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Singing Thru The Scriptures
A hymn project by Rev. John C. Stennfeld categorized by Lectionary A, B, & C as well as by Themes and Books of The Bible.
These hymns have been written as a gift to the church, and thus are provided for use free of charge. There is no cost to download or use these hymns. But please remember that these hymns are the intellectual property and product of Rev. John C. Stennfeld, and are copyrighted by him, so make sure to cite him as the author when these hymns are printed and used in any public worship, study, or forum.
Singing Thru The Scriptures is a web based collection of hymns based upon the Scripture readings for the day for the entire 3-year lectionary cycle used by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Each Sunday has a hymn specifically written from one of the 4 Biblical texts of the day. These hymns were written to further reinforce the readings of the day, enabling the congregation to sing one of the lessons which they have just heard read. These hymns use the very words and phrases from the Scripture readings (organized in verse and rhyme form) to share the text in a new way. All of the hymns are written to meters commonly used in Lutheran Hymnals (and other hymnals too), and thus can easily be sung to existing tunes in the hymnbook, so they are very laity and organist friendly. Also, since the vast majority of hymns are written to meters in which there are multiple tunes, the pastors/organists/worship leaders are able to choose a tune which they feel best fits the mood of the service and the reading, but each hymn is listed with a suggested tune for those who do not wish to search out a tune on their own. May these hymns be a blessing to all who use them. To God be the glory!
The Hymn Project History
In the summer of 2018 Rev. John C. Stennfeld set out to teach his parishioners 14 Bible passages that he thought every Christian should know and have memorized. Having realized that most of his members had so few Bible passages memorized, he solicited the input of fellow pastors and compiled a list of verses that seemed to be essential to the Christian’s walk of faith. That list can be seen by clicking here. Each Sunday throughout that summer Rev. Stennfeld (Pastor John) highlighted and preached on one of those 14 essential memory texts. In order to help those verses come alive and become more memorable to the congregation, Pastor John decided to write a hymn for each of these Bible texts. It was so well received by the congregation that Pastor John set out on a mission that summer to write a new hymn each week on one of the lessons appointed for the day for the entire three-year cycle of the lectionary of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. In the fall of 2022, Rev. Stennfeld completed that project. What is contained in this website are the hymns that he completed for these two projects – the essential memory verses sermon series and the three-year lectionary series – along with other topical hymns and text based hymns that he continues to write. This website will thus be an evolving site as Pastor John continues to write more hymns based upon various texts in the Scriptures and for various occasions in the life and year of the church. To God be the glory!
How to Use the Resources
The hymns in this project are organized by Series A, B and C in the three-year lectionary cycle and by the particular Sunday of the church year in each of the three series. The hymns are also organized by books of the Bible and by particular themes. Each hymn that is text based rather than theme based makes direct usage of the language of the text, incorporating the exact words and phrases from the text arranged in rhyming and metrical verse form so as to be easy to sing. The entire project is based on the 1984 edition of the NIV translation of the Bible. Where specific words could not be found to rhyme or fit the meter of the line, great attention was paid to researching the Greek text to find another suitable English word that would be true to the text while still being easy to sing. All of the hymns are written to meters readily found in the Lutheran Service Book, Lutheran Worship, or The Lutheran Hymnal, and are set to suggested familiar tunes. But since most the hymns are set to meters that have multiple tune possibilities, the user is free to pick his/her own melody to which the congregation may sing the particular hymn. The tunes placed with each hymn are merely suggestions.
About the Author
Rev. John C. Stennfeld is the pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas. He has served as the pastor at CLC since January of 2000, and as a pastor in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod since September of 1989. He is married to Pachalin (a native of Thailand) and has three adult daughters – Trinity (Stephen) Becker, Divina Stennfeld, and Micah Stennfeld. John is the son of Rev. Fred Stennfeld (deceased) -- a former pastor in the LCMS, and Harriet Stennfeld – active author and poet. John credits his love for words and writing to his mother, and his love of theology and scholarly orthodoxy to his father. When John is not otherwise engaged in his pastoral ministry, or in his varied writing interests, he is a sports and fitness enthusiast, and is currently highly engaged in playing and teaching the sport of pickleball, of which he is licensed professional with the PPA – Professional Pickleball Registry.