Thanksgiving Service

Thanksgiving Service, November 23, 7pm

Martin Rinkart, a German Lutheran minister, wrote the hymn “Now Thank We All Our God” in 1636.  At the time, the Thirty Years’ War was ravaging central Europe, claiming millions of lives.  Rinkart served as pastor in Eilenburg, a walled town that became a crowded refuge for starving fugitives.  Although Rinkart was struggling to provide for his own family, he opened his own home to people in need. 

After the plague entered Eilenburg, Rinkart conducted up to 50 funerals a day — including services for his wife and the only other two pastors in town.  Amid the despair, he wrote many hymns, including “Now Thank We All Our God.”  Originally intended as a table prayer, it’s now sung at Thanksgiving to remember God’s “countless gifts of love” — even during hardships. 

Words to the third verse of “Now Thank We All Our God” by Martin Rinkart.

All praise and thanks to God, Who reigns in highest heaven,
To Father and to Son And Spirit now be given.
The one eternal God, Whom heaven and earth adore,
The God who was, and is, And shall be evermore.

The words to this song are found on page 555 in the Presbyterian Hymnal.  Not only can the song be sung, but it can be used as a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving to our Lord.