Hymn #545: There Was Jesus by the Water | First Congregational Church

Gracia Grindal (b. 1943) used the story of Jesus’ healing of the little girl as found in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) for this narrative text. She wrote it in 1983 when she was trying to “break out a rhythmic metrical straitjacket.”

Gracia Grindal received her education at Augsburg College, Minnesota, and the University of Arkansas, where she received a master of fine arts degree in 1969. She also studied for a year in Oslo, Norway. Grindal wrote the libretto for the cantata Dream of Shalom in 1976 and has published numerous hymn texts and translations.

Howard M. (Rusty) Edwards III (b. 1955) composed the tune TALITHA CUMI in 1983 for Gracia Grindal’s text while he was a student in her hymnwriting class at Luther Northwest Theological Seminary in Minnesota. The hymn was included in a booklet, Singing the Story (1983), along with others from the class.

Rusty Edwards, an ordained minister of the Lutheran Church, is senior pastor at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Rockford, Illinois. He has published a collection of original hymns, Faith Is the Yes of the Heart. Edwards earned his doctorate degree in creative ministry.