Concordia University Chicago’s Center for Church Music, currently celebrating its 15th anniversary, lives by a foundational principle established during its developmental years: that the Center should “look forward as much as it looks backward.”
Since its dedication in 2010, the Center has embraced that principle, preserving the past through its expansive physical and digital offerings while encouraging future generations of Lutheran church musicians, liturgical artists, and scholars through awards, scholarships, publications, and educational resources.
As volunteer Director of the Center Barry Bobb (BA ’73, MCM ’78) plans to retire this August, the Center looks ahead to its next chapter while also looking back on Bobb’s 13 years of service.
For many, Bobb is a beloved figure in the church music community; he has served as a board member for the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians (ALCM), Lutheran Summer Music, Lutheran Arts, and the Lutheran Association of Special Education, as well as the editorial board of “To the Director of Music,” a professional journal published by the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
For others, he has been a lifelong friend.
“I have known Barry since grade school,” said Steven Wente (BA ’75, MCM ‘76), distinguished professor emeritus of music and organist laureate. “He has been a great friend and encourager. More importantly, Barry has led the Center in ways many people would not have imagined, and he has been a tireless advocate of the contributions of so many in church music and those yet to come.”
A church musician for 53 years, Bobb was the third student to graduate from Concordia-Chicago’s Director of Parish Music program, which started a few years before he arrived on campus. In 2000, he received an honorary doctor of letters from CUC.
“At one time, CUC’s motto was ‘Your world opens up from here,’ and that was certainly what happened to me. The whole world of the church and church music opened up,” Bobb said.
After graduation, he served as a teacher and music director at Salem Lutheran Church and School in Affton, Mo., from 1973 to 1986 before spending the next 17 years at Concordia Publishing House as director of worship and music publications, director of church resources, and later vice president of editorial.
“Everything you do leads to the next thing. And when I look back, each of those experiences prepared me for the Center,” said Bobb, who received the Faithful Servant Award from ALCM last August.
The creation of the Center, nestled on the second floor of the Klinck Memorial Library, is rooted in the collections of two Concordia-Chicago distinguished professors emeriti of music: the original manuscripts and published compositions of Dr. Richard Hillert (BS ‘51) and Dr. Carl F. Schalk’s (BS ‘52) American Lutheran Hymnal Collection, which includes 541 volumes of Lutheran hymnals.
Since then, the Center’s Resource Room has amassed an extraordinary collection of resources, including an original music manuscript archive, which includes the works of 22 composers; a liturgical choir reference library, which contains thousands of choral works; and hundreds of other church music resources. It has also published 24 books with 5 different publishers to date.
More recently, the Center is nearing the completion of cataloging a new record collection, donated in memory of Dr. Russell and Mrs. Gwendolyn Spittler, which includes 1,200 LPs and 400 CDs of Lutheran choir music from the United States and Europe.
“The Center has become known as the place where people can have their original manuscripts preserved,” said Bobb. “Very often, it’s a huge relief for families who know these things are valuable but don’t know what to do with them.”
Beyond its physical location, the Center’s efforts to sustain awareness and access to these resources have culminated in an expansive website outfitted with digitized versions of its hymnal collection and manuscripts, along with essays, interviews, profiles, and more.
All this is part of the Center’s ongoing digital initiative—fueled by the work of volunteer advisory board members, leaders, and staff who, as Bobb describes, “believe not in just the Center but in church music as a whole and its importance as a high and holy calling.”
More than that, the Center seeks to encourage the next generation of church musicians, composers, artists, and scholars through awards like the Richard Hillert Award in Student Composition, the William Wolfram Student Award in Liturgical Art, and the Schalk Scholar Program for emerging researchers in church music. Each provides a $1,000 award or stipend, along with opportunities for public presentations. The Schalk Scholars also receive assistance with publishing their research.
“The idea is that we’re encouraging and equipping young composers, visual artists, and scholars—everybody who leads music and worship,” said Bobb. “And by doing so, it deepens the worship experience of the person in the pew and ‘opens up’ the wider world of music for them.”
Looking back, Dr. Charles P. Brown, professor, program lead, and arts division chair for the Department of Music, described Bobb’s legacy as having “shaped the Center from a treasured collection of manuscripts and composer resources into a living source of scholarship, collaboration, and encouragement for those who carry forward Lutheran church music.”
“I am grateful for what Barry has set in motion and inspired to help build upon it for the sake of the church’s song for generations to come,” Brown said.
Looking forward, the Center will continue to advance Bobb’s legacy under its incoming director, who will be announced this August. At the same time, the community celebrates Bobb, whose vision and dedication—guided by 1 Corinthians 14:15: “I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also”—have nurtured the Center’s growth for over a decade. Upon retirement, Bobb will continue to serve as an adviser.
“To have observed Barry during his 13 years as director—as he charted new avenues with his inimitable combination of grace, determination, and cheerfulness—is living proof that 'with God, all things are possible,’” said Nancy M. Raabe, Center Advisory Board member. “May we all join hands to ensure that Barry's vision will continue to grow.”
For more details on the Center and how to contribute to its legacy, visit CUChicago.edu/academics/centers-of-excellence/center-for-church-music.
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