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Calvin Weiss Laufer

Calvin Weiss Laufer
--conjubilant.blogspot.com
Short Name: Calvin Weiss Laufer
Full Name: Laufer, Calvin Weiss, 1874-1938
Birth Year: 1874
Death Year: 1938

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."

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.

--conjubilant.blogspot.com/2010/04/


Texts by Calvin Weiss Laufer (43)sort descendingAsAuthority LanguagesInstances
Brighter than the sunsetCalvin Weiss Laufer (Author)2
Dear God, we thank Thee for the starCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English3
Dear Lord, we give our youth to TheeCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English10
Draw near, O Christ, and like a vision brightCalvin Weiss Laufer (Author)2
God, help us love our cityRev. Calvin W. Laufer (Author)English3
God passed along our countrysideCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English3
Holy Father, bless usCalvin Weiss Laufer (Author)English4
Holy Father, God of might, Fill my soul with love and lightRev. Calvin W. Laufer (Author)English4
I love my friends and they love meCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English4
I never saw God's loveCalvin W. Laufer (Author)2
Jesús, maestro y SeñorCalvin Laufer (Author)Spanish2
Jesus, our Savior, we welcome this dayCalvin Weiss Laufer (Author)English3
Like Thee, dear maser, help us feelRev. Calvin W. Laufer (Author)English3
Lord, Thy blessed service Leads me oft afieldCalvin Weiss Laufer (Author)English2
Lord, thy Love, thy woundrous loveC. W. L. (Author)2
My Life, dear Lord, I give to TheeC. W. L. (Author)English7
My way, O God, I've lostC. W. L. (Author)2
O magnify the Lord with me, All ye that bear his nameCalvin Weiss Laufer (Author)3
O Master of the loving heartCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English14
O Thou eternal Christ of GodCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English9
Once upon a hillsideCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English4
Our gifts, dear Lord, we bring to TheeCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English3
Our hearts, dear Lord, are in the hillsC. W. Laufer (Author)English2
Our land, so great and wonderfulC. W. L. (Author)2
Sleep, my dear little babyCalvin W. Laufer (Author)2
Teach us, dear Lord, to prayCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English5
The Christ of God, arrayed with lightCalvin Weiss Laufer (Author)2
The Lord is ever nearCalvin W. Laufer (Author (stanza 3))English5
The Word of God shall be my guideCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English4
The world, dear Lord, is very largeCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English5
The world looks [is] very beautiful, And full of joy to meCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English1
Thee, holy Father, we adoreCalvin Weiss Laufer (Author)English3
There is a way in which to goRev. Calvin W. Laufer (Author)English2
Thy work, O God needs many handsCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English20
Thy works of love and friendshipCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English4
Tu reino, oh Dios, ha menesterCalvin Weiss Laufer (Author)Spanish2
Tus sendas de servicio van, SeñorRev. Calvin W. Laufer (Author)Spanish3
We thank Thee, Lord, Thou wast a ladCalvin Weiss Laufer (Author)English2
We thank Thee, Lord, Thy boundless loveRev. Calvin W. Laufer (Author)English2
We thank Thee, Lord, Thy paths of service leadCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English32
When comes the golden sunsetCalvin W. Laufer (Author)English4
When mother puts me in my bedCalvin Weiss Laufer (Author)2
When twilight falls the birds fly homeCalvin Weiss Laufer (Author)English4
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