By Jane M. Gardner 
presiding evangelist 

When you climb to the choir loft at the front of the Community of Christ Auditorium in Independence, Missouri, USA, next to the world-class Aeolian-Skinner organ you will find a lovely piano with this inscription: 

This piano from the residence of 
Rosalee Elser 
Esteemed Community of Christ hymnist and arranger 
Great-granddaughter of church founder Joseph Smith 

The church’s rich musical heritage was influenced strongly by the work of Rosalee Smith Elser, prolific arranger and harmonizer of our hymns. The oldest of two children born to Rosamond and W. Wallace Smith in 1925, Rosalee was the beneficiary of a childhood in which music was valued, and her participation in church music began at an early age. 

Rosalee remembered: 

Mother used to play the piano almost every day and would often sing from the hymnal. We would sing barbershop harmony on car trips and stand around the piano with family on holidays, taking turns choosing our favorite songs and carols. I loved to sing also, or the tenor part “an octave up,” in Sunday School, but fretted over some of the songs we had to sing and looked forward to the privilege of marching in a line upstairs from Junior Church to “grown-up” church on Communion Sunday, where we would sing from The Saints’ Hymnal. 

Studying piano, organ, and composition at Willamette University, Graceland College, and then the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Rosalee served as a staff organist at Stone Church in Independence, Missouri, USA, for many years, continuing to develop an interest in hymnody. In 1990, her brother, Wallace B. Smith, then the church president, ordained her as an elder. 

She served on the hymnal committee for Hymns of the Saints and was the person members turned to for harmonizations or arrangements. More than thirty-five hymns in that hymnal bear her name. Her favorite is said to be an arrangement of “Let Us Break Bread Together,” which is still in use. Of that spiritual Rosalee said: 

I was literally drawn into the seeming innocence of this hymn tune and text. The lyrics are simple and the melody easy and inviting. One senses, though, that the words and music…have risen from traditions and values where singing together was an act of simplicity and spirituality coming from deep within the soul. It was my intent to make the harmony rich in sound, and enjoyable to sing. This lovely hymn has the power to lift our souls to great heights through our worship in the service of Communion. 

Rosalee taught workshops on church hymnody, reflecting the interest of her great-grandmother, Emma Smith, who compiled the first hymnal for Community of Christ in the 1830s. She was a life member of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. The church’s archives hold Rosalee’s handwritten notes from the group’s annual conferences.  

In Community of Christ Sings, Rosalee’s giftedness continues to bless the church with twenty-three contributions. According to Richard Clothier, retired professor of music at Graceland University, Rosalee enjoyed working on the harmonization of Issac Watts’s text, “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need,” and was particularly careful to complement the sensitive nature of Watts’s paraphrase of the Twenty-third Psalm with her harmonies. This harmonization is still in use. 

In her later years, Rosalee experienced the long, slow deterioration associated with Alzheimer’s Disease. When it was clear she would need additional care, her husband, Otto, contacted the Worship Office about a possible use for Rosalee’s personal piano. The church bought the piano for the Auditorium choir loft. After it was installed, a plaque was added documenting its historical significance. 

Organist-in-residence Jan Kraybill was present when Otto and Rosalee came to the Auditorium to see the piano in its new home. Jan says: 

By that point, Rosalee wasn’t remembering much. She certainly didn’t remember ever meeting or working with any of us in the Worship Office. Otto was there, and I think she knew him. Her beloved brother, Wally B, was also there, and it was heartbreaking when she turned to him and said, “And who are you, again?” But, when she sat down at the piano bench, we witnessed the amazing power of music to reach into the recesses of a mind faded away by Alzheimer’s. She began to play, at first tentatively, and then with more and more assurance, a favorite hymn, “Standing on the Promises.” She even modulated into several different keys for successive stanzas. It was incredible to watch and hear. 

At Rosalee’s memorial service in 2007, Jack Ergo, assistant music professor, Graceland University, reminded the gathered congregation of the monumental nature of her music’s effect on Community of Christ and many other denominations. We are especially grateful for her gifts and will continue to celebrate her creative genius through our singing well into the future.