author
b. 1892
A Mennonite pastor, hymnologist, and editor whose work helped shape 20th-century church song collections, he combined ministry with a deep love of music and careful scholarship.
Born in Sugarcreek, Ohio, on April 25, 1892, Lester Hostetler studied at Goshen Academy, Goshen College, and Union Theological Seminary before being ordained in 1915. He served Mennonite congregations in Ohio, California, Kansas, and South Dakota, and also spent a leave year in Berlin directing the Nachbarschafsheim in Kreuzberg.
Alongside his pastoral work, he was deeply involved in music and hymn study. He taught music in Ohio public schools, co-edited The Mennonite Hymnary (1940) and The Mennonite Hymnal (1969), and wrote the handbook to The Mennonite Hymnary in 1949. Sources describe his research in hymnology as especially careful and influential.
In later years, after retiring from full-time ministry, he returned to Sugarcreek, where he lived on a small fruit farm and tuned pianos and reed organs. He remained active through interim pastorates and continued sharing his love of congregational singing.