Scripture and Hymns, The Gospel in Song

Thursday, July 12th, 2018     by Debra DuPree Williams     Start the Conversation


By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams
I don’t know why I should be surprised, but in the past couple of weeks, I have been by the number of scripture verses posted that are anthems or solos I’ve sung at one time or another in my lifetime. Now, granted, when you get to be my age and you’ve been singing in church since you were three, you should know a verse or two and not just Jesus Loves Me.

This got me to thinking of the tradition in which I was raised. My Daddy’s family worshiped in the Presbyterian church, my Mama in the Methodist. During WWII when Daddy was fighting over in the Pacific and Mama was home with Bobbie, Mama went to the Methodist church close to her home because it was too far to walk to the Presbyterian church where Daddy and his family had worshiped. Then, when Daddy came home from the war, the people at the Methodist church came by to welcome him home. Sadly, his home church didn’t do the same. That is how we became the only Methodists in the DuPree family.

One cannot think about music in the Methodist church without thinking of Charles Wesley and his brother John. They, along with George Whitefield, are the founders of the Methodist church. As a child, I most closely associated John with having been the founder of the church and Charles with having written so many of the hymns we sang.

Charles Wesley, Writer of Hymns

Born in 1707, Charles was one of eighteen children. He received his education at Oxford (I hope you will forgive me while I brag just a bit and say that I have a son enrolled in the MBA program at Oxford). Charles married Sarah Gwynne, daughter of a Welsh gentleman. They were the parents of musician Samuel Wesley, and the grandparents of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley. I’ve sung a couple of anthems written by Samuel Sebastian Wesley. Charles graduated from Oxford with a master’s degree in classical languages and literature. In his lifetime, he wrote more than six-thousand hymns. I’m sure that Oxford education was a huge help with that.

It’s no wonder that I know so many of Wesley’s hymns. They are a treasured part of my up-bringing. We were a musical, church-going family. If the doors of the church were open, you could be assured that we were there. And none of us was shy about singing loudly.

Singing with my Sissy

It was in Lafayette Street Methodist Church in Dothan, Alabama, that I became enthralled with music. Not just any music, but the music of the church. When I was three and my sister was ten, we began singing together in church. I stood in a chair and Bobbie stood beside me. The first things we sang together were hymns. She taught me the words and the melody and she sang harmony. We sang in many churches in the Dothan area, and when we moved to Andalusia when I was ten, we sang in our church there, First Methodist (now First United Methodist). Soon we were singing at many other churches in the area and at various civic groups. Then my sister went away to college and I began singing solos.

The Gospel Message

The hymns of the church carry the Gospel message in plain words that everyone can understand. (Except for that word, ebenezer. I always thought that was a character straight out of A Christmas Carol.) Set to beautiful melodies, the words are easy to memorize. I know all the verses to many hymns and I still sing those around our home when I’m cleaning or cooking. And my husband and I still sing along with recordings of our Birmingham church choir, Independent Presbyterian Church. We were members of the choir there for the first eleven years of our marriage. We moved to Florida after those eleven years. Thirty-four years later, we still miss the people and the music.

It saddens me that we’ve gotten away from the tradition of hymn singing. My children don’t know the hymns I learned as a child. My grandchildren will never know, or even hear them. Unless you’ve been in a church where hymns were a part of the service, you can’t relate to how impactful the words are. They tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end. The majority of them point to our need for Christ or what He did for us on the cross. Many of them come straight out of the scriptures, maybe paraphrased, but the message is the same.

So, y’all just keep posting the scripture verses and I’ll keep walking down memory lane as I sing the hymn associated with the verses you all post. I don’t even mind when a tune gets stuck in my brain for a day or two . . . or seven. It just becomes old home week. Thanks, y’all.

Does your church still sing hymns?  Tell us about your experience and share your thoughts.

TWEETABLE

Here are some familiar hymns written by Charles Wesley:

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Christ the Lord is Risen Today

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Oh, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing

Rejoice, the Lord is King

Soldiers of Christ, Arise

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

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