By Bishop Ann Svennungsen
“Where Shepherds Lately Knelt” is a hymn from All Creations Sings (#909, with text by Jaroslav J. Vajda and music by Carl F. Schalk). I invite you to listen to and reflect on the lyrics.
Where shepherds lately knelt and kept the angel’s word;
I come in half-belief, a pilgrim strangely stirred.
But there is room and welcome there for me.
In that unlikely place I find him as they said;
Sweet newborn babe, how frail! And in a manger bed:
A still, small voice to cry one day for me.
Can I, will I, forget how Love was born, and burned
Its way into my hear — unasked, unforced, unearned,
To die, to live, and not alone for me;
To die, to live, and not alone for me.
WE PRAISE GOD for you as you:
- Prepare to welcome pilgrims of every kind to the manger
- Rehearse music that will touch the depths of the human spirit,
- Proclaim the good news the Love is Born in Jesus — for you, for me, for all.
And we hold you in our daily prayers — that God’s incarnate Love will meet you and bless you in your own pilgrimage this season.
With graitude for you and for the partnership we share,
–Bishop Ann Svennungsen and the Minneapolis Area Synod Staff