Song Winners Announced

Dec. 1, 2009 – Rev. David Landegent, pastor of Central Park Reformed Church in Holland, Mich., has been named the winner of the Justice Congregational Song Contest sponsored by the Christian Reformed Church’s Office of Social Justice.

The contest was also sponsored by Reformed Worship magazine and the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.

Heather Josselyn-Cranson, an associate professor of music at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, won second prize. At their discretion, judges divided the $1,000 prize between them.

Landegent won for his song "Let Justice Roll Down," sung to the tune of "Let All Things Now Living." "Justice is a prime theme in the Bible that we can bypass at times," he says, explaining the reason why he wrote the hymn.

A longtime lyric writer for songs and hymns, Landegent says he picked the tune of "Let All Things Now Living" because it was upbeat and reflected the theme of his song, which begins, "With justice, O Father, you rule all nations; you stand with the strangers, the poor and oppressed."

"I wanted a tune that reflects my lyrics—that justice should be joyful. It should be like water flowing down. I wanted to make justice desirable for all of us."

A one-time music writer for The Banner, the CRC’s monthly magazine, Landegent says he once wrote sacred lyrics to hundreds of secular pop tunes, some of which have been sung in his church or become part of a concert that members of his church perform for the community once or twice every year.

"I don’t play an instrument or write music, but I love writing hymns," says Landegent, who likes to find or compose hymns that can be sung on Sunday in church to the theme of that day's sermon.

Josselyn-Cranson, director of music ministries at Northwestern College, won second place for "We Cannot Know What Worship Is," sung to the tune of "I Come with Joy to Meet My Lord."

Both Landegent's and Josselyn-Cranson's hymns will be printed in a future issue of Reformed Worship. While Josselyn-Cranson teaches at Northwestern College, Landegent earned a degree there.

The texts were judged on their theological and biblical accuracy, the way in which the issues are handled, fittingness for congregational worship, and effective use of language (i.e. quality of poetry, imagery).

"Both songs are easy to include in a contemporary or traditional worship setting, and we hope they’ll become part of your regular rotation as you seek to integrate themes of justice in worship. Let us know when you plan to sing them," says a press release.  

For more information or to download the sheet music to the winning songs, visit: Office of Social Justice.

—Chris Meehan, CRC Communications