Gracia Grindal

GRACIA MARIE GRINDAL was born in Powers Lake, North Dakota, on 4 May 1943, daughter of Rev. Harold Daniel Kivle Grindal and Jonette Torbjør Tinseth. Both of her parents were of Norwegian descent; her father was born with the Kivle name but was adopted at a young age by his godparents, Sjur and Anna Grindal. He became a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Gracia earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Augsburg College (Minneapolis, MN) in 1965, spent a year in Oslo, Norway, then enrolled in a Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Arkansas. She secured a faculty position in the English department at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, in 1968, before finishing her MFA in 1969. She remained at Luther College until 1984, at one point working concurrently on a Master of Arts from Luther Seminary (St. Paul, MN), which she completed in 1983. In 1984, she was appointed to the Luther Seminary faculty as associate professor of pastoral theology, ministry, and communications, where she served until her retirement in 2013.

Her first collection of poems was Pulpit Rock (1976). She served on the text committee for the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), published more poetry collections, Sketches Against the Dark (1981) and Singing the Story (1983–1986), edited a collection of Scandinavian Folksongs (1983), contributed English translations to Freedom Is Coming (1984, ed. Anders Nyberg), prepared a treatise for the American Lutheran Church called Speaking of God: A Four-Session Study on Biblical Images of God (1986), prepared the guidebook Lessons in Hymnwriting (1986, rev. 1991, 2000), and served as a consultant to the United Methodist Hymnal (1989). The first formal compilation of her hymns was We Are One in Christ: Hymns, Paraphrases, and Translations (1996). She narrated an educational video on Swedish hymnwriter Lina Sandell-Berg (2001). Two additional collections of poems and hymns followed in 2002.

Starting in 2006, Grindal worked with Leupold Editions to produce a comprehensive set of paraphrases based on the Revised Common Lectionary, progressively issuing sets based on the Gospels, the Old Testament, and the Epistles. Some of these collections were set to music by various composers, such as João Faustini, Dan Damon, James Clemens, and Jayne Southwick Cool. In 2011, she published a biographical resource, featuring the lives of seven Lutheran women. More recently, Grindal has turned to the sonnet as a means of expression, issuing two collections, The Sword of Eden (2018) and Jesus the Harmony (2021). A prolific writer and translator, she has translated operas and written other books and articles, especially in regard to Norwegian and Scandinavian culture, many of which are listed below.

by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
15 May 2023

Featured Hymns:

Out of the depths I cry to you (Ps. 130)

Website:

Hymn for the Day: https://www.hymnfortheday.com/

Collections of Hymns & Poems:

Pulpit Rock (1976)

Sketches Against the Dark (1981)

Singing the Story (1983)

Singing the Story II (1984)

Singing the Story III (1986)

We Are One in Christ: Hymns, Paraphrases, and Translations (1996)

A Revelry of Harvest: New and Selected Poems (2002)

Sing the Faith: Hymns of Grace (2002)

A Treasury of Faith: Hymns on the Revised Common Lectionary

New Testament [Gospels], Series A (2006): LE

New Testament [Gospels], Series B (2008): LE

New Testament [Gospels], Series C (2009): LE

New Testament [Epistles], Series A,B,C (2015): LE

New Testament [Gospels], Series A, with Dan Damon (2011): LE

New Testament [Gospels], Series B, with Amanda Husberg (2012): LE

New Testament [Gospels], Series C, with James E. Clemens (2015): LE

New Testament [Epistles], Series A, with João Faustini (2015): LE

New Testament [Epistles], Series C, with Jayne Southwick Cool (2017): LE

Old Testament, Series A,B,C (2012): LE

Old Testament, Series B, with Iteke Prins (2014): LE

Old Testament, Series C, with Amanda Husberg (2017): LE

The Sword of Eden: Eve and Mary Speak (2018): Amazon

Jesus the Harmony: Gospel Sonnets for 366 Days (2021): Amazon

Epistles to Eve and Other Poems (2024): Finishing Line

see also:

Lutheran Book of Worship (1978)

Scandanavian Folksongs (1983)

Freedom Is Coming (1984), ed. Anders Nyberg

United Methodist Hymnal (1989)

Lenten Hymns from Old Czech Tunes (1991)

Reclaim: Lutheran Hymnal for Church and Home (2006, 2013)

Czech Christmas Carols for the Harp (2011)

Thirty-Two Psalms from the Becker Psalter (2019)

Hymns of the Passion = Passíusálmarnir (2019)
Translations of hymns by Hallgrímur Pétursson

Other Published Works:

The House of Age: A Song of Praise (Thesis, 1969): OCLC

Speaking of God: A Four-Session Study on Biblical Images of God (1986)

Lessons in Hymnwriting (1986, rev. 1991, 2000)

Good News of Great Joy: Advent Devotions for the Home (1994)

Lutheran Women in Ordained Ministry, 1970–1995: Reflections and Perspectives (1995), ed. Gloria E. Bengtson

Lina Sandell: The Story of Her Hymns [video] (VHS, 2001; DVD, 2007)

Reclaiming the Lutheran Liturgical Heritage (2007)

40-Day Journey with Martin Luther (2008): Amazon

Linka’s Diary: A Norwegian Immigrant Story in Word and Sketches (2008)

Preaching from Home: The Stories of Seven Lutheran Hymn Writers (2011): Amazon

Thea Rønning: Young Woman on a Mission (2012): Amazon

Hymns and Spiritual Songs from the North: Nordic Christians Sing Their Faith (2012)

Elizabeth Fedde and the Deaconess Movement Among the Norwegians in America (2014): Amazon

Unstoppable: Norwegian Pioneers Educate Their Daughters (2016): Amazon

Mindekirken: Against the Current (2022)

Notable Articles:

“Stopping by the pit stop (writing liturgies, hymns, sermons),” The Christian Century, vol. 94 (11 May 1977), p. 453.

“Lenten meditations,” Dialog, vol. 18 (Winter 1979), p. 67.

“On writing hymns at the end of the twentieth century,” Church Music, vol. 79 (1979), pp. 25–30.

“Reflections on God ‘the Father,’” Word and World, vol. 4 (Winter 1984), pp. 78–86.

“Pitfalls in hymn writing,” The Hymn, vol. 35, no. 2 (April 1984), pp. 82–85: HathiTrust

“Saints in Protestant hymnody,” Liturgy, vol. 5 (Jan. 1985), p. 99.

“Linka’s sketchbook: A personal view of the Norwegian Synod,” Scandinavians in America: Literary Life (1985)

“On translating hymns: Outrageous opinions and personal regrets,” The Hymn, vol. 37 (April 1986), pp. 17–20: HathiTrust

Hymn Interpretations, The Hymn, 1987–1990: HathiTrust

“Paraphrasing Psalms,” American Organist, vol. 21 (June 1987), p. 58.

“The Americanization of the Norwegian Pastors’ Wives,” Norwegian-American Studies, vol. 32 (1989), p. 199.

“Contemporary American poetry and current American hymnody,” Jahrbuch für Liturgik und Hymnologie, vol. 35 (Jan. 1994), p. 153.

“Lina Sandell, Berte Kanutte Aarflot, and Bride Mysticism,” Pietist Impulse in Christianity, ed. Christian T. Collins Winn & Christopher Gehrz (2011).

“The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology ed. by J.R. Watson and Emma Hornby” [review], Lutheran Quarterly, vol. 30, (2016), p. 92.

“Icelandic Baroque: Poetic art and erudition in the works of Hallgrímur Pétursson by Margrét Eggertsdóttir,” Lutheran Quarterly, vol. 31, (2017), p. 474.

“Getting women ordained,” Lutheran Quarterly, vol. 32 (2018), p. 281.

“Lutheran hymns and hymnals on the 500th anniversary of the first Lutheran hymnal,” Word & World, vol. 44, no. 2 (Spring 2024), pp. 142–152.

Related Resources:

Fred L. Precht, ed. “Gracia Grindal,” Lutheran Worship Hymnal Companion (1992), pp. 630–631.

“Gracia Grindal,” The Hymnal 1982 Companion, vol. 2 (1994), p. 447.

Henry V. Gerike, “Gracia Grindal,” Lutheran Service Book Companion to the Hymns, vol. 2 (2019), p. 366.

J.R. Watson & Carlton Young, “Gracia Marie Grindal,” Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology: CDH

Gracia M. Grindal, Luther Seminary: https://www.luthersem.edu/faculty/ggrindal/

Gracia Grindal, Hymnary: https://hymnary.org/person/Grindal_G