Telling the story of the church’s music in a new land.
Winner of the 2023 Concordia Historical Institute’s Award of Commendation for its “significant contribution to literature and research in the field of Lutheran archives and history in North America.”
This is tenth in a series of monographs—Shaping Americal Lutheran Church Music—published by the Center for Church Music, Concordia University Chicago, highlighting people, movements, and events that have shaped the course of church music among Lutherans in North America.
Benjamin Kolodziej uncovers and records the story of the Lutherans who undertook the daunting and uncertain work of carving out a new life in a new land and of the music that accompanied them. This is the first book which focuses on the development of Missouri Synod liturgy and music in Texas, from the Wendish migration and the establishment of the first LCMS churches in Texas, to their hymnals, organs, congregational singing, and underlying liturgical and musical theologies, all without losing sight of the many personal, and sometimes amusing, stories of the individuals involved.
“Kolodziej’s Joyful Singing takes the reader deep into the heart of Texas’s music-making among Lutherans, especially its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century. His examination of primary sources provides a rare glimpse into the challenges that the Wendish and German immigrants faced and how those early struggles would blossom into a rich and varied practice today.”
“The song of the church comes to us in many and various ways. Benjamin Kolodziej deserves deep thanks for his account of a faithful way among Texas Lutherans. Lutherans and others will benefit from this history and its insight.”
“With writing that is winsome and witty, Kolodziej’s engaging work offers a wonderful glimpse into the life and work of Lutheran church musicians in Texas. He offers us a true gift—focused, substantive historical insight and profound, applicable theological discernment.”