Alleluias Without End: Taiwan’s First Reformation Hymn Festival

Post published:December 20, 2024
Post category:Asia / Theological Education

By Laura Owings

Reformation Day brings a time of great rejoicing and reflection every year as we remember the gifts that Martin Luther brought to God’s people by his passionate preaching of God’s Word in its purity more than 500 years ago. He was also a strong advocate for theologically-sound hymnody and liturgy as a means of teaching and confessing the Christian faith. An emphasis on proclaiming the Gospel through music and song over the years is how the Lutheran church has become known as “the singing church.”

The Rev. Tim Frank and interpreter Ruth Wu lecturing on hymn arrangement. (LCMS/Rebecca Bartelt)

Today, Lutheran churches around the world still commemorate October 31 with a variety of celebrations, including special church services, music festivals, retreats, church outings, meals, and lots of music and singing.

The China Evangelical Lutheran Church (CELC) in Taiwan honored this joyous season with its first Reformation hymn festival. Hosted in partnership with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), the festival celebrated the Reformation and provided an opportunity for lay people to gather and learn how to sing and arrange hymns for choirs in local congregations.

CELC choir members rehearsing at Holy Word Church in Hsinchu, Taiwan. (LCMS/Rebecca Bartelt)

Participants traveled from churches around the CELC to attend the event at Holy Word Church in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Entitled “O Sing of Christ,” the festival featured mass choir rehearsals, workshops and a principal church service. The Rev. Timothy Frank, pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Council Bluffs, Iowa, who served as the music clinician and speaker for the festival, taught on how Lutheran music is a proclamation of the Law and Gospel, how it has been used as an education tool in the past and present, and offered practical advice for arranging hymns for church choirs.

Frank serves as director of resource development at David’s Harp, a Recognized Service Organization (RSO) of the LCMS that provides Lutheran music education resources and tools with a specialized interest in establishing parish-based music conservatories. Partnered with David’s Harp and equipped with recently translated hymnals to make the liturgy and hymns accessible in Chinese, the CELC is taking integral steps to deepen its roots in Lutheran music education and lay the groundwork to open a music conservatory in Chiayi.

The Rev. Tim Frank and interpreter Rev. Dr. Michael Paul lecturing on Lutheran hymnody and liturgy. (LCMS/Sam Borgwardt)

Rebecca Bartelt, sacred music educator for the LCMS Asia region, provided an array of resources for over 40 attendees of the recent festival, including practice audio recordings and copies of music in three forms to accommodate the needs of the participants.

Using the momentum of a successful hymn festival, Bartelt is looking forward to offering more special events like this one to educate future church musicians of all ages and experience levels. The collective efforts of the CELC and the LCMS, along with the growing partnership with David’s Harp, are contributing to the rich history of formal Lutheran music education with the mission of spreading the Gospel to all corners of the earth.

As resources continue to become accessible for Lutherans in Taiwan, it is an exciting time for the CELC to continue to feed the faithful with God’s Word and Sacraments and spread the Good News of God’s saving work through His Son, Jesus Christ, to those who are lost. Equipped with the pure preaching of God’s Word and the expression of faith through music and hymnody, Lutherans in Taiwan are prepared to sing alleluias without end.