Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Jaroslav Vajda Hymn Festival – March 29, 2009

The choirs of Winnebago Lutheran Academy will be presenting a hymn festival on the sacred hymn texts of Jaroslav Vajda at 3:30 and 7:00 PM at Faith Lutheran Church, 55 Prairie Road, Fond du Lac, WI. (map)

Jaroslav Vajda passed from this life to eternal life on May 10, 2008 at the age of 89. His hymn texts, such as "Where Shepherds Lately Knelt" and "Go, My Children, with My Blessing", have become well known in the Wisconsin Synod ever since Christian Worship was published in 1993. With over 225 hymns texts and translations to his credit published in some 60 hymnals on five continents (all written after the age of 50!), Jaroslav Vajda was not only "the dean of hymn writers in North America" but was also a blessing of God to his Church throughout the world.

The following hymns will be performed by the WLA choirs:
  • Christ, Around Your Word Assembled
  • Now the Silence / Then the Glory
  • Where Shepherds Lately Knelt
  • God Has a Plan for All
  • O Dearest Friend / Begin the Song of Glory Now
  • Jesus, Take Us to the Mountain (world premiere)
  • Up Through Endless Ranks of Angels
  • This Child of Ours
  • God of the Sparrow
  • O God, Eternal Father, Lord
  • Giver of Every Perfect Gift
  • Christ Goes Before
  • Go, My Children, with My Blessing
View the program (PDF)

A dinner will be served in between concerts in the Faith commons for anyone who wishes to eat. A freewill donation will be taken to assist Traveling Choir students who will be singing at Carnegie Hall on June 14, 2009.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for another good concert, Dale. I appreciate the variety and uniqueness of the hymns you chose. I also appreciate that you encouraged the congregation to sing along, especially with "God of the Sparrow."

    God bless,

    Kerry S

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  2. Because you seem to have somehow not mentioned it, a friendly reminder that the late Rev. Dr. Jaroslav Vajda was a Missouri Synod pastor. He graduated from the Missouri Synod's Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and was the son and brother of Missouri Synod pastors. He edited "This Day," a Missouri Synod magazine. He served as book developer and editor of Missouri Synod's Concordia Publishing House. He died a member of St. Lucas Lutheran-St. Louis, a Missouri Synod parish.

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  3. Mr. Witte, I regret from my deepest heart of hearts that I missed this concert. The poems and resulting hymns of Jaroslav Vajda are a close and vital link between my ancestry and our faith. As a second-generation immigrant (my grandpa being full-blooded Slovak), I identify with special meaning any expression of faith in the one true God from the Slovak people. Was there a recording of this concert? If so, could I obtain a copy?

    God's richest blessings,
    Steven Koniar

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