha and was a student of Paul Holmer. I would like to share part of a letter which I wrote this past summer to Dr Burgess.