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Harriet Reynolds Krauth Spaeth (1845-1925), daughter of the nineteenth-century Lutheran theologian Charles Porterfield Krauth, was a highly educated and accomplished woman in her own right. As music editor of the Church Book with Music (1872), she was the only woman ever to serve in that capacity. The story of her life and contribution to the Lutheran tradition of liturgy and congregational song is told in this excellent treatment by Robert D. Hawkins, who initially presented this topic at the Vi Messerli Lectures in Church Music, October 16-18, 2011.

James Engel (1925-1989) was a part of the generation of musicians who shaped Lutheran church music during the mid-to-late-20th century. As such, he played an important role in the history of Lutheran church music. Engel was known by his colleagues and students as an excellent musician, choir director, composer and teacher. He had a positive influence on the next generation of Lutheran musicians. In his later years, he became well-known as a composer of church music. His organ and choral works have been performed by many musicians through the years. One of Engel's signature choral works is titled I Walk with Angels.

Anna B. Hoppe is one of the most prolific Lutheran hymn writers of the early 20th century. She composed hundreds of hymns along with opinion pieces and devotional writing. All the while, she lived quietly in Milwaukee, working as an office secretary and volunteering in various roles at her church. Despite her humble life, she became acquainted with several important Lutheran church musicians and pastors of her day and they, impressed by her work, helped to spread the news about her remarkable achievements. Today Lutherans still know her through just a few of her hymns--O Son of God, in Galilee (LSB 841, LW 400, LBW 426), For Jerusalem You're Weeping (LW 390), and Rise, Arise (CW 30). Hoppe's major collection, Songs of the Church Year: Hymns on the Gospel and Epistle Texts and Other Songs (published in 1928 by Augustana Book Concern, 334 pages in hard cover) is still listed on amazon.com, but copies are scarce. You will find in these pages two inspiring stories of perseverance. One is the broader context of Lutherans in America finding their way, making the transition to English, enduring the suspicions of Germans during World War I, most of its members just getting by in hard times. Singled out is the story of Anna Hoppe, unmarried and living with her family, having only a grade school education, working in menial jobs, and serving in her church. But, all the while, also keeping up with the larger issues of the day and of Christianity in the world and finding creative expression of her deeply felt faith in original poems which she humbly offered to the wider Church.

This book celebrates the ministry and extraordinary gifts of Charles W. Ore, nationally recognized church musician, educator, and composer. During his teaching career, especially his many years at Concordia College, Seward, Nebraska, Ore's contributions have helped shaped church music in America.

The career of Luther D. Reed (1873-1972) was marked by roles as pastor, professor, and seminary president. In the midst of the frontier tradition, he, with the assistance of many others, helped Lutherans in America recover their liturgical inheritance. He was a founder of the Lutheran Liturgical Association in 1898 and is best known for his monumental The Lutheran Liturgy: A Study of the Common Service of the Lutheran Church in America (1947).

Paul Manz enjoyed a long career, serving as organist, composer, teacher, and recitalist. Known for his improvisations, Manz cultivated and vigorously promoted the idea of the hymn festival a program of singing, readings, and organ music, often assisted by choirs and instrumentalists. Hymn festivals continue to be popular throughout the United States largely due to his vision and energetic leadership. He was twice named one of the Ten Most Influential Lutherans and received many honorary doctorates and awards.

Henry L. Lettermann (1932-96) served as professor of English at Concordia Teachers College, River Forest, Illinois, from 1959 to 1988 where his talent for poetry became readily apparent. From 1979 to 1987 he served as a member and secretary of the Hymn Text and Music Committee which produced Lutheran Worship in 1982. His original texts, translations, and observations about the process of preparing this new hymnal provide fascinating insights.

August Crull (1845-1923) edited and compiled the first edition of the Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (1889), thus playing a critical role in shaping the hymnic tradition of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod as it transitioned from German to English. This study tells the story of Crull's pioneering labor in the formation of this seminal hymnal and documents the twenty-year journey to its final edition in 1912, which became the first, official English-language hymnal of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.

The career of F. Samuel Janzow (1913-2001) was marked by roles as pastor, professor, and scholar. In all of these he served with great humility, from shepherding a small congregation in London during the blitz, to teaching countless college students, to his many editorial contributions to Lutheran Worship (1982). An ordained Lutheran pastor with a Ph.D in literary studies, he left the Church an amazing legacy.