Even though a number of years have gone by, I still have a clear mind's eye video, in full color and stereo hi-fi, of H.M.S. Richards preaching. Standing before a capacity crowd, he dramatically weaves into his sermon the story of how Harriet Beecher Stowe, busy wife and mother, would steal away to her room early in the morning for time alone with God. Then, with sensitivity, he repeats from memory:
"Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,
When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;
Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight,
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee."
Often he might repeat all of the stanzas, each one with its own dynamic power, reaching a breathtaking climax on the words
"So shall it be at last, in that bright morning,
When the soul waketh, and life's shadows flee;
O in that hour, fairer than daylight dawning,
Shall rise the glorious thought, I am with Thee."
You can well imagine the spirit with which we in the King's Heralds sang this old hymn when we saw how much effort the "Chief," as we called him, had in vested in it taking the time to find out how it came to be written and then memorizing it. (Even now when former King's Heralds get together to sing, "Still, Still With Thee" is a favorite.)
Elder Richards really loved the great hymns, and used them powerfully in his sermons. The perspective 35 years of sit ting behind him gave me has convinced me that his masterful use of hymns was one of the reasons people loved to come and hear him.
But it's not only sermons that can benefit when ministers gain an understanding of the background of our hymns. Ministers play a vital role in the development of spirited congregational singing. Those who have a keen appreciation of hymns, who get to know the contents of the hymnal and how to use it, and who use background materials to educate and build up the interest of their congregations will almost surely see a marked improvement in the singing during the worship hour—an important part of revitalizing the church.
Some 28 years after the publication of our Church Hymnal of 1941, the Signs Publishing Company of Australia brought out a resource book to provide that kind of back ground material. Edward E. White's Singing With Understanding, a companion volume to the 1941 hymnal containing commentaries on its hymns, represented 10 years of effort in research and writing. Recognizing the value of such a work, the committee that was developing our new hymnal recommended that a companion volume be prepared as soon as possible so that the history of the hymns and the biographies of the composers and authors could enhance the use of the hymnal right from the beginning. The Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, published recently by the Review and Herald Publishing Association, resulted from that recommendation.
Now retired and living in England, Elder White was the logical one to rewrite and bring up to date the commentaries on all those hymns that were retained from the 1941 hymnal. The hymnal committee and the Review and Herald asked me to write the comments on the additional hymns the new hymnal contained and to work with Raymond Woolsey, book editor at the Review, to get it published.
So for some three years Ed White and I wrote hundreds of letters, visited libraries, made phone calls to relatives of deceased authors, checked the accuracy of stories and dates, compared accounts in the different hymnal commentaries, and then did the actual writing and rewriting of our companion to the hymnal.
Our aim was to produce a work that would be both scholarly and practical. We wanted to make the authors, translators, composers, and arrangers come alive as real people. A knowledge of where and when they lived and the conditions that prevailed helps us to under stand better the poetic and musical treasures they left for our blessing.
Ministers, song leaders, choir directors, and organists alike can find, in this book, material to help our congregations identify with those who wrote the hymns we love to sing. A few words on the hymn's background printed in the bulletin or, better yet, spoken to introduce the hymn will whet the congregation's appetite and prepare them to sing it enthusiastically, with spirit and understanding.
Fortunately for our project, Ed White's home near Newbold College in England gave him access to many original sources, including the British Museum. His friendship with officers of the British Hymn Society proved to be invaluable. And since a major portion of our hymns originated in the British Isles, he was able to verify facts and figures that I could not check on this side of the Atlantic.
I had the privilege of working in several resource centers. One was the Emory University School of Theology library, which contains some 10,000 volumes on hymnology. I also tracked down several bits of important information in the Moravian Music Foundation library in Winston- Salem, North Carolina. And I found the people in charge of the McCutchan Collection in the Honnold Library, Claremont, California, especially generous with their time and help. A giant of Methodist hymnody, George McCutchan left them about 12,000 volumes, many of them rare and priceless. Needless to say, I spent several days there.
But the time I spent at Andrews University's Heritage Room, gathering materials for the chapter entitled "Seventh-day Adventist Hymondy," was the most exciting of all! That collection includes almost all of the hymnbooks Seventh-day Adventists have published, from the very first one compiled by James White in 1849. My heart beat a little faster as I held in my hand the 1869 Hymns and Tunes for Those Who Keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus—for on the first blank page inside I found inscribed "Uriah Smith, Battle Creek, Michigan." The copy I studied of the first Sabbath school songbook, Song Anchor, had "F. E. Belden" stamped in gold on the cover, and on a blank page inside were his handwritten notes for a new song he was working on.
To give you an idea of the kind of material the Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal contains, I will excerpt from its description of hymn 187, "Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners":
"Written in 1910, this hymn borrows several phrases from Charles Wesley's 'Jesus, Lover of My Soul' [hymn 490]. Notice also how it uses a number of the names of Christ to describe His complete ministry in our lives. It was published first with the Welsh tune HYFRYDOL [see hymns 167, 204] in Alexander's Gospel Songs, No. 2, published by Revell.
"J. Wilbur Chapman was born June 17, 1859, at Richmond, Indiana, and educated at Lane Theological Seminary. After ordination to the Presbyterian ministry, he served for 20 years as a pastor in Albany, New York; Philadelphia; and New York City. A visit from the great evangelist D. L. Moody roused and inspired him, and from then on his life was completely filled with evangelism. In 1902 he was appointed secretary of an aggressive Evangelistic Committee for the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. The work of large-city campaigns was so successful that he soon had to cease administrative work to answer calls from all over the world to conduct preaching missions.
"Moody had also showed him how to use the power of singing in his meetings, so he secured the services of singing evangelist Charles Alexander, who was a veritable 'magician' in leading huge choirs and crowds in services of song. Chapman and Alexander worked so well as a team that they traveled the world, preaching and singing for 10 years. (On page 233 is a picture of a businessmen's noon meeting in Melbourne, Australia, Town Hall, May 1909.) Alexander described his partner's skill in 'handling' a big crowd: The musical quality of his voice stirred and yet quieted an audience. His words, clearly enunciated, could be heard without strain by an immense crowd (often 10,000), even when hushed to a quiet whisper' (from Charles Alexander, H. C. Alexander and J. K. MaClean, 1920). In these present days of dependence on microphones and amplifiers, this feat seems almost impossible! Chapman died December 25, 1918, at Jamaica, New York.
"The tune named HOLY MANNA comes from the use of that phrase several times in the text usually associated with this music, 'Brethren, We Have Met to Worship.' The tune was first printed, and composership claimed, by William Moore in his collection Columbia Harmony, 1827.
The book was registered in Wilson County, Tennessee, and printed in Cincinnati; Moore claimed to be the composer of 18 of its tunes. About his life, nothing more has been found. This joyful tune be came so popular that many of the compilers of later shaped-note, oblong tunebooks in the South included it. (See page 234 for a reprint from the 1853 Timbrel of Zion, which shows this hymn with the original text crediting Moore as the composer.)
"The arrangement is by Wayne Hooper (1920-; see Biographies)."
Acquaint your folk with Wilbur Chapman, and let them know that he wrote these words about our loving Saviour soon after his Australian meetings. Then when you show them how singable is this easy folk hymn tune, they will hardly be able to wait to sing it!
By engaging the understanding of your congregation, you can enliven, your worship services.
