Bruce Benson

"Sing For Joy specializes in the music of hope," says Bruce Benson, who has served as St. Olaf College pastor since 1981. "And music has such a wonderful capacity to express hopefulness — even when it is not happy. Words struggle to do that, but music does it all the time. Every Sing For Joy program reminds me that music's power manifests itself in so many ways."

Before beginning his current ministry at the college, he served pastorates in Albert Lea, Minn., Billings, Mont., and Sioux Falls, S.D. Benson holds a Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., and a Master of Sacred Theology degree from the Yale University Divinity School in New Haven, Conn.