09/11/2026
In August 2002, […] Stephen Starke (b.1955) was approached about writing a hymn in remembrance of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, that could be used by churches as the nation approached the first anniversary of that tragedy. […] Within about a week, he wrote “There Is a Time for Everything” (LSB #762).
Against a backdrop of political and theological dissent, a nation still in shock, and individuals still mourning the loss of loved ones, Starke set out to write a text that would transcend the earthly issues and focus the singers’ attention on what truly mattered: our Lord, who has not changed who was and is present with His people before, during, and after the attacks—a Lord who is faithful, whose promises are sure, and whose love for His people is unconditional.
Starke chose Ecclesiastes 3 as the basis for the text. The entire first two stanzas of the hymn are from the first eight verses of the chapter. One cannot but notice the parallels with the events of the day: stanza 1 starts as did that morning, filled with promise, with “all that life may bring.” Toward the end of the stanza, Starke paraphrases “a time to break down, and a time to build up” as “a time to build where rubble lay”—an unmistakable reference to the destruction in Lower Manhattan. Stanza 2 recalls the hours and days after the attack, as people searched, hoped, and prayed for all those who were in the destroyed World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania, paraphrasing Ecclesiastes 3:6 as “a time to search and then to end.”
Stanza 3 brings our Lord clearly into focus, assuring His people of His care in the midst of such a tragedy, echoing words form Isaiah 55:8; Genesis 50:20; and Romans 8:28. Stanza 4, doxological in nature, recounts that the Lord knew before time began that He would need to send HIs Son (2 Timothy 1:9) “to redeem those who were under the law” (Galatians 4:4-5) and that He would “bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
“There Is a Time for Everything” Lutheran Service Book 762. Text: © 2002 Stephen P. Starke, admin. Concordia Publishing House. “Lutheran Service Book Companion to the Hymns,” ©2019 Concordia Publishing House.
