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All things praise thee, Lord most high. George William Conder* (1821-1874).
First published in an Appendix of 1874 to Psalms, Hymns, and Passages of Scripture for Christian Worship (Leeds, 1853), generally known as the 'Leeds Hymn Book', edited by Conder and other Congregationalists, including George Rawson*. The book had been first compiled when Conder was minister of Belgrave Chapel, Leeds, from 1849 to 1864, but it is not known when this hymn was written. It had six stanzas,...
LAW, Andrew. b. Milford, Connecticut, 21 March 1749; d. Cheshire, Connecticut, 13 July 1821. Law, a grandson of Jonathan Law (1674-1750), Governor of the Colony of Connecticut (1741-1750), was a tunebook compiler, clergyman, and composer. His Select Harmony: containing in a plain and concise manner, the rules of singing, together with a collection of psalm tunes, hymns and anthems (Cheshire, Connecticut, 1779) became a major influence among many subsequent collections used by singing masters...
REED, Andrew. b. London, 27 November 1787; d. London, 25 February 1862. He was the son of a watchmaker, who was also a lay preacher. He became a watchmaker himself, but sold his tools and entered Hackney College in 1807 to train for the Congregational ministry. He was ordained in 1811 to a chapel at New Road, East London. He built a new chapel called Wycliffe in Commercial Road, Whitechapel, and became minister of the congregation there in 1831; he retired in November 1861, after thirty years...
TAYLOR, Ann, b. Islington, London, 30 January 1782, d. Nottingham, 20 December 1866, married name Ann Taylor Gilbert;
Jane, b. Islington, 23 September 1783, d. Ongar, Essex, 13 April 1824.
After Isaac Watts* and Charles Wesley*, Ann and Jane Taylor were the most important of the early hymn writers for children. Their Hymns for Infant Minds was first published in 1810 and was a commercial success in Britain and America (by the 1860s, it had gone into nearly 50 editions in America, and by the...
THOMAS, (Henry) Arnold. b. Clifton, Bristol, 13 June 1848; d. Sneyd Park, Bristol, 28 June 1924. The son of the minister of Highbury Chapel, Bristol (Congregational), he was educated at Mill Hill School, University College, London, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He assisted his father at Highbury Chapel before training for the Congregational ministry at New College, London. He was ordained to pastorates at Burntash, Lewisham, London (1873-74) and Ealing (1874-76); but 'it was fore-ordained...
PATTEN, Arthur Bardwell. b. Bowdoinham, Maine, 26 March 1864; d. Claremont, California, 10 May 1952. He was educated at Colby University, Waterville, Maine (now Colby College, to indicate its status as an old-established Liberal Arts College). He graduated AB in 1890, and went on to Bangor Theological Seminary (graduated 1893). He became a minister in the Congregational Church, serving pastorates at Everett, Massachusetts (1895-97), South Hadley, Mass. (1897-1905), Sant Rosa, California...
NETTLETON, Asahel. b. North Killingworth, Connecticut, 21 April 1783; d, East Windsor,Connecticut, 16 May 1844. Nettleton was an itinerant revivalist of the conservative (Calvinistic) wing of the Congregational Church, and compiler of Village Hymns for Social Worship* (Hartford, Connecticut, 1824). He was converted when a teenager. Following the death of his father, he managed the family's farm and finances, and taught school. A local Presbyterian minister prepared him for entering Yale College...
Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve. Philip Doddridge* (1702-1751).
This was hymn CCXCVI in Doddridge's Hymns Founded on Various Texts in the Holy Scriptures (1755). This was headed 'Pressing on in the Christian Race. Phil. iii. 12-14.' It was a variant on the common 'Awake, my soul' theme', distinguished from other examples by its exhortation to zeal and vigour:
Awake, my Soul, stretch ev'ry Nerve And press with Vigour on: A heav'nly Race demands thy Zeal, And an immortal Crown.
While...
The Bay Psalm Book (BPB), or—to use its actual title—The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre ([Boston], 1640), is one of the most famous books ever printed in what is now the United States. Its press run was only 1700 copies. The dozen or so that still survive are almost beyond price today. Their value rests chiefly on the BPB's standing as the first book written and printed in English-speaking North America, and as a symbol of the country's beginnings. Much research...
WINCHESTER, Benjamin Severance. b. Bridport, Vermont, 20 February 1868; d. Danbury, Connecticut, 29 April 1955. He was a pastor, educator, and administrator. His parents were Warren Weaver Winchester (1823–1889), a minister, and Catherine Mary Severance Winchester (1821–1915). He married Pearl Adair Gunn (1874–1971) in 1897, and they had five children, Margaret, Katharine, Pauline, Alice, and John Henry.
Winchester earned the BA degree from Williams College in 1889, after which he taught...
WAUGH, Benjamin. b. Settle, Yorkshire, 20 February 1839; d. Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, 11 March 1908. He left school at 14, and was apprenticed to a linen draper in Southport; but at 23 he entered Airedale College, Bradford, to train for the Congregational ministry (1862-65). He served at Newbury, Berkshire (1865-66), Greenwich, London (1866-85), and New Southgate, Middlesex (1885-87). While at Greenwich he became interested in the welfare of children, and in 1887 he resigned from the full-time...
MANNING, Bernard Lord. b. Caistor, Lincolnshire, 31 December 1892; d. Cambridge, 8 December 1941. The 'Lord' in Manning's name was a given name at his Baptism, not a peerage. He was the son of a Wesleyan Methodist, George Manning, who later became a Congregational minister. His son also became a member of the Congregational Church.
Manning was educated at Caistor Grammar School and Jesus College, Cambridge. He became a bye-Fellow at Magdalene College (1916-1918) and was elected a Fellow of...
MUDIE, Charles Edward. b. Chelsea, London, 18 October 1818; d. Hampstead, London, 28 October 1890. Mudie followed in his father's footsteps as a bookseller. He established his own shop in Bloomsbury in 1840, and for a time was also in business as a publisher. In 1842 he founded the subscription library for which he is chiefly remembered. At its peak this had over 25,000 subscribers, with branches in several parts of London, as well as Birmingham and Manchester. The library exercised a great...
BATEMAN, Christian Henry. b. Wyke, Yorkshire, England, 9 August 1813; d. Carlisle, Cumberland, 27 July 1889. Bateman was the son of John Frederick Bateman (1772–1851), a mostly unsuccessful inventor, and Mary Agnes Bateman (née La Trobe) (1772–1848), and the fourth of six siblings (his older brother, the eminent civil engineer John Frederick La Trobe Bateman (1810–1889), was - unlike his father - one of the most successful innovators of his era, supervising reservoirs and waterworks in Ireland...
Come, all harmonious Tongues. Isaac Watts* (1674-1748).
From Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707), Book II, 'Composed on Divine Subjects, Conformable to the Word of God'. It was Hymn 84, entitled 'The Same' (as the previous hymn, 'The Passion and Exaltation of Christ'). The text in 1707 was in eight Short Metre stanzas:
Come, all harmonious Tongues, Your noblest Music bring;'Tis Christ the Everlasting God, And Christ the Man we sing.
Tell how he took our Flesh To take away our Guilt,...
Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove. Isaac Watts* (1674-1748).
First published in Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707), from Book II, 'Composed on Divine Subjects, Conformable to the Word of God'. It was entitled 'Breathing after the Holy Spirit; or, Fervency of Devotion desir'd'. It had five 4-line stanzas:
Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove, With all thy quickning Powers, Kindle a Flame of sacred Love In these cold Hearts of ours.
Look, how we grovel here below, And hug these trifling Toys;...
Come, sound his praise abroad. Isaac Watts* (1674-1748).
This is Watts's Short Metre paraphrase of Psalm 95 in The Psalms of David imitated in the language of the New Testament, and apply'd to the Christian State and Worship (1719). It was entitled 'Psalm XCV. Short Metre. A Psalm before Sermon.' Watts also wrote a CM and an LM version. The customary text in hymnals is one of three or four stanzas, corresponding to verses 1-7 of the Psalm. In 1719 the stanzas were as follows:
Come sound...
Congregational Church hymnody in Britain
The term 'Congregational hymnody' is significant for all churches and liturgical traditions where the congregation takes an active and full part in the singing of hymns (contrasted with those places or occasions where the hymns are the province of a specialised choir or the practice of a religious community). This article, however, is limited to an account of hymnody in churches of the Congregational order in England and Wales, during a period beginning...
MARCH, Daniel. b. Milbury, Massachusetts, 21 July 1816; d. Woburn, Massachusetts, 2 March 1909. March was educated at Amherst College (1834-36), and Yale University (BA, 1840). After serving as principal of Fairfield Academy in Connecticut, he returned to Yale for his theological studies. He was ordained into the Presbyterian ministry in 1845, but later changed to Congregationalism, and served churches in Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania, and twice in Woburn, Massachusetts (1856-64,...
RITCHIE, David Lakie. b. Kingsmuir, Angus, Scotland, 15 September 1864; d. Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 14 December 1951. He was educated at Forfar Academy and at the University of Edinburgh. He was ordained to ministry in the Congregational Church in Scotland, with a pastorate at Dunfermline (1890-96) and then in England at St James's Congregational Church, Newcastle upon Tyne (1896-1903). He was Principal of Nottingham Theological Institute from 1903 to 1919; and, after a year in Montreal as...
SHILLITO, Edward. b. Hull, 4 July 1872; d. Buckhurst Hill, Essex, 1 March 1948. He was educated at Silcoates School, Wakefield, Yorkshire (founded as the Northern Congregational School), and Owens College, Manchester (later the University of Manchester). He trained for the Congregational ministry at Mansfield College, Oxford, and was ordained as an assistant at Ashton-under-Lyne, near Manchester (1896). He subsequently served at Tunbridge Wells (1898-1901), Brighton (1901-06), Harlesden,...
BLAXILL, (Edwin) Alec. b. Colchester, Essex, 16 March 1873; d. Colchester, 25 June 1953. He was educated at the Grammar School (later the Royal Grammar School) at Colchester, and lived all his life in the town. After leaving school he worked in the family business, which included a builders' merchants (which still exists). He was a member of Lion Walk Congregational Church at Hythe ( part of Colchester), and a teacher, and later Superintendent of the Sunday School there. He was elected to the...
ARMITAGE, Ella Sophia (née Bulley). b. Liverpool, 3 March 1841; d. Leeds, 20 March 1931. Born into a distinguished Congregationalist family, she was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she was one of the first five undergraduates (Newnham was one of the first colleges for women). She was a notable linguist, historian and archaeologist, working at Manchester University, from which she received an Honorary Degree. She married the Revd. Elkanah Armitage, a professor at the Yorkshire...
ROUTLEY, Erik Reginald. b. Brighton, Sussex, 31 October 1917; d. Nashville, Tennessee, USA, 8 October 1982. He was the only child of John, a businessman and town councillor who was Mayor of Brighton in 1936-37, and Eleanor, a homemaker and musician. He attended Fonthill Preparatory School, 1925-31 and Lancing College, 1931-36. He read Literae Humaniores (nicknamed 'Mods' and 'Greats': classics/ ancient history and philosophy) at Magdalen College, Oxford (BA 1940, MA 1943). He became an...
SHURTLEFF, Ernest Warburton. b. Boston, Massachusetts, 4 April 1862; d. Paris, France, August 1917. He was educated at the Boston Latin School and Harvard University, with a further period of study at the New Church (Swedenborgian) Theological Seminary. He trained for the Congregational ministry at Andover Theological College, graduating in 1888. For the graduation ceremony he wrote the hymn by which he is still known, 'Lead on, O King eternal'*. He subsequently served as a minister at...
Faith of our Mothers, living yet. Arthur Bardwell Patten* (1864-1952).
This is a praiseworthy attempt to assert the rights of women in opposition to the gender-exclusive language of 'Faith of our fathers! living still'* the famous hymn by Frederick William Faber* of 1849 (each stanza of Patten's hymn ends, as Faber's does, with the stirring 'We will be true to thee till death'). The earliest page scans in Hymnary.org print 'living yet', which suggests that Patten was attempting to make his...
HEDGE, Frederic Henry. b. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 12 December 1805; d. 21 August 1890. He was the son of Levi Hedge, Professor of German at Harvard, and his wife Mary Kneeland. Frederic, their only child, was sent to Germany at the age of thirteen to be educated, in the company of George Bancroft (1800-1891, later to become a distinguished statesman and diplomat). He was a pupil at the Gymnasium of Ilfeld (Hannover) and of Schulpforta (Saxony). Returning to the USA in 1823 he entered at...
RAWSON, George. b. Leeds, 5 June 1807; d. Bristol, 24 March 1889. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School. He became a solicitor and practised in Leeds, where he was also an active Congregationalist. He assisted George William Conder* and other local figures in the preparation of an influential Congregationalist collection entitled Psalms, Hymns, and Passages of Scripture for Christian Worship, usually called the 'Leeds Hymn Book' (1853). He then assisted the Baptists in the compilation...
ROBINSON, George Wade. b. Cork, Ireland, 1838; d. Brighton, 28 January 1877. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, before training for the Congregational ministry at New College, London. He served as a Congregational minister at Dublin, London, Dudley (near Birmingham) and Brighton. During his short life he published Lays of a Heart (1867), Iona and other Sonnets (Dublin, 1868), Loveland and Other Poems, chiefly concerning Love (1870, Second Edition, 1873), and Songs in God's World...
CONDER, George William. b. Hitchin, Hertforshire, 30 November 1821; d. Forest Hill, London, 8 November 1874. He was educated at Hitchin Grammar School. He then went to London to make a career in business, becoming a member of King's Weigh House Chapel under the ministry of Thomas Binney*. Binney encouraged him to enter the Congregational Church ministry, and he trained at Highbury College before serving at High Wycombe (1845-47), Ryde, Isle of Wight (1847-49), and Belgrave Chapel, Leeds...
God named Love, whose fount Thou art. Elizabeth Barrett Browning* (1806-1861).
From The Seraphim, and other poems (1838). This book, besides containing 'The Sleep' (see 'Of all the thoughts of God, that are'* and 'What would we give to our beloved'*), has a sequence of four hymns. The present text is 'Hymn I', entitled 'A Supplication for Love'. It had nine 4-line stanzas, with an unusual accent in line 1 ('namèd') to make up the eight syllables:
God, namèd Love, whose fount Thou art, Thy...
Hark! the voice of love and mercy. Jonathan Evans* (1748/49-1809).
First published anonymously in George Burder*'s A Collection of Hymns from Various Authors (Coventry, 1784). It was written in five 6-line stanzas. Stanza 4 has a direct reference to the Holy Communion, and is often omitted to give the hymn a more general application:
Happy souls, approach the table, Taste the soul-reviving food! Nothing half so sweet and pleasant As the Saviour's flesh and blood. 'It is finished!' 'It is...
ALLON, Henry. b. Welton, near Hull, 13 October 1818; d. London (? buried at Abney Park Cemetery)16 April 1892. He was apprenticed as a builder, but decided to become a minister of the Congregational Church. He was educated at Cheshunt College from 1839. He became assistant pastor of Union Chapel, Islington, in 1844, and sole pastor from 1852 to 1892.
His organists there were Henry John Gauntlett* from 1853 to 1861 and Ebenezer Prout* from 1861 to 1873. He wrote a hymn for Passion-tide, 'Low...
DEXTER, Henry Martyn. b. Plympton, Massachusetts, 13 August 1821; d. Boston, Massachusetts, 13 November 1890. He was educated at Yale (graduated 1840) and Andover Theological Seminary (1844). He served as a Congregational Church Minister at Manchester, New Hampshire (1844-49), and Boston, Massachusetts (1849-67). He resigned his pastorate in order to edit the Congregationalist and Recorder. He was a prolific writer: in addition to his many sermons and discourses, he published Congregationalism:...
BEECHER, Henry Ward. b. Litchfield, Connecticut, 24 June 1813; d. New York, 8 March 1887. He was the son of Lyman Beecher, a celebrated Presbyterian minister; one of his sisters was Harriet Beecher Stowe*, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Henry was educated at Amherst College, Massachusetts (graduating in 1834), and Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, where his father had become Principal. In 1837 he was ordained to First Presbyterian Church in the small town of Lawrenceburg, Indiana,...
Here is love, vast as the ocean. William Rees* (1802-1883), translated by William Edwards (1848-1929) and Howell Elvet Lewis* (1860-1953).
This is Rees's best known and finest hymn, dating from some time in the 1870s. In the manner of earlier Moravian and Methodist hymns, there is an intense focus on the shedding of Christ's blood, which Rees explores through a series of water-inspired metaphors in the second stanza. Though Edwards' translation is somewhat free, he faithfully preserves this...
How high Thou art! our songs can own. Elizabeth Barrett Browning* (1806-1861).
This is one of the four hymns printed by Elizabeth Barrett (as she then was) in The Seraphim, and other poems (1838) (cf. 'God named Love, whose fount Thou art'*). This was 'Hymn II', entitled 'The Mediator'. It was prefaced by 'As the greatest of all sacrifices was required, we may be assured that no other would have sufficed.' - BOYD's Essay on the Atonement.' This refers to Hugh Stuart Boyd's An Essay on the...
I think, when I read that sweet story of old. Jemima Luke* (1813-1906).
Two verses of this hymn, based on Mark 10: 14, were written during a journey between Wellington and Taunton, Somerset, by stage-coach in 1841 to match a Greek marching tune that she had heard in a school, the Normal Infants' School, in London. They were intended for use at a village school, and were published in The Sunday School Teachers' Magazine, and Journal of Education in 1841, entitled 'The Child's Desire'. Her...
In our dear Lord's garden. Ella Sophia Armitage* (1841-1931).
Written at Dedham, on the Essex-Suffolk border, in 1881, and published in the same year in Armitage's The Garden of the Lord. It was entitled 'Christ's love for children'. Probably Armitage's fondness for this hymn led to the book's title. It was popular as a children's hymn in the first part of the 20th century, and was printed in MHB and CP. In the metre of 6.5.6.5., it has an affecting simplicity, but its language has not...
In the dark and cloudy day. George Rawson* (1807-1889).
From Psalms, Hymns, and Passages of Scripture for Christian Worship (the 'Leeds Hymn Book', 1853), the book in which Rawson assisted the local Congregationalist ministers. It had six stanzas:
In the dark and cloudy day, When earth's riches flee away, And the last hope will not stay, Saviour, comfort me.
When the secret idol's gone, That my poor heart yearned upon, Desolate, bereft, alone, Saviour, comfort me.
Thou, who wast so...
Is this thy will, and must I be. Susanna Harrison* (1752-1784).
From Songs in the Night (1780). It is an interesting example of a hymn by an uneducated woman writer who is nervous about her work appearing in the public domain, with herself as a 'living witness'. It had a note at the foot of the page: 'Composed after being made acquainted that her verses were designed to be printed.' She claims to be unworthy of this, but this serves as an artifice which allows her to declare to all the saints...
WATTS, Isaac. b. Southampton, 17 July 1674; d. Stoke Newington, London, 25 November 1748.
His Life and Ministry
He was the eldest of nine children in a prosperous dissenting family. His father, who has been variously described as teacher, clothier and gentleman, was a deacon of the Above Bar Congregational Church. His mother's family, the Tauntons, were of Huguenot descent. Tradition has it that during the year of his birth he was breast-fed by his mother on the steps of the Old Town Gaol,...
LYON, James. b. Newark, New Jersey, 1 July 1735; d. Machias, Maine, 12 October 1794. Lyon was a Presbyterian minister, patriot, tunebook compiler, and composer. He is known primarily for compiling the tunebook Urania.
Lyon was the son of Zopher Lyon (1717-1744) and Mary Wood Lyon (1716-1746). Little is known of his childhood and musical training. He attended the College of New Jersey, then known as Nassau Hall, a large building completed in 1756 (now Princeton University). The 1759...
LUKE, Jemima (née Thompson). b. London, 19 August 1813; d. Newport, Isle of Wight, 2 February 1906. She grew up in a pious Congregationalist family: her father, Thomas Thompson, was an active member of the Bible Society, of the London Missionary Society, and the Home Missionary Society. He also proposed a floating chapel for sailors. She later commemorated him in Sketches of the Life and Character of Thomas Thompson (1868).
With this upbringing, it is not surprising that she should have...
Jesus, King of glory. W. Hope Davison* (1827-1894).
This has the same first line, and is written in the same metre as a hymn by Edward Harland*, published in his Church Psalter and Hymnal (1855). According to JJ, Davison's hymn was first published in one of two 'Services of Song for Passiontide', but this has not been found: the hymn exists in papers held in Bolton Archives and Local Studies Collections, entitled 'Sermons & Lectures. W.H. Davison Senr.'
Harland's hymn began:
Jesus! King...
GEYER, John Brownlow. b. Wakefield, Yorkshire, 9 May 1932; d. Tayport, Fife, 26 July 2020. He was educated at Silcoates School, Wakefield, the Congregational foundation for the sons of nonconformist ministers. After National Service (1951-53), he read Theology at Queens' College, Cambridge (BA 1956), and trained for the Congregational ministry at Mansfield College, Oxford (1956-59), with a period studying at Heidelberg (1957-59). He was minister of the Congregational Church, St Andrews, Fife,...
PARK, John Edgar. b. Belfast, Northern Ireland, 7 March 1879; d. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 4 March 1956. Park was educated at the Queen's University of Belfast (then Queen's College), and thereafter at Universities of Dublin, Edinburgh, Leipzig, Munich, Oxford and Princeton. His time at Princeton was followed by permanent residence in the USA: he became a Presbyterian minister, serving in the lumber camps of the Adirondack Mountains in upper New York State. He then became a Congregational...
HUNTER, John. b. Aberdeen, 14 July 1848; d. Hampstead, London, 15 September 1917. He was apprenticed to a draper, but decided to train for the Congregational ministry. He was accepted at Paton Congregational College, Nottingham, which specialised in training young men with unusual qualifications. Dr Paton sent on his best students to Spring Hill College, Birmingham (later Mansfield College, Oxford), and Hunter was duly sent there. He served as a very successful Congregational minister at...
OXENHAM, John. b. Manchester, 12 November 1852; d. Worthing, Sussex, 23 January 1941. 'John Oxenham' was the pseudonym of William Arthur Dunkerley, the name taken from a character in Charles Kingsley's* novel Westward Ho! (1855). Dunkerley was educated at Old Trafford School and the University of Manchester. He worked in his father's business as a wholesale provision merchant, with periods in France and the USA.
His interest in writing was stimulated by a friendship with Jerome K. Jerome,...
TUFTS, John. b. Medford, Massachusetts, 26 February 1689; d. Amesbury, Massachusetts, 17 August 1750. Tufts was a minister, merchant, probably a singing teacher, and possibly a composer. He compiled An Introduction to the Art of Singing Psalm-Tunes (1721?), considered the first American music textbook.
John Tufts was the third son of Captain Peter Tufts (1648-1721) and Mercy Cotton Tufts (1666-1715). He graduated from Harvard College (AB, 1708), and was ordained on 30 June 1714 in...
Evans, Jonathan. b. Coventry, 1748 or 1749; d. Foleshill, near Coventry, 31 August 1809. He worked in a ribbon factory as a young man. He was converted by hearing a sermon by George Burder*, who remained a close associate and staunch friend. He was led to preach at Foleshill: his preaching was so attractive that the chapel was enlarged in 1795. In 1797 he was ordained to the Congregational ministry. Burder was one of three people who gave addresses at the service, later published as Three...
SPALDING, Joshua. b. Killingly, Connecticut, 14 December 1760; d. Newburgh, New York State, 26 September 1825. According to the Douglas Family Records (see below) Spalding, whose name is sometimes spelt 'Spaulding', studied theology with the Rev Mr Bradford, of Rowley, Massachusetts. In 1785 he was ordained 'over the church and society' of the Tabernacle church, Salem, Massachusetts, where he was remembered as 'an energetic pastor', so that 'the drooping interests of the church and society...
Light up this house with glory, Lord. John Harris* (1802-1856).
Written, presumably, for the opening of a chapel, and first published in the New Congregational Hymn Book (1859) not long after Harris's death. It is found in the 'Special Occasions' section under 'Founding and Opening Places of Worship'.
The original text in 1859 was as follows:
Light up this house with glory, Lord; Enter, and claim Thine own; Receive the homage of our souls, Erect Thy temple throne.
We rear no altar, –...
Living Spirit, holy fire. Ruth C. Duck* (1947– ).
This hymn was written in 2003. It first appeared in Duck's collection Welcome God's Tomorrow (Chicago, 2005). The hymn then appeared in three collections in the United States in the same year, Gather,Third Edition (Chicago, 2011), Worship, Fourth Edition (Chicago, 2011), and Worship and Song (Nashville, 2011).
Duck had been conducting research at Pilgrim Congregational Church, Oak Park, Illinois, a United Church of Christ (UCC) congregation...
Lord, can a helpless worm like me. Susanna Harrison* (1752-1784).
From Harrison's Songs in the Night, by a young woman under deep afflictions, first published in 1780. In the Seventh American Edition (New York, 1847) it was no. LXIII. It was prefaced with a quotation: '“Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus.” - Heb. Xii. 1,2.' It had five stanzas:
Lord, can a helpless worm like me Attempt to make her way to thee? Yes, let me raise thy praises high - In...
Drury, Miriam (née Leyrer). b. Santa Ana, California, 1900; d. Pasadena, California,1985. Drury served as an organist in her Congregational church in her youth, and attended the University of California. In 1922 she married Clifford M. Drury, a Presbyterian ministerand professor of church history at San Francisco Theological Seminary (San Anselmo,California); after marriage, she continued her musical interests and education in the locations where his positions took them, including Edinburgh,...
My Shepherd will supply my need.Isaac Watts* (1674-1748).
Psalm 23 has always been a great comfort in life, and in the face of death (it is often used in funerals). By the time Watts wrote his version, it had attracted several versifiers, from William Whittingham* ('The Lord is only my support') and George Herbert* ('The God of love my shepherd is'*) to Nahum Tate*/Nicholas Brady* ('The Lord himself, the mighty Lord') and Joseph Addison* ('The Lord my pasture shall prepare'*). Watts...
This was the title of a Supplement to CP (1951). It was one of the first Supplements to a denominational hymnbook in Britain, and its contents were widely appreciated and used. For details, see Bernard Stanford Massey*.
Not only for the goodly fruit-trees tall. Ella Sophia Armitage* (1841-1931).
This unusual hymn is from Armitage's The Garden of the Lord (1881). It was written at Waterhead, Oldham, for those who care for children. It is suitable for Sunday-school teachers, but for all parents who wish to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It is too complex to be a hymn for children to sing: Armitage (or E.S.A. as she signed herself) works a delicate connection between children...
O let Jehovah' s liberal hand. Susanna Harrison* (1752-1784).
From Harrison's Songs in the Night, by a young woman under deep afflictions, first( published in 1780. In the Seventh American Edition (New York, 1847) it was no. CXVIII, entitled 'Praising God for a Plentiful Harvest'. It had six stanzas:
O let Jehovah's liberal handBe own'd and sung through all the land'Tis He that sends a plenteous store,His name let every soul adore.
Let undeserved goodness raiseOur admiration and our...
O Lord of life, and love, and power. Ella Sophia Armitage* (1841-1931).
Written in 1875, and published in Armitage's The Garden of the Lord (1881). It was written at Waterhead, Oldham, for the opening of a new Sunday School (JJ, p. 1561). It had four strong stanzas, but three are normally printed. This text omits stanza 3, which is concerned specifically with Sunday-school matters:
In this new house our hands have raised Thy service to pursue,O may Thy Name henceforth be praised By work...
O the delights, the heavenly joys. Isaac Watts* (1674-1848).
This is Hymn 91 from Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707), Book II, 'Composed on Divine Subjects, Conformable to the Word of God'. It was entitled 'The Glory of Christ in Heaven'. The nine stanzas in 1707 were as follows:
O the Delights, the heavenly Joys, The Glorys of the Place, Where Jesus sheds the brightest Beams Of his O'er-flowing Grace!
Sweet Majesty and awful Love Sit smiling on his Brow, And all the glorious Ranks...
O young and fearless Prophet. Samuel Ralph Harlow* (1885-1972).
To appreciate this prophetic text more fully, it is helpful to explore the writings of S. Ralph Harlow, a tireless advocate for social justice, world peace, race relations, and human rights in the context of his day. He was a pedagogical revolutionary in his biblical courses with young people, insisting that the Bible should speak directly to the realities of his current age:
The only religion with which [young people] seem...
HUCKEL, Oliver. b. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 11 January 1864; d. Orlando, Florida, 3 February 1940. He was a Congregationalist minister, lecturer, author, translator, poet, and hymn writer. Broadly educated and widely traveled, he was influential in denominational and ecumenical circles, and a Mason. His parents were William Samuel Huckel (1835–1898), a businessman, and Ruth Ann Sprowles Huckel (1837–1915). His brother, William Samuel Huckel, Jr., (1858–1917) was a well-known architect in...
Peculiar Honours (1998). Peculiar Honours was published in 1998 by Stainer & Bell for the Congregational Federation, marking the 250th anniversary of the death of Isaac Watts*. The title is taken from Watts' hymn, 'Jesus shall reign where'er the sun'* ('Peculiar [i.e. special] honours to our king'). The book was designed as a resource to aid reflection on hymns: 'to reflect and encourage the traditions of hymn writing within Congregationalism' (Michael Durber, Preface, p. v). Hymns were...
BROWN, Phoebe Hinsdale (née Hinsdale). b. Canaan, New York State, 1 May 1783; d. Henry, Marshall County, Illinois, 10 October 1861. Hinsdale's parents died when she was a child, her father when she was less than a year old, and her mother when she was eight. She was brought up for a year by her grandmother, who taught her reading and instructed her in religion; but she was then sent to live with her married sister and cruel husband at Claverack, New Jersey, who treated her as a household slave...
The Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes; for the Use of Christian Congregations (New York, 1855).
The Plymouth Collection was edited by Henry Ward Beecher*, then minister of Plymouth Congregational Church, New York. He delegated responsibility for the tunes to John Zundel* and to his brother, the Revd Charles Beecher (1815-1900). They provided 367 tunes, set to 1374 texts. Each tune was printed with the texts beneath: sometimes, but rarely, with a single text; more often, with several texts...
WARDLAW, Ralph. b. Dalkeith, near Edinburgh, 22 December 1779; d. Easterhouse, Glasgow, 17 December 1853. His family moved to Glasgow when he was a baby, and he was educated there and at Glasgow University, which he entered at the age of 12. His family were members of the Associated Synod, or 'Burgher Church', and Ralph trained for the ministry of that church at the Theological Hall of the Secession Church in Glasgow. Controversies within the branches of the seceding church led him to join the...
This is the name given to the unedifying debate that arose after the publication in 1856 (Preface dated November 1855) of The Rivulet. Hymns for Heart and Voice by Thomas Toke Lynch*. It was a controversy that almost destroyed the Congregational Union that had been founded as recently as 1831.
The book contained hymns that are still sung today, such as 'Dismiss me not thy service, Lord'*, 'Gracious Spirit, dwell with me'*, and 'My faith, it is an oaken staff'*. Many of the hymns celebrate in a...
CARTER, Ruth. b. Clapton, London, 22 August 1900; d. Clacton, Essex, 4 November 1982. From East London, her family moved to Buckhurst Hill, Essex, in 1909. She was educated at a Methodist girls' boarding school, Farringtons, at Chislehurst in Kent, and at Westhill Training College, Birmingham. There she trained as a Froebel teacher, thereafter returning to Buckhurst Hill, where she specialized in remedial teaching for children. She was a member of the Congregational (later URC) church at...
HARLOW, Samuel Ralph. b. Boston, Massachusetts, 20 July 1885; d. Northampton, Massachusetts, 21 August 1972. Harlow was ordained in the Congregational Church. He received his education at Harvard (BA) and Columbia (M.A.) Universities as well as Hartford Theological Seminary (PhD). Early in his career, Harlow served as a teacher and chaplain at the International College, Smyrna, Turkey. During World War I he was the religious director of the YMCA in France as a part of the American Expeditionary...
Shepherd of tender youth. Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), ca. 150-ca. 220), translated by Henry Martyn Dexter* (1821-1890).
This hymn, entitled 'Hymn of the Saviour Christ', is one of the earliest (if not the earliest) Christian hymns. It was appended to the end of Book III of Paidagogos ('The Tutor'), a treatise by Clement, who taught philosophy and religion in the school at Alexandria. It was translated by Dexter during his time as a minister at Manchester, New Hampshire, and...
Show pity, Lord, O Lord, forgive. Isaac Watts* (1674-1748).
From The Psalms of David imitated in the language of the New Testament, and apply'd to the Christian State and Worship (1719). It was entitled 'Psalm LI. First Part. Long Metre. A Penitent Pleading for Pardon.' It had six stanzas:
Shew pity, Lord, O Lord forgive, Let a repenting Rebel live: Are not thy Mercies large and free? May not a Sinner trust in Thee?
My Crimes are great, but not surpass The Power and Glory of thy Grace:...
ORCHARD, Stephen Charles. b. Derby, 30 March 1942. He was educated at Derby School and Trinity College, Cambridge (BA 1965, reading English for Part I of the Tripos and Theology for Part II). He trained for the Congregational ministry at Cheshunt College, Cambridge, while studying for a PhD (awarded 1969). He was ordained in 1968, serving as a Congregational (later URC) minister at Abercarn, Caerphilly, South Wales (1968-70), Sutton, Surrey (1970-77), and Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire...
HARRISON, Susanna. b. 1752; d. Ipswich, 3 August 1784. Little is known of Harrison's early years. It is probable that she was born in Ipswich, where she lived and died. Her father died when she was young, and she became a domestic servant, ca. 1768, when she was 16 years old. She remained in service for four years, but became ill, remaining an invalid for the rest of her life. Her hymns were published anonymously as Songs in the Night, by a Young Woman under deep Afflictions (1780), with an...
'Twas on that dark, that doleful night. Isaac Watts* (1674-1748).
From Watts's Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707), Book III, 'Prepared for the holy Ordinance of the Lord's Supper' (many authorities give the Second Edition of 1709 as the publication date, but it was printed also in 1707). It was the first hymn in Book III, headed 'The Lord's Supper instituted, I Cor. 11. 23, &c.'. It had seven stanzas:
'Twas on that dark, that doleful Night When Powers of Earth and Hell arose Against the...
The Methodist Church Canada, the Congregational Union of Canada and 70% of the Presbyterian Church in Canada united to form The United Church of Canada on 10 June 1925. The first hymnbook of the new church, The Hymnary, was published in Toronto in 1930 by The United Church Publishing House. In 1971 the United Church of Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada issued a joint hymnal entitled The Hymn Book. It was the only product of a thirty-year dialogue towards church union. Voices United: the...
DAVISON, W(illiam) Hope. b. Sunderland, 27 November 1827; d. Plymouth, August 1894. He was a Congregational minister (ordained 1832) of Duke's-Alley Chapel, Bolton, in 1857, when he compiled and edited Psalms and Hymns for Public and Social Worship (Bolton, 1857), and afterwards at St George's Road Congregational Church, Bolton. He later served as a minister at Chatham, Pentonville, Tooting, and Plymouth. He also published The Sunday Scholars' Service of Sacred Song, in what appears to have...
We are a garden walled around. Isaac Watts* (1674-1748)
From Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707), Book I, 'Collected from the Scriptures' (Hymn LXXIV). It was entitled 'The Church the Garden of Christ; Sol. Song 4. 12, 14, 15. and 5.1.' It began
We are a Garden wall'd around, Chosen and made peculiar Ground; A little Spot inclos'd by Grace Out of the World's wide Wilderness.
Like Trees of Myrrh and Spice we stand Planted by God the Father's Hand; And all his Springs in Sion flow, To make the...
Welcome, sweet day of rest. Isaac Watts* (1674-1748).
First published in Watts's Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707), Book II, 'Composed on Divine Subjects, Conformable to the Word of God'. It was Hymn XIV, entitled 'The Lord's Day; or, Delight in Ordinances':
Welcome sweet Day of Rest, That saw the Lord arise;Welcome to this reviving Brest, And these rejoycing Eyes!
The King himself comes near, And feasts his Saints to Day, Here we may sit, and see him near, And love and praise and...
What shall I render to my God (Watts). Isaac Watts* (1674-1748).
From The Psalms of David imitated in the Language of the New Testament (1719), where it is a metrical version of the second part of Psalm 116, beginning at verse 12. It was headed 'Vows made in Trouble paid in the Church; or, Publick Thanks for Private Deliverance'. It was later imitated by Charles Wesley* in a hymn with the same first line. Watts's text was as follows in 1719:
What shall I render to my God For all his...
When I can read my Title clear. Isaac Watts* (1674-1748).
From Watts's Hymns and Sacred Poems (1707), Book II, 'Composed on Divine Subjects', hymn 65. It was entitled 'The Hope of Heaven our Support under Trials on Earth'. It had four stanzas. The 1707 text was as follows:
When I can read my Title clear To Mansions in the Skies, I bid farewell to every Fear, And wipe my weeping eyes.
Should Earth against my Soul engage, And Hellish Darts be hurl'd,, Then I can smile at Satan's rage, ...
PIGGOTT, William Charter. b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, 9 August 1872; d. Streatham, London, 5 November 1943. He was educated at Huddersfield College, Yorkshire and trained for the Wesleyan Methodist ministry at Headingley College, Leeds. He was never ordained, but left Methodism and organised a 'Brotherhood Church' in Harrow Road, West London (1896-1900). He became a Congregational minister in 1901 with a charge at Greville Place, Kilburn (1901-04) followed by one at Bunyan Meeting,...
REES, William. b. near Llansannan, Denbighshire, 8 November 1802; d. Chester, 8 November 1883. Brought up as a Calvinistic Methodist, Rees was ordained as a Congregationalist minister in 1832. He served chapels in Flintshire, Denbighshire and Liverpool, as was a renowned preacher and lecturer. Having studied Welsh poetry from a young age, his own strict-metre compositions won prizes at eisteddfodau in Brecon (1826) and Denbigh (1828). He took the Bardic name Gwilym Hiraethog. Rees was also...
SHRUBSOLE, William (II). b. Sheerness, Kent, 21 November 1759; d. Highbury, London, 23 August 1829. He was the son of a mast-maker in the Sheerness dockyard. He became a shipwright himself, but in 1785 he went to London and became a clerk in the Bank of England, rising to become Secretary to the Committee of the Treasury. He was founder and enthusiastic supporter of the London Missionary Society (founded 1795), for which he wrote 'Bright as the sun's meridian blaze'; and he actively supported...
ROCKWELL, William Walker. b. Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 4 October 1874; d. New York City, 30 May 1958. Church historian and librarian, Rockwell attended Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts (BA, 1895), the Andover Theological Seminary, Andover, Massachusetts (STB, 1900) and the University of Marburg, Germany (PhD, 1903). He was ordained by the Congregational Church at the seminary church in Andover on 5 June 1905.
Rockwell was an instructor at Andover Theological Seminary (1904), and...