Praise songs without pentinence

In the past, I’ve expressed my skepticism about Christian Contemporary Music. But as I keep running into (intelligent and capable) CCM advocates, it’s clear I need to identify more theoretical and empirical evidence supporting these concerns. 

This month, Terry Mattingly of GetReligion highlighted a study of CCM texts by Prof. Michael J. Rhodes, a Baptist Old Testament professor in New Zealand. (Strangely, the original story and Twitter tweets are from last September).

The story was about how Rhodes looked at the lyrics of the first 25 songs in the CCLI Top 100 worship songs. He contrasted the themes of the top 25 praise songs to those of the 150 psalms of the historic psalter. Here are a few highlights from Rhodes’ Sept. 30 column in Christianity Today:

• “There is only one passing mention of the word justice in the Top 25. …
• “There are zero references to the poor or poverty in the Top 25. …
• “The widow, refugee, and oppressed are completely absent from the Top 25. …
• “References to enemies are rare in the Top 25.”

And his final point:

Maybe most devastatingly, in the Top 25, not a single question is ever posed to God. When we sing the Top 25, we don’t ask God anything. By contrast, prick the Psalter and it bleeds with the cries of the oppressed, pleading for God to act.

So without assessing the pros and cons of Rhodes’ argument, his premise is indisputable: the themes of 2500-3000 years of Judeo-Christian worship are the gold standard, and today’s praise hymns don’t measure up to that standard.

Penitential Hymns

To be fair, the typical Christmas, Easter or Trinitytide hymns tend to be upbeat as well.

Still, when considering the psalms, I spotted what I thought an even more striking omission: no mention of the pentience, repentance and confession by King David and others throughout the psalms, repeated by worshippers across the centuries. The first and last verses of this hymn — sung by Episcopalians at Lent — seems an appropriate example of what such pentinence might look like:

With broken heart and contrite sigh
A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry:
Thy pardoning grace is rich and free
O God, be merciful to me.

And when, redeemed from sin and hell,
With all the ransomed throng I dwell,
My raptured song shall ever be,
God has been merciful to me.

Authored in 1852 by English Baptist preacher Cornelius Elven, for Episcopalians it has been sung regularly since it was first published in The Hymnal of 1874.

Hymns for Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is an unusual holiday in the BCP — not part of the liturgical calendar, but with more theological significance than the other “National Days” (as my favorite hymnal terms them).

I previously wrote a 1500-word article for North American Anglican entitled “Hymns ‘of’ Thanksgiving and ‘for’ Thanksgiving.” Since people can read it there, let me summarize a few ideas here.

First, despite the origins of the holiday with the 17th century Pilgrims, the US ECUSA prayer book ignored the holiday until it got its own collect and readings in the 1928 BCP — and was also mentioned in the 1979 and 2019 prayer books. In the 1928, it has a substitute for the Venite that is derived from Psalm 147; this has four chants in Hymnal 1940 (684-687) although I think using the Venite plainchant (612) would be more realistic.

In the article, I identified eight hymns from the three current American hymnals — Hymnal 1940, Hymnal 1982 and Magnify the Lord (aka Book of Common Praise 2017) —as well as the US (1916) and English antecedents (TEH, A&M). From this, I recommended three hymns as suitable for a November harvest-themed festival:

• “Come, ye thankful people, come” sung to St. George’s Windsor (H40: 137; H82: 290; MTL: 203) was universally popular since its 1861 publication in Hymns Ancient and Modern.
• “We plow the fields and scatter” sung to Claudius (H40: 138; H82: 291; MTL: 204) also dates to 1861.
• “For the beauty of the earth” (H40: 296; H82: 416; MTL: 206,207) originated with The English Hymnal (1906), but there is little agreement on the tune.

All three of these appear in more than 400 hymnals, and thus may be known to Christians from other backgrounds. But for an ecumenical hymn that will be widely known, I’d recommend the Catherine Winkworth translations of two German hymns:

• “Now thank we all our God” by Martin Rinkart (1586-1649), was written about the Thirty Years’ War but is an excellent hymn of gratitude for the entire church year.
• “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation” by Joachim Neander (1650-1680) is also suitable year round, but more as a general hymn of praise.

The runners up are the Presbyterian “Praise to God, immortal praise,” the Dutch “We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing,” and the Anglican “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.”

Together, these eight hymns cover both concepts of Thanksgiving — the November U.S. holiday or general gratitude to our divine creator.

"My Way" as Highway to Hell?

Among the most theological of C.S. Lewis' books is The Great Divorce. Lewis uses the writer George MacDonald — who he considered “his master” — to explain how so many people end up in Hell.

The Great Divorce was the subject of one of four talks by Peter Kreeft last week at the Anglican Way Institute. Kreeft, a prolific author and Catholic philosophy professor at Boston College, noted that one passage of the book is more quoted than any other:

There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.”

Kreeft considered this an apt summary of a doctrine of free will and salvation — as (during Q&A) did Fr. Lawrence Bausch, the outgoing head of Forward in Faith North America. In the end, this is just another manifestation of Pride, the first of the Seven Deadly Sins formalized in the 6th century by Pope Gregory.

The Pastoral Dilemma of Funeral Hymns

Hearing this summary of The Great Divorce suggested a potential pastoral problem. Sure enough: when I looked up the latest funeral hymn survey by a U.K. chain of funeral homes, this is what I found:

Based on the data and insights of our Funeral Directors and Funeral Arrangers, who conduct up to 100,000 funerals a year, we can reveal that our 2019 chart winner is... ‘My Way’ by Frank Sinatra.

The Sinatra song was tops not only in the 2019 survey, but also in 2016 and 2012. (It was briefly dislodged by “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life” in the 2014 survey).

The problem is that, as Kreeft summarized, “Every time we choose ‘my will be done’ instead of ‘thy will be done,’ we choose hell.” In case people missed his point, Kreeft termed the Sinatra favorite as “the song people sing going into hell”. (While “My Way” has been the overall leader for most of the past decade, “Highway to Hell” was #5 on the Rock chart in 2016).

It’s a little too late to convert the heart of the deceased once he/she is in a pine box. So discussing funeral hymns seems like a catechetical opportunity for pre-need planning — at least for those who still want a church ceremony.

Cambridge Choral Christmas in Covidtide

As (almost) every year since 1918, the King‘s College Choir (@ChoirOfKingsCam) today sang its Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. As with last year, it was led by Daniel Hyde, the seventh KCC Director of Music since the broadcasts began in 1928. Thanks to the current pandemic, it was broadcast via tape delay rather than live with a congregation.

Hyde stepped in last fall to lead the choir in the 2019 service. In 2020, with a full year to prepare (albeit during the season of Covidtide), Hyde clearly put his mark on the choir and the beloved Christmas Eve service. He added two carols that (according to the Sinden.org cross-reference) were not sung at the service in the past 40 years or so

• As I sat on a Sunny Bank, a folk carol variant of “I saw Three Ships” arranged by Elizabeth Poston (1905-1987)
• Still, Still, Still, arranged by Bob Chilcott (1955-)

As seems to be KCC custom, Hyde used his own descant, in this case for the Poston carol. Overall, my daughter and I heard four pieces with descants:

1. Once in Royal David’s City, with the familiar Stephen Cleobury descant
2. While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night, in an arrangement (and thus presumably descant) credited to KCC professor (and vice provost) Nicholas Marston (c. 1960-)
3. O Come all ye Faithful, with the KCC signature double-descant in the final two verses. The program implies they are by Christopher Robinson (1936-) and David Hill (1957-). These were the descants teased (from the separate TV broadcast) in a 38 second clip on the official Twitter account
4. Hark the Herald Angels Sing, with the familiar Philip Ledger descant

At least three carols appeared to be new arrangements: “O Come all ye Faithful”, “Away in a Manger” and “The Holly and the Ivy”. Hyde also brought back three arrangements that (Sinden.org implies) were last sung during Ledger’s tour at the helm (1974-1981): “Of the Father’s Heart Begotten,” “A Maiden Most Gentle,” and “The Shepherd’s Cradle Song”.

Of course, the choir sang familiar pieces as well:

• Three date to the original service: Once in Royal, O Come, and Hark the Herald Angels. 
• Others were sung last year, notably Vaughan Williams’ “This is the Truth” and Sussex Carol (“On Christmas Night all Christians Sing”)
• Others were sung for the 2018 centennial: 
• “Adam lay Ybounden,” arranged by former KCC leader Boris Ord (1929-39, 1946-56)
• “In the Bleak Midwinter,” the Rosetti poem with melody and harmony by former leader Harold Darke (1940-45)
• “In dulci jubilo,” translated and arranged by Robert de Pearsall

The recording is available online, or repeated on BBC 3 at 1300 GMT Christmas Day (0800 EST, 0500 PST). For once, the choir can listen with their family.

Giving thanks on Thanksgiving

Readers I know I am thankful for any chance to sing a familiar hymn. However, for Thanksgiving hymns, there are really two types: those for the fall Thanksgiving holiday, and those for giving thanks without regard to the season. The former are more uniquely suited for this week in November, and also less well known.

From a range of American hymnals of the past 120 years — plus The English Hymnal (1906) from the CoE — I identified eight hymns listed as a “Thanksgiving” hymn. I discussed these eight hymns in a column yesterday in the North American Anglican.

Below is the table I made up for my own reference with the hymn texts, tunes and sequences in the hymnals:

Text	Tune	TEH	1892	1916	1940	1982	2017
Come, ye thankful people, come	St. George's Windsor	289	193	421	137	290	203
For the beauty of the earth	†	309		425	296	416	206
We plow the fields and scatter	Claudius	293		423	138	291	204
Now thank we all our God	Nun danket	533	466	422	276	397	200
Praise to God, immortal praise	Dix		192	420	140	288	591
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation	Lobe den Herren	536			279	290	349
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow	Old Hundredth				139	380	208
We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing	Kremser				315	433	199

Notes: 

• 1892 tunes vary by edition, so tunes taken from the 1896 xx
• 2017 is the new REC hymnal: Magnify the Lord aka Book of Common Praise 2017.
• † For this hymn, the tune varies between hymnals

Note also that it is not until 1928 that Thanksgiving is offically observed by the ECUSA Book of Common Prayer.

Harvest Hymns

The first three hymns are harvest hymns suitable for singing in the fall. Of these three, my personal favorite is “We plow the fields and scatter,” both for the tune (with harmony) and the text:

We plow the fields, and scatter
The good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered
By God's almighty hand;
He sends the snow in winter,
The warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine,
And soft refreshing rain.

Refrain: All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above;
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
For all his love.

He only is the Maker
Of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower,
He lights the evening star;
The winds and waves obey him,
By him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, his children,
He gives our daily bread.
Refrain

We thank thee, then, O Father,
For all things bright and good,
The seedtime and the harvest,
Our life, our health, our food:
No gifts have we to offer
For all thy love imparts,
But that which thou desirest,
Our humble, thankful hearts.
Refrain

The greatest personal disappointment was find that when singing “For the beauty of the earth,” the tune I associate with this hymn — Dix — is only used with a hymnal that didn’t exist five years ago.

Giving thanks

Most of the remaining hymns sing praise to God in a manner that could be done year round, such as “Praise to God,” “Praise to the Lord,” and “Praise God.” In this category, it’s impossible to beat “Now thank we all our God” by Martin Rinkart; it certainly was familiar to everyone present when we sang it last Sunday. 

One hymn — “We gather together” — is associated with Thanksgiving only because of the opening phrase; however, the remaining text is from a 1597 hymn giving thanks after Spanish persecution of Dutch Protestants. It only gradually entered American hymnals in the mid-20th century, based on a late 19th century translation.