Skip to content
ELCA Blogs

ELCA Worship

ELCA Blogs / ELCA Worship

When Trust Is Broken: Navigating Musical Decisions amid Abuse Allegations

Note: This is an update to the November 2020 post “When Trust Is Broken: A Response to Allegations against Musician David Haas.”

When planning worship, pastors and musicians make important decisions about what their assembly will sing. What is sung is both an expression of the writer/composer and an act of faith by the singer. What we sing is linked to our memories and understanding of who God is and who we are as children of God.

For that reason, navigating choices become especially difficult when the composer or writer has been suspected of or accused of abuse. See the helpful article, “Hymns by Abusers, Cancel Culture, and Pastoral Responsibility” from the Center for Congregational Song.

In 2020, musician David Haas was accused of sexual misconduct by several women spanning many years. Although Haas is not a member of an ELCA congregation, Evangelical Lutheran Worship includes four hymns by him: “Blest Are They” (ELW 728), “Now We Remain” (ELW 500), “We Are Called” (ELW 720), and “You Are Mine” (ELW 581). Several institutions have requested congregations to no longer sing works by Haas pending an investigation. Those who plan worship in the ELCA are strongly encouraged to discontinue use of these hymns and other compositions in worship. Both the ELCA and Augsburg Fortress have taken steps to discontinue suggesting hymns by Haas in worship planning resources for this church and to amend existing resources currently available online. The ELCA and Augsburg Fortress Publishers have no plans to include his works in future resources and publications. The ELCA and Augsburg Fortress Publishers do not tolerate sexual misconduct or abuse.

Some have also raised concern regarding composer Cesáreo Gabaráin (ELW 817) and several hymns included in Libro de Liturgia y Cántico (LLC)). Gabaráin died in 1991 before allegations of abuse against him became public. His publisher in the United States, Oregon Catholic Press (OCP) released an updated statement on these allegations in November 2024. The update noted that OCP is reinstating Gabaráin’s music in their catalog because their investigation did not find credibility in the accusations. However, due to concern, you will not find his hymns suggested in Sundays and Seasons at this time. Those who plan worship in the ELCA may want to consider not including hymns by Gabaráin.

This church believes that God’s intention, revealed through the Scriptures, is for all of creation to flourish (Faith, Sexism, and Justice, p. 14). As the ELCA Social Message on “Gender-based Violence” declares, “God calls us to love. Gender-based violence is not love…. Simply stated, gender-based violence in all its forms is a sinful rebellion against the triune God and a rejection of God’s good work in this world” (p. 6). All forms of violence interfere with God’s beloved creatures flourishing. And when people abuse power and authority to break trust, they must be held accountable (“Gender-based Violence,” pp. 1-3, 6-7). This is particularly important when the people with power and authority serve in the church (Human Sexuality, p. 35).

Although these particular circumstances do not directly involve the ELCA, we as a church know we participate in the sin of gender-based violence. Through our own teaching documents, we have declared,

As a church of Jesus Christ, we deplore this suffering and we confess our collective and individual complicities in this violence in both church and society. The complex factors that contribute to the prevalence of this sin are deeply woven into society and into individual lives. As a member of Christ’s body, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) shares in the brokenness and judgment brought on by gender-based violence. This church’s members are survivors, perpetrators and bystanders. (“Gender-based Violence,” pp. 2-3).

As you plan music for worship in your context, we encourage decisions that uphold God’s call to love the neighbor, especially those who have been harmed by gender-based violence. The ELCA resource, Principles for Worship, states that “assembly song forms memory and nurtures faith” and that “planning for worship calls for careful attention to the people’s memory” (Principle M-5; Application M-5C). When we become aware of songs that have positive associations for some are associated with painful memories and deep trauma for others, our concern for any who have been traumatized must be the church’s first priority. As noted in a recent document by the Mennonite church,

For survivors, singing a song of a known abuser can cause the traumatic harm of sexual violence to viscerally rush in. This is especially true when the abuser is alive or recently deceased. When people directly injured by the abuser’s violence experience a song as inseparable from its source, communities of faith cannot claim to make such a separation without doing harm to survivors.
Show Strength: How to Respond When Worship Materials Are Implicated in Abuse.

The same document outlines specific steps in a survivor-centered response and provides suggestions for how to address this issue in your community. While certainly challenging, we cannot shy away from these difficult conversations and turn from our responsibility to show solidarity with those who are abused.

As a church, the ELCA continues to learn, to act, and to trust God’s promise of presence, forgiveness, and guidance. As church together, we are always being made new to serve the neighbor in love, to end gender-based violence. To spread the word about this love for neighbor, join the World Council of Churches in Christ #ThursdaysinBlack, a global ecumenical campaign to prevent and end gender-based violence.

Anyone with knowledge of sexual misconduct or abuse in the ELCA should report it to their synod or to ELCA Safe Place. If the misconduct or abuse relates to children, it should be reported immediately to law enforcement.

 

Additional Resources

 

Singing at the Vigil of Easter with All Creation Sings

Today’s post is written by Julie Grindle, Assistant to the Bishop for Candidacy and Mobility in the Upstate New York Synod of the ELCA. A past president of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians (ALCM), Julie also served on the Hymnody Working Group for All Creation Sings.

This post was previously published in February 2021. It has been updated by the author to reflect our context in March 2022.

New Fire. Easter Proclamation. Ancient stories. Baptismal waters. Bread and wine. This is the night. As you plan worship for the Vigil of Easter, All Creation Sings offers many and various ways for us to sing the centrality of our faith.

We are now two years into the pandemic, and it seems the more things change, the more they stay the same. Many churches are lifting mask restrictions and singing fully as an assembly, while others are only just now coming back together in person, with masks and no singing, except perhaps by a select few musical leaders. Despite these challenges this remains fertile ground for exploring the new resources in All Creation Sings.

The resource is still new to many, and because the assembly is only now coming back together regularly, I strongly suggest that instead of choosing a lot of new material for this year’s Vigil, you select one or two of the new songs and hymns highlighted, and spend some time introducing it/them to the assembly, in whatever form it/they will be used at your Vigil. Perhaps short videos at the beginning or end of Sunday worship can begin acquainting worshippers with the new material. You could discuss the text in depth in a forum then listen to the melody played by an instrument or sung by a soloist, or possibly use the hymn during the upcoming Easter season, preparing the congregation now for next year’s Vigil, while taking advantage of the richness of the texts and themes this year. With those caveats in place, and the health of your congregation as your priority, I join you in looking forward to the time when we join all creation in singing together again, both now as the assembled people of God, and when we are gathered with all the saints at the great feast of the Lamb.

Once the new fire is lit and the Easter Proclamation has been sung, we gather to proclaim the ancient stories. Many hymns and songs in All Creation Sings align with the suggested sung responses found in Sundays and Seasons. The Creation story (Gen. 1:1-2:4a) has at least three possibilities, all in differing styles. The first, “Earth is full of wit and wisdom” (#1064), explores God’s love of the creatures created under God’s discerning eye, including the roly-poly, the penguin and the platypus. “Before the waters nourished earth” (#1049) explores God’s love and lament for creation, and God’s intention to bring restoration to it. Finally, with “In sacred manner” (#1071) we are reminded that we are to love God’s creation as God loves it and treat it accordingly.

The other readings have excellent offerings to choose from for musical responses. Just a few possibilities are:

Reading 4 (Exod. 14:10-31; 15:20-21): “Who is like our God /Quién como Jehová” (#1098)

Reading 5 (Isa. 55:1-11): “Surely God is my salvation” (#926)

Reading 6 (Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21; 9:4b-6): “Come and seek the ways of wisdom” (#971)

Reading 9 (Zeph. 3:14-20): “The earth adorned in verdant robe” (#1068)

For the Procession to the Font, there are many possibilities depending on how much liturgical movement there is and what style of music you would like. If you are celebrating baptisms, “Take me to the water,” an African American spiritual (#957) and “God of promise, let these signs of grace”, a new composition from Paul Damico-Carper (#959), are excellent possibilities. If there are Affirmations of Baptism or a Thanksgiving at the Font, “Come to the water of life” (#955) has a beautiful text reminding us that the font is where we should look to find justice, mercy, and love.

When it is time for the Setting of the Table, there are texts that are perfect for an evening liturgy, especially the Vigil, because they reflect the joyousness of God’s salvific yet unseen work in darkness. Hymns that reflect this include “Womb of life and source of being” (#948) and “In a deep unbounded darkness” (#1093). A hymn that helps us move liturgically from baptism to Paschal eucharist is “To Christ belong, in Christ behold” (#958). Susan Briehl’s text reminds us that “the buried grain springs forth again with fruit one hundred-fold.” And in the second stanza we sing of this night when, “the binding shroud is here released, the veil of sin and grief, and in their place a wreath of grace and robes of joy and peace.”

During communion I encourage you to use other new hymns that combine the elements of story, water and meal that make this liturgy so unique and central to the liturgical life of the church. “Woman, weeping in the garden” (#935) is a lovely response to John’s Easter gospel. “Lift up your heads” (#1032), while originally written for Easter 2, works beautifully on this night – “O taste and see what once was lost rising in this feast of love.” Finally, “Joyful is the dark” (#1096) is a tremendous text that recounts God’s redeeming work over many different nights. The last stanza sings: “Joyful is the dark, depth of love divine, roaring, looming thundercloud of glory, holy, haunting beauty, living, loving God. Hallelujah! Sing and tell the story!”

Finally, as we are joyfully sent we may sing “Day of delight and beauty unbounded” (#933): ”Sing now of fasting turned into feasting; sing the Lord’s favor lasting forever; sing, all things living, alleluia!”

To learn more about All Creation Sings, visit www.augsburgfortress.org/AllCreationSings.

Resources for Crafting Prayers of Intercession

When the church gathers, we pray for the needs of the world. Like preaching that is both rooted in
scripture shared across time and space and attentive to the local assembly at the present moment, the sense of “praying for the world” is expansive but also attentive to a particular context.

Evangelical Lutheran Worship encourages that “The prayers [of intercession] are prepared locally for each occasion” (ELW. p. 105). How can this be done? What practices are useful? What resources can help? Listed below are several resources from ELCA Worship or Augsburg Fortress.

Downloadable Resources on ELCA.org/worship

How Do We Craft the Prayers of Intercession?  This newly added FAQ summarizes the task of preparing intercessions. A list of further resources that dig deeper into the task are included.

Here Other Intercessions May Be Offered.  This Sundays and Seasons essay offered by permission of Augsburg Fortress gives practical tips on what it means to pray contextually and gives concrete examples.

A Template for the Prayers of Intercession. This  template prepared by Gail Ramshaw is an excerpt from Pray, Praise, and Give Thanks: A Collection of Litanies, Laments, and Thanksgivings at Font and Table. It is offered by permission to assist in the crafting of comprehensive intercessions.

For What Shall We Pray? This weekly post provided on the ELCA worship blog invites individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials.

Prayer Ventures. These petitions, one for each day of the month, are offered as guides to prayer for the global, social and outreach ministries of the ELCA, as well as for the needs and circumstances of our neighbors, communities and world. While helpful for personal devotion, they could also be a helpful resource when preparing intercessions.

Resources available from Augsburg Fortress

Sundays and Seasons.  This annual worship planning guide available both in print and via an online subscription provides crafted intercessions for each Sunday and festival in the church year. Worshiping asssemblies are encouraged to adapt as needed for local use. Sundays and Seasons also includes seasonal essays that included more general tips and suggestions.

Praying for the Whole World: A Handbook for Intercessors.  This concise handbook proposes seven steps, from Monday to Sunday, to assist in preparing the weekly intercessions.

The Sunday Assembly. This first supporting volume to Evangelical Lutheran Worship includes guidance on the role of intercessions in the Sunday assembly (pp. 167-172).

Leading Worship Matters: A Sourcebook for Preparing Worship Leaders.  A comprehensive guidebook, this resource devotes a chapter to preparing and leading intercessory prayer (pp. 69-94). Very practical helps such as a list of twelve tips for preparing the prayers and a sample letter of invitation to a training session for new intercessors,  among others, are included.

If you have not yet encouraged lay people to craft and lead prayer in your assembly, may these resources be an encouragement in that holy work. As noted in Leading Worship Matters, “The intercessions are best prayed in different voices, by a variety of people with divergent experiences of life, who not only can articulate their own perspectives on the needs of the world but can gather up the needs of those around them (p. 71).

Blessings on your work of encouraging, teaching, and most of all, praying.

“Mercy, we abide in you. Stir in us, we pray” (ACS 1077).