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Fred Kaan

1929 - 2009 Person Name: Fred Kaan, b. 1929 Author of "Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ" in Sing! A New Creation Fred Kaan Hymn writer. His hymns include both original work and translations. He sought to address issues of peace and justice. He was born in Haarlem in the Netherlands in July 1929. He was baptised in St Bavo Cathedral but his family did not attend church regularly. He lived through the Nazi occupation, saw three of his grandparents die of starvation, and witnessed his parents deep involvement in the resistance movement. They took in a number of refugees. He became a pacifist and began attending church in his teens. Having become interested in British Congregationalism (later to become the United Reformed Church) through a friendship, he was attended Western College in Bristol. He was ordained in 1955 at the Windsor Road Congregational Church in Barry, Glamorgan. In 1963 he was called to be minister of the Pilgrim Church in Plymouth. It was in this congregation that he began to write hymns. The first edition of Pilgrim Praise was published in 1968, going into second and third editions in 1972 and 1975. He continued writing many more hymns throughout his life. Dianne Shapiro, from obituary written by Keith Forecast in Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/fred-kaan-minister-and-celebrated-hymn-writer-1809481.html)

Stephen P. Starke

b. 1955 Person Name: Stephen P. Starke, b. 1955 Author of "All You Works of God, Bless the Lord" in Lutheran Service Book Rev. Stephen P. Starke has always had a heart for hymns. At a young age, Starke played hymns out of The Lutheran Hymnal and read through the hymnal to pass the time before Sunday services. Pastor Starke graduated from Concordia University Chicago with a BA. While completing his MDiv from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, he attempted his first hymn text and was encouraged to write more. Since that time, he has written more than 175 hymns inspired by music and the Scriptures. He has been commissioned to write hymns for special occasions, including the 125th anniversary of Concordia University Wisconsin, as well as his daughter’s wedding. Because of his extensive work as a hymnwriter, Pastor Starke received an honorary doctor of letters degree from Concordia University, Irvine, California, and an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Concordia University Wisconsin in Mequon. It is through the medium of hymns that Pastor Starke desires to preserve and pass on the truths of the Gospel for generations to come.

Doreen Potter

1925 - 1980 Person Name: Doreen Potter, 1925-1980 Adapter of "LINSTEAD" in Sing! A New Creation Doreen Potter was born in 1925 in Panama, but lived in Jamaica during her childhood. She studied music at St. Katharine's College in Liverpool, UK and at Trinity College, London. She was a violinist, pianist, and teacher. She married Philip Potter, general secretary of the World Council of Churches in Geneva. Through her husband she met Fred Kaan and composed tunes for Kaan's texts, as well as other hymn tunes. Dianne Shapiro, from biography published by Hope Publishing Company (accessed online 8/5/2020)

Geoff Weaver

b. 1943 Arranger of "[Let us talents and tongues employ]" in In Every Corner Sing

Andrew Donaldson

b. 1951 Person Name: Andrew Donaldson, 1951- Arranger of "LINSTEAD" in The Book of Praise Andrew Donaldson, a composer and church musician, grew up in northern Ontario, Canada. He attended Glendon College, York University in Toronto, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974. He went on to study classical guitar performance at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, receiving its ARCT (Associate of Royal Conservatory Teachers) degree in 1979. Since then he has worked as a composer and performer in many contexts, in both French and English. Andrew co-edited the Book of Praise (1997), Presbyterian Church in Canada, with Donald Anderson. Their company, Binary Editions, continues to administer copyright for the PCC. In 2007 he was made a Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, by Knox College of the University of Toronto, for his body of work in congregational song in the Presbyterian Church in Canada. In 2011 Andrew and his wife, Wendy, moved to Geneva, Switzerland where Andrew works as a worship consultant to the World Council of Churches. --Submitted by Andrew and Wendy Donaldson, 13 August 2013