“God Has Given Gifts to All”
This month we continue our Hymn of the Month series in which one or more hymns drawn from collections published by Leupold Editions will be posted on the opening page of the website for consideration by pastors and musicians who may wish to introduce the hymn to their congregations the following month. The Hymn of the Month will often be thematically appropriate for a particular season of the church year or it may be related to a more general theme about the church’s mission in contemporary society. Thus, pastors and/or musicians may wish to have the choir introduce the hymn on the first Sunday of the month or season and then invite the congregation to join with the choir in singing the hymn
on each of the remaining Sundays. Additional hymns will occasionally be suggested for a particular Sunday in the church year or for annual commemorations, such as the liturgies of Holy Week; such hymns may only be appropriate on the designated day, or they might be used as a Hymn of the Month in anticipation of or in response to the particular day observed on the church calendar.
The Hymn of the Month for September 2022 is God Has Given Gifts to All, with a text by James Hart Brumm (b. 1962) and a tune by Iteke Prins (b. 1937). The hymn provides stanzas for installing or commissioning members of the congregation to various tasks; particularly apt for September are Stanza 2 for teachers and Stanza 3 for musicians as many churches celebrate the beginning of a new program year for Christian education and for choirs. Either stanza might be inserted between the first and final stanzas for a particular Sunday, or both might be sung throughout the month.
Brumm is an active author, editor, scholar, hymn writer, and pastor serving as Director of the Reformed Church Center, the Seminary Archives, and the Theological Writing Center at New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey. Three volumes of his hymns have been published by Leupold Editions. Prins was born in Holland, and immigrated to the United States in 1949. After achieving her career goal as a registered nurse, Prins later served as organist and music director for Blooming Grove Reformed Church in Rensselaer, New York, from 1969 until 2005. Prins has published three volumes of hymn tunes with Leupold Editions.
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