Plano, TX Lutheran Giants: Luther, Gerhardt, and Bach

Course Description

This study will look at the contributions of Martin Luther, Paul Gerhardt, and Johann Sebastian Bach to the hymnological, musical, and theological heritage of the Lutheran Church. As towering pillars of Confessional Lutheranism, what does each man bring to this glorious heritage that so identifies us? And how can we as pastors and church musicians still make faithful use of their good gifts in the Lutheran Church of today?

Kantor Richard Resch

Kantor Resch grew up in Rochester, New York, where he studied organ at the Eastman School of Music Preparatory Department while in high school. During that time he also served as organist and choir director for two choirs at his LCMS parish. His undergraduate college studies include study at Concordia College, River Forest, and Valparaiso University. During this time he studied with Paul Bunjes, Charles Ore, Herbert Gotsch, Philip Gehring, Theodore Hoelty-Nickel, L. L. Fleming, and Richard Wienhorst. In 1970, he graduated from Valparaiso University with a Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance and Church Music.

He then entered graduate studies at the Eastman School of Music where he studied with Russell Saunders and David Craighead and was graduate assistant to M. Alfred Bichsel. In 1972, he received the Master of Music degree in Organ Performance from Eastman. During this time he was organist and choir director at Faith Lutheran Church, Penfield, New York.

In 1977, he became the Director of Chapel Music at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (CTSFW), Indiana, and began theological studies. In 1978, he formed the Kantorei, a select choir of seminary students who traveled twice annually to bring the Seminary and its music to the Church. He received the Master of Divinity degree in 1988 and was ordained and called to CTSFW and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, in the Office of Kantor. At
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church he produced four CDs with his wife, Barbara, featuring children singing hymns. He taught liturgics and homiletics at CTSFW.

In 2000, Resch launched the Good Shepherd Institute of Pastoral Theology and Sacred Music together with co-director, the Rev. Dr. Arthur A. Just. During his years at CTSFW and with the Institute, Resch produced seven Kantorei CDs, one CD for the Good Shepherd Institute, and the DVD, Singing the Faith: Living the Lutheran Musical Heritage.

He retired from CTSFW in July 2014 and moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he serves in various preaching, teaching, and vacancy capacities.

Reading List:

Leaver, Robin A. Luther’s Liturgical Music. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2017. pp. 21-103.

Stiller, Günther: Johann Sebastian Bach and Liturgical Life in Leipzig.  St Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1984. pp. 200-256.

Krispin, Gerald. “Paul Gerhardt’s Confession of Christ in Song” Lutheran Theological Review   Vol. 20 pp. 67-112, 2007–2008.
For additional readings, please click here.

 
Additional Information
For a more information, please visit the following link. https://www.ctsfw.edu/ctsfw-events/continuing-education/plano-texas/