Thomas Harold Troeger

Thomas Harold Troeger (1945–2022) was an American preacher, theologian, poet, hymn writer, musician, and teacher of homiletics. He studied at Yale University and Colgate Rochester Divinity School and was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in 1970. In 1999 he was also ordained in the Episcopal Church and remained connected with both traditions. His ministry brought together preaching, poetry, worship, and music rather than treating them as separate disciplines.

Troeger taught at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and Iliff School of Theology before joining Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music in 2005 as J. Edward and Ruth Cox Lantz Professor of Christian Communication. He remained at Yale until his retirement in 2015. His books addressed preaching, worship, spirituality, and the theology of church music, and he also wrote hymn texts and poems that entered a wide range of denominational hymnals.

His hymn writing often begins with biblical images and develops them for congregational reflection. Among his widely circulated texts are “O Praise the Gracious Power,” “Let Wonder Be Reborn,” and “Praise the Source of Faith and Learning.” He also collaborated extensively with church musician Carol Doran, including on hymn and worship publications. Troeger’s work is remembered for joining careful biblical engagement with imaginative language and attention to the ways words and music shape Christian proclamation.