Calvin W. Laufer

Today we celebrate the birthday of Presbyterian minister and hymnologist Calvin Weiss Laufer (April 6, 1874 -September 21, 1938).  I have been reading his book Hymn Lore (1932) which tells the stories of fifty different hymns which he considered significant at that time.  

The introduction of the book, by the Reverend Park Hays Miller, tells a bit more about Laufer's biography than I had encountered previously.

The author of this book has been peculiarly fitted for his take.  At the age of nine he learned to play the reed organ in his home.By the time he was eleven he was organist in his Sunday School.  At twelve he took lessons on the piano, and later on the pipe organ.  During his student days he paid his way by teaching music.  He presided at the organ in the college chapel and was also a church organist.  Later, as a pastor he  gave special attention to the development of music and worship in his church.

Miller goes on to cover the facts of Laufer's career which we have already covered here, including his writing of hymns and composition of hymn tunes, and of course his editorial work for the Presbyterian Board of Christian Education.

Today's tune by Laufer was published in 1918.  It is perhaps a bit too much of its time to be used again in a modern setting, but it's not wholly without merit either.

Eternal One, thou living God,
Whom changing years unchanged reveal,
With thee their way our forebears trod;
The hand they held, in ours we feel.

The same our trust, the same our need,
In sorrow’s stress, in duty’s hour;
We keep their faith, by thee decreed,
That faith the fount of all our power.

We bless thee for the growing light;
Th’advancing thought, the wid’ning view,
The larger freedom, clearer sight,
Which from the old unfolds the new.

With wider view, come loftier goal;
With fuller light, more good to see;
With freedom, truer self control,
With knowledge, deeper reverence be.

Anew we pledge ourselves to thee,
To follow where thy truth shall lead;
Afloat upon its boundless sea,
Who sails with God is safe indeed!

Samuel Longfellow, 1876; alt.
Tune: LITTLEFIELD (L.M.)
Calvin W. Laufer, 1918

Unfortunately, Laufer's work overall has not survived well.  The new Presbyterian hymnal, Glory to God, which will be published later this year, apparently only contains one of his tunes (HALL) and none of his texts.  It was disappointing to hear, a few years back, that the committee producing the new hymnal  had only looked back as far as The Hymnbook, published in the 1950s, for their material.



Three Years Ago: Calvin W. Laufer

Five Years Ago: Calvin W. Laufer

Because God Leads the Way

In many churches today one of the assigned readings was Psalm 34. Today's hymn by Presbyterian hymn writer and composer Calvin Laufer is not really a paraphrase of that psalm, but it takes some of its language as a starting point.


O magnify the Lord with me,
All ye that bear God's name;
Whose faithfulness and sovereignty
Forever are the same.

God is the soul’s unfailing spring,
Its full orbed summer noon;
The autumn of its harvesting,
Its winter’s restful boon.

All times and seasons of the soul,
Revolve God's will around;
The universe itself pays toll
To make its life abound.

So is its life secure and free
Because God leads the way;
At length it shares eternally
With God the perfect day.

O sing with me, both young and old,
Of God's unchanging ways;
And let God's goodness manifold
Forever be our praise.

Calvin W. Laufer, 20th cent.; alt.
Tune: MAGNIFY (C.M.)

Calvin Weiss Laufer (1874-1938) was for many years the editor of musical publications for the Presbyterian Board of Christian Education and worked on several hymnals and songbooks, including the denomination's Hymnal of 1933.   Unfortunately, his hymns are no longer much used; I believe that only his tune HALL is included in Glory to God, the new Presbyterian hymnal coming out next year.

Calvin Weiss Laufer

Presbyterian minister and hymnographer Calvin Weiss Laufer was born today in Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania in 1874. Following his graduation from Union Seminary in 1900 he was ordained into the Presbyterian ministry and led congregations in New York and New Jersey for several years.

Laufer had a generally cheerful outlook on his Christian life, and his first two books, Key-Notes of Optimism (1911) and The Incomparable Christ (1914) expressed that viewpoint. A review of the first book spoke of the "crisp and stirring note in these sermonettes which is well calculated to rouse the mind of readers and banish dejection." His books were popular in their time but today are seen as somewhat superficial.

He later began to work with the Presbyterian Board of Christian Education and became its editor of musical publications, producing books such as The Junior Church School Hymnal (1927), The Church School Hymnal for Youth (1928) and When the Little Child Wants to Sing (1935). He was also the associate editor of the Presbyterian Hymnal of 1933, a very popular book which was used in many churches for more than fifty years.

In 1932, his book Hymn Lore was published, which contained the stories of fifty hymns from The Church School Hymnal for Youth, with information about their writers and composers (much like this blog). He chose a broad range of hymns, some quite modern and others well-known and loved for centuries. Several of them were by his mentor and friend Louis F. Benson, who had edited the Presbyterian Hymnal of 1895 and its 1911 revision (and also wrote The Best Church Hymns). In the preface to Hymn Lore, Laufer wrote:

To live with hymns and to make them one's own is the only sure way of appreciating their literary beauty and spiritual power. (...) That the reading and singing of hymns may become less mechanical, more thoughtful and intelligent, and emotionally more effective, this volume is released to the public.

Laufer wrote both hymn texts and tunes himself, most of which first appeared in the books he edited but also had some life outside Presbyterian circles. This tune was written while Laufer was attending a conference in Kansas, though with no particular text in mind. Not long after, he hummed it to a friend, William H. Foulkes, who then wrote the text Take thou our minds, dear Lord. The tune suits this communion text as well, I think.

Here at thy table, Christ, this sacred hour,
O let us feel thee near, in loving power,
Calling our thoughts away from grief and sin
As to thy banquet hall we enter in.

Sit at the feast, dear Friend, break thou the bread;
Fill thou the cup that our souls shall be fed;
That we may find in thee pardon and peace,
And from all bondage win a full release.

So shall our life of faith be full, be sweet;
And we shall find our strength for each day meet;
Fed by thy living bread, all hunger past,
We shall be satisfied, and saved at last.

Come then, O holy Christ, feed us, we pray;
Touch with thy piercèd hand each common day;
Making this earthly life full of thy grace,
Till in the home of heaven we find our place.

May Pierpont Hoyt,19th cent.;alt.
Tune: HALL (10.10.10.10.)
Calvin W. Laufer, 1918

Laufer's tune was originally called STONY BROOK, but he changed it to honor a friend, William Ralph Hall. Little is known about the writer May Pierpont Hoyt. Her text is generally sung to the tune BREAD OF LIFE by William F. Sherwin, but since that tune is more known with Break thou the Bread of life, this text could use a different one.

Two Years Ago: Calvin Weiss Laufer