Hymn #32: God of the Sparrow, God of the Whale

(b. 1919) wrote this hymn in 1983 at the request of Concordia Lutheran Church in Kirkwood, Missouri, for its 100th anniversary celebration. Notes by the author regarding this hymn in his collection, Now the Joyful Celebration (1987), state that “the law of God demands perfect love from every creature.”

Jaroslav J. Vajda, a Lutheran pastor, edited This Day magazine from 1963 until 1971. He also served three bilingual parishes whose members spoke both Slovak and English. Vajda’s education and interests in his family heritage have made him one of the world’s experts on Slovak hymnody.

Carl Flentge Schalk (b. 1929) collaborated with Jaroslav Vajda on many hymns, including this one. It is named ROEDER for his wife’s father, Paul J. Roeder, who was a minister of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod.

Carl Schalk was born September 26, 1929, in Des Plaines, Illinois. He was a teacher and church musician in the Lutheran Church, serving in Wausau, Wisconsin, before becoming music director of “The International Lutheran Hour” and professor at Concordia Teachers College, Missouri.