Three Concordia Seminary students wrote winning hymns in this year’s Pamela Anne Prevallet Memorial Fund Annual Hymn Competition.

The competition was created in June 2000 by Mr. and Mrs. Donald E. Prevallet in remembrance of their daughter. The contest seeks to encourage the development of hymn writers for the church who will serve present and future needs.

The winners were:

• First prize of $3,000 to Joshua Vanderhyde for “He Who Is”
• Second prize of $2,000 to Andrew Jones for “God’s Mercy Spreads to All in Need”
• Third prize of $1,000 to James Miller for “God, You Bid Us to Your Table”

The students were recognized during a chapel service in May when the congregation sang Vanderhyde’s hymn.

The annual hymn competition is open to seminarians who are serving their vicarage as part of their preparation to serve in the pastoral ministry. Learn more here.

“The generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Prevallet in establishing this hymn competition in honor of their daughter Pamela Ann has led many seminarians to take up the challenge of writing a hymn that proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Dean of Chapel Dr. Kent Burreson. “Writing a hymn that serves the church’s worship is a challenging, but rewarding task. The Seminary encourages congregations to consider the hymns of these men — newly called to congregational ministry — for use in their worship.”

The Pamela Anne Prevallet Memorial Fund at Concordia Seminary holds the copyright to the texts of the winning hymns. The use of these hymns in congregations is encouraged.

The hymns will be available through the Seminary’s website here later this summer. Congregations can download them and print them with the copyright notice: Text copyright © 2017 Pamela Anne Prevallet Memorial Fund, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri.

For more information about the competition or the hymns, contact Burreson at burresonk@csl.edu.

About Concordia Seminary
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). To learn more, visit www.csl.edu.