Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, will host a Martin Franzmann Hymn Festival on Sunday, Sept. 16, at 7:00 p.m. in The Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus. The festival will commemorate the work of Lutheran hymn writer Martin Franzmann in celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Participating in the celebration will be the Concordia Seminary Chorus and Pro Musica Sacra, under the direction of Rev. Henry V. Gerike, along with choir members from Lutheran churches in the St. Louis area. The service will include commentary and Scripture readings, in addition to hymns.

Martin Franzmann, born in Minnesota in 1907, was a teacher, biblical exegete, author and hymn writer in the Lutheran church and its educational institutions. He has been deemed “the most penetrating and trenchant American hymn writer of his generation.” He received theological training at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Thiensville, Wis., and was professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, from 1946 to 1969. He was ordained in 1969, and from 1969 to 1972, he served as tutor at Westfield House in Cambridge, England, a pastoral training institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England.

Franzmann authored of a number of volumes, including “Follow Me: Discipleship According to Saint Matthew” (1961); “Ha! Ha! Among the Trumpets” (1966); commentaries on Romans and Revelation; and a number of devotional books. His hymn writing and hymn translations can be found in a number of denominational hymnals, and his texts were finely honed with a theological content deeply rooted in the Law and the Gospel.

For more information, contact Communications, Concordia Seminary, 801 Seminary Place, St. Louis, MO 63105; (314) 505-7370; [email protected].