I just love that wonderful old hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God.” I especially love belting it out at top volume in the midst of an enthusiastic congregation with a big old pipe organ thundering along with us, don’t you?
Well, this November, due to the pandemic, I’ll be singing it at home at a volume that won’t startle the cats. But no matter how loud I get to sing it, the hymn is still one of my favorites, both tune and text. The story behind the text is a real inspiration, especially during this extraordinary time in our lives. Do you know that story?
Well . . .
Back in 1617, a young Lutheran clergyman was appointed to a post in his home town of Eilenburg in Saxony, now part of Germany—just in time for the Thirty Years’ War to start. As the armies battled back and forth (and back and forth again) across the Saxon countryside, the little walled town was crowded to bursting with more and more refugees, all hungry and desperate. War, overcrowding, and hunger always mean disease, and the people packed into Eilenburg suffered terribly.
Through it all, Pastor Paul Rinkart ministered faithfully and selflessly. He could barely feed his own family, but he gave away nearly everything else to those in greater need. He even mortgaged his own future income to provide for his family and his people.
I can’t imagine how horrible it must have been, can you? And this went on for years.
Great plague of 1637
Then, 20 years into the war, came the great plague of 1637.
Of the four ministers in Eilenburg, one abandoned his post and never came back. Two died of the plague, and Pastor Rinkart officiated at their funerals. He got a lot of practice with funerals that year: He conducted as many as 40 or 50 funerals every day. Nearly 8,000 people died of the plague in Eilenburg in 1637, and he conducted more than half their funerals—including that of his own wife.
About the same time, as the war and the famine and the plague wore on and on, Pastor Rinkart wrote a table grace for his children, possibly in memory of their mother. And that became the hymn we now know as “Now Thank We All Our God.”
Can you imagine the steadfast faith and hope that led to that hymn of thanksgiving? Even in his grief and fear (who wouldn’t be afraid, what with plague raging inside the city walls and war raging outside?), Pastor Rinkart was able to act in gratitude for God’s blessings by raising his song of thanks. I pray that we can all have faith like his, even just a little bit, in our own times of trouble.
Thankoffering services
It’s a longstanding custom among Lutheran women to act in gratitude for God’s blessings with Thankoffering services in November. Some of us can carry on that custom as we’ve always loved to do, but what if we can’t this year? What if we can’t gather in person?
We can still make our Thankofferings as we’ve always loved to do. We’re still grateful for the blessings God pours out on us every day, right? So let’s make Thankofferings.
Audrey Novak Riley is director for stewardship for Women of the ELCA.
(See our Thankofferings webpage–especially the Tips for Planning–for more information. We also offer you a prayer resource.)
Ways to give
Here are some ways we can make our Thankofferings this year, as part of our congregational units or as individuals.
As part of a congregational unit. This is exactly how we’ve done Thankofferings for years, except instead of handing our offerings directly to our unit treasurer, we mail them to her. Then the treasurer handles the unit’s Thankoffering exactly as she’s done for years.
Here are the details
Women mail their checks (with Thankoffering written on the memo line) to their congregational unit treasurer, who deposits the checks in the unit’s bank account. Then she writes one check to Women of the ELCA for the total amount, writes Thankoffering on the memo line, fills in a copy of Form B, and mails the check and the form to the address below (the address also appears on Form B).
The treasurer mails the check and the form to:
Women of the ELCA
c/o ELCA Gift Processing
P.O. Box 1809
Merrifield VA 22116-8009
(Giving this way makes it possible for the churchwide organization to record the offering as coming from the congregational unit.)
As an individual. There are three ways for individuals to make Thankofferings: by mail, online, or by phone.
Giving by mail
Please write your check to Women of the ELCA and write “Thankoffering” on the memo line. Then mail it to:
Women of the ELCA
c/o ELCA Gift Processing
P.O. Box 1809
Merrifield VA 22116-8009
Giving Online
See welca.org/give. Fill in the amount you’d like to charge to your credit card, pick “Thankoffering” on the drop-down list, fill in your contact information, and then follow the directions to make your gift.
Giving by Phone
Call 800-638-3522 and press 0 to be connected to the operator.
Thank you!
Your generous Thankofferings make it possible for the churchwide women’s organization to produce this website, as well as all our other communications ministries, free program resources, and so much more. Your generosity really makes a difference in women’s lives. Thank you.