Dr. Fred L. Precht
Dr. Fred L. Precht, former executive director of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod's Commission on Worship, died February 5, 2003 of lung cancer. He was 86. A funeral service was held on February 8 at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church, Freeburg, Illinois.
Fred Precht directed the worship commission from 1978 to 1987, and then part time from 1992 to 1996. He also served as executive director of the LCMS Foundation (1968-1972), and was a professor at Concordia Theological Seminary when it was located in Springfield, Illinois (1940-43; 1944-68; 1972-76).
Precht earned his doctorate in theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. His thesis was on Confession and Absolution; a chapter in Lutheran Worship: History and Practice summarizes that work. He also held a master's degree in music from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Among honors he received was the Aeterna Moliri medal from Concordia College (now University) in St. Paul, Minnesota.
He wrote and edited numerous books and articles about Lutheran worship, including editing the Lutheran Worship hymnal, the LCMS version of the Lutheran Book of Worship. Upon retirement in 1987 from the commission on worship work he devoted himself to completing various resources that supported LW, including a hymnal companion and the history and practice book mentioned above.
He is survived by his wife Louise, and two sons—Rev. Stephen F. (Kathy) Precht of Freeport, Illinois, and Michael L. (Mary Ann) Precht of Fort Worth, Texas. He has seven grandchildren.
A Personal Recollection
by James L. Brauer, Ph.D.
Dean of Chapel, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri
When I became Fred's successor (upon his retirement at age 70) as executive director for the LCMS commission on worship, Fred never really quit. I got the office work, the meetings and the new projects (mainly some ethnic hymnal projects and resources for school, Sunday school and military chaplains). He still came in every day and continued to write and edit. First, he tackled the Lutheran Worship: Hymnal Companion which he modeled on The Handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal (1942). This had been prepared by W. G. Polack, one of his professors at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Besides the notes about authors and composers of hymns and information about the hymn itself, it contained the missing stanzas, if any, and the original language of a translated hymn. He felt so strongly that this was a good design and that it was an important resource for pastors and musicians he was wiling to spend his retirement doing it. His commute was 35 miles, one-way. This persistent, focused character was evident in all he did.
The preparation of LW came under difficult conditions (time constraints, battles between authorities and limited staff) but he never faltered in giving it his best effort and knowing how to use the structure around him to protect his own rights. If he was not "loved" by others in the synod headquarters, he was respected for carrying a project to its conclusion. I know this because he would share some of the stories with me from time to time. His conviction about the confessional position of the Lutheran Church was the center of his work and love. Integrity and faithfulness to it he would not compromise. He kept his eye on the big picture of a project and gave attention to every detail in it. Even when he nearly lost his sight from glaucoma and went through the rigors of open heart surgery he refused to step away from the goals he set for himself after 1987. I could have taken on a considerable part of that work, and indeed some of it was shared, but for him it was a personal commitment. He had not come to the commission willingly, as I understand it; he returned the call once and they called him again before they could get him to say yes. Once the work was taken on, however, he never hesitated to carry it forward despite whatever effort it took from him. When I left the commission's employ, they asked him to spend one day a week while funds and a candidate could be located to continue the position. This took about four years. Thus he did not really begin full-time retirement until he was 80.