In Memoriam: Dr. John Ratledge

The family of First United Methodist Church Tuscaloosa grieves the death of Dr. John Ratledge, our former Director of Music, who died on the morning of Friday, October 16, 2026. We extend our deepest sympathy to all who loved him, and we mourn with the many people around the world who knew and admired him and his leadership.

From 2015 to 2020, Dr. Ratledge led the music of this congregation, and his choral artistry shaped its worship. Those who sang under his direction knew well his generosity of art and spirit.

At the University of Alabama, where he served for twelve years as Director of Choral Activities, Conductor of the University Singers, and Area Coordinator of Graduate Choral Conducting, he taught graduate conducting, choral literature, and pedagogy, and he retired as Professor Emeritus. He conducted on the stage of Carnegie Hall many times, appeared as a featured conductor before music educators and choral directors throughout the South, and continued to teach and conduct nationally and internationally.

He was also a composer and arranger of sacred choral music, and his anthems and arrangements are sung by choirs across the country and abroad. In this sanctuary, his music graced our worship as an offering to the glory of God. Among his works is “My Gift,” his setting of the final stanza of Christina Rossetti’s poem “A Christmas Carol,” known to many as “In the Bleak Midwinter.” In Rossetti’s original, the stanza reads:

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;

Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

Dr. Ratledge answered Rossetti’s question with his life, giving his heart to the music of the church, to every singer he led, and to the God he served.

We give thanks to God for the life and ministry of Dr. John Ratledge, and we commend him to God’s eternal care.

“They sing a new song before the throne.” (Revelation 14:3, NRSVue)