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The Old Hymns
experience such intense discussions (arguments) over appropriate materials for corporate worship. Not so! Today’s WORSHIP QUOTE OF THE WEEK is taken from the preface of an 1892 hymnal. The author is Basil Many, Jr., and his argument, even 110 years ago, is that we can’t afford to lose the old hymns. THE OLD HYMNS (1892) For some years it has been apparent that the rage for novelties in singing . . . has been driving out of use the old, precious, standard hymns. They are not memorized as of old. They are scarcely sung at all. They are not even contained in the undenominational song-books which in many churches have usurped the place of our hymn books. We can not afford to lose these old hymns. They are full of the Gospel; they breathe the deepest emotions of pious hearts in the noblest strains of poetry; they have been tested and approved by successive generations of those that loved the Lord; they are the surviving fittest ones from thousands of inferior productions; they are hallowed by abundant usefulness and tenderest memories. But the young people of today are unfamiliar with them, and will seldom hear many of them, if the present tendency goes on unchecked. [The full preface is included later in this message.] — Basil Manly, Jr. (1825-1892), from the preface of THE CHOICE: A NEW SELECTION OF HYMNS FOR BAPTIST CHURCHES WITH MUSIC, Louisville, Kentucky: Baptist Book Concern, 1892. [This volume, obviously out of print, is contained in the amazing collection of the James P. Boyce Centennial Library on the campus of The Southern Bapist Theological Seminary. Visit http://library.sbts.edu where you can search the catalogue. For more on this particular author, take a look at www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/m/a/n/manly_bjr.htm.] Have a great week, Chip Stam Director, Institute for Christian Worship School of Church Music and Worship Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Louisville, Kentucky www.carlstam.org www.sbts.edu |