Golden Bells

Golden Bells: Hymns for our Children (ca. 1890); Second Edition, 1925/26; Facsimile with Supplement, ca. 1960; Hymns of Faith, 1974. ‘Golden Bells’ is the title of a succession of hymnbooks for young people published by the Children’s Special Service Mission. The CSSM itself was part of the Scripture Union, founded in 1867 by Josiah Spiers and Thomas Hughes to be an alternative to more formal Sunday Schools: in 1868, for example, it began ‘beach missions’ for children on holiday, and the tradition of ‘Scripture Union holidays’ has continued to this day. The Scripture Union is now an international evangelical organisation, with autonomous branches in many countries. The date of the first...