Marty Haugen

Marty Haugen, (born December 30, 1950 in Wanamingo, Minnesota), is an American composer of liturgical music.

Marty Haugen was raised in the American Lutheran Church (ALC) in Minnesota, and is now a member the United Church of Christ. He writes contemporary hymns and liturgical music for the Lutheran church, and despite being a non-Catholic, his music has found favor in the both Catholic and Protestant congregations. Haugen holds a B.A. degree in psychology from Luther College and an M.A. degree in pastoral studies from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. For the past 25 years, Haugen has pursued a career as a liturgical composer and workshop presenter.

The majority of his compositions are published by GIA Publications. His best-known works are two settings of the liturgy for Lutheran use, "Holden Evening Prayer" and "Now the Feast and Celebration", and settings of the Catholic mass, the most widely known being the "Mass of Creation". He has also composed dozens of other works, including liturgical settings, choral arrangements, sacred songs, and hymns, including "Gather Us In", "Eye Has Not Seen", "Canticle of the Sun", "We Are Many Parts", "We Remember", "Awake! Awake, and Greet the New Morn", and "Shepherd Me, O God", as well as numerous psalm settings and paraphrases.

One of Haugen's most well-known hymns is "All Are Welcome", which is sung around the world by various Christian congregations.

Haugen is a performing musician, and has recorded a number of CDs. He holds a position as composer in residence at Mayflower Community Congregational Church (UCC) in Minneapolis.

The years following following Vatican II saw a period of rapid liturgical change in the Catholic Church. Following the movement that began with the St. Louis Jesuits in the 1970s and 1980s, Marty Haugen, together with David Haas, became one of the most prolific composers of contemporary Catholic liturgical music . Their hymns, songs, and liturgical settings make up a good deal of the contents of the GIA Gather hymnals, and are widely published in other hymnals used by the Catholic Church in the United States. Haugen's "Mass of Creation" has become one of the most widely used settings of the mass throughout the English-speaking world."

Because Haugen and Haas have become synonymous with this style of music, their names are often mentioned in criticism of liturgical use of music of this style. One of the main criticisms is that the musical style is similar to that used for children's musicals, thus trivialising the mood and feel of the liturgical celebration and betraying 1960s-era folk music stylings that sound dated to critics.

Haugen has written several liturgical settings for the ELCA. These include Now the Feast and Celebration, (written in collaboration with then campus pastors at Pacific Lutheran University Susan Briehl, Dan Erlander and Martin Wells), Unfailing Light, an evening communion service written in collaboration with Pastor Susan Briehl, Holy Communion Setting Two for Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW), and an evening prayer setting, Holden Evening Prayer, originally written for Holden Village. These settings have been published in various forms, with some of them appearing in the ELCA hymnal supplement With One Voice and the newest hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006).

• We Come Dancing (1999) (with Donna Peña, Gary Daigle and Bobby Fischer
• How Can I Keep From Singing? (1997) (with David Haas, Jeanne Cotter and Bobby Fisher)
• Singing Assembly (with David Haas and Michael Joncas)
• Come and Journey (1996) (with David Haas & Michael Joncas)
• Instruments Of Peace (1996) (with David Haas and Michael Joncas)
• In The Days To Come-Songs Of Peace (2007)
• That You May Have Life (2005)
• The Feast Of Life (2000)

Appears On

• David Haas, As Water To The Thirsty (1987)
• Liam Lawton, Clouds' Veil
• David Haas, Creating God (1989)
• David Haas, No Longer Strangers (1996)
• Lori True, There Is Room For Us All (2006)
• David Haas, Where The River Flows (1995)
• David Haas, With You By My Side Vol. 2 (2002)

• Marty Haugen personal website
• Worship Times (Resource Publications)
• Evangelical Lutheran Worship
• Living Liturgy