A Hymn for Re-Formation: “Rise, O Church”

A Hymn for Re-Formation: “Rise, O Church”

Reflection by LSM Cantor, Chad Fothergill

“God, the wonder of our days …”

Each October, many congregations and faith communities mark the anniversary of the Reformation, recalling ways in which the church forms and re-forms from generation to generation. There were reformations before Martin Luther, and times of change, renewal, and reconciliation in the centuries since.

“Service be our sure vocation …”

In addition to the musical treasures—texts, tunes, motets, and more—penned by Luther and contemporaries like Elisabeth Cruciger, an important Reformation legacy was the education of future leaders for vocations that served city and congregation alike. In that sense, “Lutheran” music is not just a historical collection of music crafted or used by Lutherans, but a guiding philosophy about the formational power of music that transcends time and place.

“Rise, remember well the future …”

The early Lutheran church was much like a laboratory—trying out rituals, patterns, texts, translations, and songs that made use of the recently developed printing press. LSM, too, is like a laboratory for new generations of leaders—learning new pieces, singing old and new hymns with different combinations of instruments, and sharing this experience through recordings, webinars, and more. More importantly, the LSM laboratory invites and cultivates questions—What? Who? How?—that can enrich communal music making in a diverse, ever-changing world.

“Courage be our daily breath …”

These words by Susan Palo Cherwien were sung by the LSM 2021 community at the end of the closing eucharist in Valparaiso University’s Chapel of the Resurrection, and the noble and soaring melody by Timothy Strand was the basis for the improvised postlude that followed. In these still-uncertain days, may God bless the ongoing work of reforming, re-forming, remembering, and re-membering. And with the saints of all times and places, we sing: “alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”

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LSM 2022

June 26–July 24, 2022

Valparaiso University

Nominate a student or apply: https://www.lsmacademy.org/about

Learn more about congregational and organizational partnerships: https://www.lsmacademy.org/partners-1

Participate in LSM Sunday 2021: https://www.lsmacademy.org/lsm-sunday-2021