Beside thy manger here I stand, Dear Jesus, Lord and Savior

Author: Paul Gerhardt

Paul Gerhardt (b. Gräfenheinichen, Saxony, Germany, 1607; d. Lubben, Germany, 1676), famous author of Lutheran evangelical hymns, studied theology and hymnody at the University of Wittenberg and then was a tutor in Berlin, where he became friends with Johann Crüger. He served the Lutheran parish of Mittenwalde near Berlin (1651-1657) and the great St. Nicholas' Church in Berlin (1657-1666). Friederich William, the Calvinist elector, had issued an edict that forbade the various Protestant groups to fight each other. Although Gerhardt did not want strife between the churches, he refused to comply with the edict because he thought it opposed the Lutheran "Formula of Concord," which con­demned some Calvinist doctrines. Consequently, he was r… Go to person page >

Translator: William Martin Czamanske

Born: Aug­ust 26, 1873, Gran­ville, Wis­con­sin. Died: Jan­u­a­ry 7, 1964. Buried: Saint Johns Lu­ther­an Cem­e­tery - North Wil­low Creek, Ver­non Cen­ter, Min­ne­so­ta. Czamanske grad­u­at­ed from Con­cor­dia Col­lege, Mil­wau­kee, Wis­con­sin (1894) and Con­cor­dia Sem­in­a­ry, St. Louis, Mis­sou­ri (1898). Or­dained in 1898, he served at Lu­ther­an church­es near Ma­del­ia, Min­ne­so­ta (1898-1902); West Hen­ri­et­ta, New York (1902-04); Ro­ches­ter, New York (1904-10); and She­boy­gan, Wis­con­sin, (1910-51). He con­trib­ut­ed po­ems to the Lu­ther­an Wit­ness, Sun­day School Times, Etude, Ex­po­si­tor, and North­west­ern Lu­ther­an. He was a mem­ber of the sub­c… Go to person page >