Author and Hymn Writer Herbert Brokering Dies

Trinity alumnus, hymn writer, author and poet Herbert F. Brokering died Saturday, November 7, in Bloomington, Minnesota. He was 83. Born in rural Nebraska in 1926, Brokering earned his bachelor’s degree from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, and a master’s degree in child psychology from Iowa State University. He earned his Master of Divinity degree in 1950 from the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary, a predecessor of Trinity.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 54 years, Lois Redelfs Brokering. The couple met while he was in seminary and she

Lois and Herb Brokering during a visit to Trinity in 2000.

was a student at Capital University. They collaborated on a number of projects and songs over the years, until Lois was killed in an automobile accident in 2004. In her memory, the Brokering family established The Brokering Scholarship Endowment Fund at Trinity. The scholarship is awarded to students who demonstrate a desire to study children’s worship, music, and faith development.

“Herb” Brokering is the author of more than 30 devotional books, including the popular Cat Psalms and Dog Psalms, and thousands of lyrics and poems. He has collaborated with more than 50 composers, including jazz great Dave Brubeck, with whom Brokering wrote a jazz cantata entitled “Beloved Son.” The work was recorded at the Abbey Road studios in 2005 with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Brubeck quartet.

Lutheran audiences likely will remember him best for his timeless hymns, “Earth and All Stars!” and “Thine the Amen.” In a recent book, To Henry in Heaven, Brokering reflected on the loss of a grandson, who was stillborn. In the book, Brokering speaks to his grandson, imagining the child’s experience in heaven.

Brokering served 10 years as a pastor in churches in Pennsylvania, New York, and Texas, before receiving a call to serve as Director of Confirmation for the American Lutheran Church. He also created countless Lenten, Christmas and biblical radio programs for the ALC and Wheat Ridge Ministries, and taught for 23 years at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was a popular speaker and taught in seminaries, at Holden Village in Washington State, and to military chaplains in the U.S. Navy and Air Force. He also designed and led more than 40 Renaissance-Reformation festivals worldwide.

His international ministry began with the Lutheran World Federation in 1948, where he served 30 refugee camps and student-directed projects hauling rubble and building roads. He led more than 100 pilgrimage-partner projects to Europe, the Middle East, China and India, promoting themes of healing, justice and peace.

In 1999, Trinity awarded Brokering an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree for his many contributions to the church and to the world. The citation for that award stated, “Whether writing or drawing, painting or composing, building birdhouses or planting flowers, Herb Brokering has first and foremost been an educator, passionately desiring to make known the Christ in whom every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’ Author of dozens of books and scores of hymns, he has, time and again, fashioned the English language into an instrument of praise for the marvelous things that God has done.”

He is survived by his children, Mark, Beth, Jon and Chris. A memorial service and celebration will be held at 2 p.m., November 21, at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.