On the lives of Scott C. Weidler and Carl F. Schalk

In Sure and Certain Hope of the Resurrection

Scott C. Weidler and Carl F. Schalk

Conversion of Paul

25 January 2021

By Chad Fothergill, LSM Cantor

“One generation shall praise your works to another …”

—Psalm 145:4

The story of the cantor, or church musician, could be told adequately enough through simple surveys of musical activities—of compositions, technical proficiencies, of particular responsibilities in a congregation or community. But seldom does such objective reporting capture the significance of a deeper story, the long-lasting “people work” of those called to equip, nurture, and lead the song of the church. The Israelite cantors who led psalms in the temple sang of “teaching” and “telling” across time and place—their hearts, hands, and voices attuned to the wisdom of generations past, the needs of the present, and the hope of what is yet to be. And so it could be said that a more faithful story of the cantor embraces those teachers and mentors—gifted musicians in their own right—whose sense of vocation was deeply attuned to this “people work” in ways that transcend time and place.

Carl F. Schalk (26 September 1929 + 24 January 2021) and Scott C. Weidler (21 June 1959 + 23 January 2021) were two such cantors. Among those who mourn their deaths are not only family members, friends, students, and colleagues who served with them, but also the generations of church musicians formed by their model and example as transmitted in compositions, hymnals, rehearsals, lectures, casual conversation, clever and witty repartee, and a trove of printed resources.

Not only did Carl and Scott serve as model cantors and teachers from their respective positions in the Chicago area (Carl as faculty member at Concordia University Chicago and Scott as Program Director for Worship and Music at the ELCA churchwide offices), but both were actively involved in numerous organizations that enriched the scholarly, practical, and pedagogical dimensions of the cantor’s craft and life of the church. Few can attend events of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians; The Hymn Society; the Institute of Liturgical Studies; the Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival; Music that Makes Community; or the North American Academy of Liturgy without recognizing the influence of Scott or Carl, or both.

Born and raised in the Los Angeles area, Scott completed degrees in elementary education from Concordia University, Nebraska; in sacred music from Wittenberg University; and in liturgy from the University of Notre Dame. He served several congregations as cantor including Good Shepherd Lutheran (Lancaster, PA) and Immanuel Lutheran (Chicago), and was an integral part of the Leadership Program for Musicians, a partnership between The Episcopal Church and the ELCA.

Scott was also a familiar presence during the early years of the Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival. Between 1984 and 1995, he served as counselor, assistant summer program director, summer program director, and was one of the featured organists for the 1988 hymn festival.

At the Institute of Liturgical studies, Scott recently served as musician (2008, 2014), workshop leader (2011, 2014), and seminar leader (2012). His involvement in the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians included presentations at national and regional conferences, assembling choirs for worship, and planning and developing resources for programs such as “The Church’s Journey in Art and Song,” which was presented at the combined ALCM biennial conference and ELCA worship jubilee held in Atlanta in 2015. He also contributed several articles to CrossAccent since the journal’s founding in 1993. Worship leaders currently planning Holy Week liturgies would do well to consult his “The Three Days: Singing Salvation History” in the journal’s summer 2014 issue.

Scott’s tenure as Program Director for Worship and Music for the ELCA was not only integral for the Renewing Worship project and subsequent development of Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), but also for helping shape and bring to fruition the growing family of publications that now surround and enrich this “core” resource, including Musicians Guide to Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2007); Worship Guidebook for Lent and the Three Days (2009); the Music Sourcebook series; In These or Similar Words: Crafting Language for Worship (2015); and Singing in Community: Paperless Music for Worship (2017). In addition to these resources, Scott was also attentive to the needs of smaller parish choirs, and commissioned O Lord of Light: Nine Two-Part Mixed Anthems for the Church Year (2013) which, in his words, were fashioned for “those times we regularly need either learn something very quickly” or “sing with limited forces because of holiday schedules.”

Carl grew up in Des Plaines, IL, and attended Concordia High School on the campus of Concordia Teachers College in River Forest, now Concordia University Chicago, where he subsequently enrolled as an undergraduate. After graduating in 1952 with a degree in education, he served Zion Lutheran Church and School (Wausau, WI) as a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher and director of the congregation’s musical ensembles. In 1958, he completed a graduate degree in music at the Eastman School of Music and took up residence in St. Louis as musical director for radio broadcasts of “The Lutheran Hour.” During this time, he also completed a Master of Arts in Religion at Concordia Seminary (St. Louis). In 1965, Carl returned to Concordia in River Forest as assistant professor of music where he established the annual Lectures in Church Music conference, the Master of Church Music program, and the journal Church Music. He helped develop Worship Supplement (1969) and, as a member of the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, was instrumental in the preparation of Lutheran Book of Worship (1978). Though he retired from Concordia in 1994, he continued to maintain a robust schedule of presentations, writing, and composing.

With Carlos Messerli, Carl was instrumental in establishing the Lutheran Music Program, the parent organization of the Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival. He was a driving force behind components of the curriculum that remain essential today such as student participation in smaller chamber music ensembles—or, as they are affectionately known by LSM alumni, “smembles”! During the summer of 2009, the Lutheran Summer Music community was introduced to Carl’s settings of Luther’s morning and evening prayers: each summer since, Luther’s Morning Prayer has gathered the community each day in song. Returning students sing it from memory, and a virtual choir recording made in June 2020 has been viewed some 70,000 times.

Schalk was also a familiar face at the Institute of Liturgical Studies and was recipient of its 2014 Christus Rex award for significant contributions to Lutheran liturgical scholarship and renewal. More recently, in 2017, he led an Institute seminar on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Like Scott, Carl was also a charter member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and was a frequent contributor to its publications, a small fraction of his prolific output. In Thine the Amen: Essays on Lutheran Church Music in Honor of Carl Schalk (2005), a list of his writings—books, articles, editorials, forewords, reviews—and compositions spans 40 pages. In the fifteen years since its publication, that list as grown to include such resources as a sixteenth-century Lutheran choral anthology (2010); numerous articles and compositions; small and large Catechisms on church music in the Lutheran Tradition (2017); and Singing the Faith: A Short Introduction to Christian Hymnody (2020).

Though their lives and vocations might be told from contrasting denominational or stylistic perspectives, both Carl and Scott were attuned to the wider concerns of the church and its worship—both pan-Lutheran and ecumenical. Their training as music educators and work with children enabled them, as cantors, to attend to the needs of all God’s people along their baptismal journeys, indeed from generation to generation.

Though these words are far too short and inadequate for them, the numerous tributes and memories shared across social media reveal a more important lesson: Scott and Carl practiced what they preached—a deep abiding love for the Word proclaimed in the church’s liturgy and song, and an even greater love for all God’s children who sing it.

And so we pray: 

God, our shepherd, you gather the lambs of your flock into the arms of your mercy and bring them home. Comfort us with the certain hope of the resurrection to everlasting life and a joyful reunion with those we love who have died in the faith; through Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

And so we sing:

The love that we have always known, our constant joy and endless light,

Now to the loveless world be shown, now break upon its deathly night.

Into one song compress the love that rules our universe above:

Sing love, sing love, sing God is love, sing love, sing God is love!

—Jaroslav J. Vajda, “Before the Marvel of this Night” (Music, MARVEL: Carl F. Schalk. Text and music © 1982 Augsburg Publishing House.)