Using Vintage Hymns in Worship

Hidden Treasures Rediscovered for Today's Church

Gillian Warson

• Publisher: Sacristy Press
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781789591668
• Topic: Théologie et religion
• Subtopic: Religion

For Christian believers, hymns offer an opportunity to bear witness to their faith and lift their voices in praise of God with their fellow worshippers. Hymns, even those dulled by familiarity, far from being trite and complacent, have the power to alert us to grave dangers facing the world today, and even to move us to decisive action.

It is tempting to disregard older hymns thinking of them as past their sell-by date, yet for many of the faithful, these traditional texts form the bedrock of worship and liturgy. What can be done if treasured hymns express social attitudes we no longer share, for example with regard to gender or colonialism?

Gillian Warson blows the dust off unfashionable texts and argues that they can now be regarded as "vintage". She argues that hymn singing can continue as a flourishing tradition with old and new coexisting comfortably alongside each other, and invites us to see that vintage hymn texts are lovingly preserved so that they can be enjoyed for generations to come.

Chapter 2

Keeping the tradition of hymn singing vibrant

To keep or not to keep?

So, the dusty hymnbooks at the back of the cupboard live on to fight another day! Is this discussion, though, simply a displacement activity so we don’t have to do any tidying up? Absolutely not! Now we can start deciding which of our vintage hymns are relevant for singing today. In our day-to-day lives, we are urged to keep up to date, yet the darling of yesterday so often becomes the demon of today—and the pendulum swings back and forth. In the summer of 2020, the recommended use of disposable coffee cups provides a telling example of fluctuating attitudes. Prior to 2020, there was mounting pressure to shun these in favour of reusable cups, but then, with the threat of COVID-19 infection, single-use cups once more became the order of the day. The world of fashion offers a further example. Fashion-conscious dressers feel compelled to keep updating their wardrobe, and yet there is a countervailing wisdom that urges us to hold on to last year’s vogue and wait for the style to re-enter the catwalks. How I am kicking myself for throwing out those flowery Doc Martens! Here is an example of vintage versus “old-fashioned”. It is all too easy to think that something is no use because it is no longer in fashion. It is no different when we consider our hymns. One thing we can be sure of, though, is that the remorseless search for the new is literally costing the earth and to re-love and re-use makes good sense.

Is it, then, purely a matter of fashion that leads us to decide on the relevance of a hymn? Let’s start by looking at the reasons why we may either keep or discard a hymn. One reason that a hymn may be discarded is because it is associated with an uninspiring tune. The marriage of texts to tunes is outside the scope of this book, but it is worth noting that the success and longevity of “Jerusalem” (William Blake, 1752–1827), which we will look at later, comes without doubt because it is linked to the stirring tune of the same name by C. H. H. Parry (1848–1918). We have also suggested that a hymn may be discarded simply because it can no longer be found in an available hymnbook. However, there are perhaps two more significant reasons why a hymn is deemed irrelevant and therefore to be discarded. The first is that the idea or sentiment in a hymn is, to singers today, unsatisfactory. As we shall see, we are now less comfortable singing hymns that describe the beauties of foreign climes such as “From Greenland’s icy mountains” (Reginald Heber, 1783–1826) or “Hills of the north, rejoice” (Charles Edward Oakley, 1832–65) because, alongside the sumptuous descriptions, we confront the language of empire with the “home” of the fifth verse of the latter clearly referring to England! The further reason why a hymn might be deemed not relevant is that, whilst the idea or sentiment is acceptable to singers today, it may be couched in language in some sense unsatisfactory—for example, it may have obscure vocabulary, over-complex syntax, strained imagery or forced inversions.

Before moving on to discuss how we can continue to enjoy our vintage hymns, let’s think about who might be making the decisions about the relevance, or not, of our vintage hymns. Is it the ordinary singer in the pew and the wider community who find a hymn no longer speaks to them? Perhaps church authorities feel that a specific hymn has a message from which they wish to distance themselves? Members of a church may feel that the text sends a message no longer acceptable to them. On the other hand, it could be, as we have seen, that individual ministers and worship leaders are simply tired of a hymn and can’t be bothered with it anymore. Finally, it could be the choice of anxious hymnbook committees and publishers who no longer wish to associate themselves with what they consider to be a dated text.

It goes without saying, of course, that everything was new once. Even the hymns that seem to have been around for ever were ground-breaking in their day. For example, imagine a hymnbook which did not contain “Amazing Grace”. Yet John Newton introduced this brand-new text on 1 January 1773 to assist his congregation in their understanding of the reading for the day. Now the hymn, perhaps one of the finest vintage hymns, has burst out of the pew into the realm of popular culture with Beyoncé performing it both as a soloist and with the group Destiny’s Child. Mica Paris, indeed, has used this hymn, written by a former slave-trader, as an example of gospel music which moves both singers and audience alike to recognize racial injustice past and present.

How old does something have to be before it becomes vintage? We hear the expression, “the 70s, the decade taste forgot”—or was that the 80s, or even the 90s? By this token, it seems no time at all since “Shine, Jesus, shine (Lord, the light of your love is shining)” by Graham Kendrick (b. 1950) was new and exciting. Yet it has been published in hymnbooks since the early 1990s, nearly thirty years ago! One of these hymnbooks has the title Hymns we have always loved. As we ponder this title, we must surely ask ourselves how long ago is “always”? Some might say “Shine, Jesus, shine” has joined the ranks of tired texts now well past their sell-by date. Even so it is known and loved by many and is frequently chosen for weddings and baptisms. This shows that there are two radically different ways in which we can understand “always”. First, we have a hymn that, in our personal experience, we have known for a long time—such as “Shine, Jesus, shine”. Second, we have the vast store of hymns, including those such as “Amazing Grace”, which have been sung across the centuries. The hymns of our schooldays become hymns which some people have “always” known even if they were written relatively recently. For others, hymns they have “always” known are those written well before their birth.

Why keep singing vintage hymns?

In our quest to seek out relevant hymns, let’s start to explore some of the reasons for continuing to sing vintage hymns and assess how they can find new resonance in the twenty-first century. There are several ways we can respond in our hymns to the concerns about climate change, social injustice and inequality. The first solution is that we could write new hymns, thus avoiding any drawbacks that older hymns might present. However, any hymn text—even a brand-new text—can express an idea that, over the course of time, turns out to be an idea we feel that we must reject. But of course, a hymn, whether modern or not, may express an unacceptable idea that we sing nevertheless, because we have not thought about its true meaning and have been swept away by a stirring tune. C. S. Lewis, in The Four Loves, writes of language:

Of course language is not an infallible guide, but it contains, with all its defects, a good deal of stored insight and experience. If you begin by flouting it, it has a way of avenging itself later on.4

Let us not forget that, when we frown on the prejudices preserved in older hymns and feel inclined to castigate their authors, we need to cast a critical eye over the sentiments expressed in our new hymns. A second solution to our problem is to revisit older hymns and revise or adapt them to suit contemporary sensibilities.

We shall be looking at both of these approaches in detail later. For now, though, we shall explore how vintage hymns can show the way towards a creative response to contemporary problems. One way to confront these is through meditation and reflection on the words of a well-loved hymn. This may result in an experience quite different from singing a hymn, yet contemplating a well-loved hymn such as “When I survey the wondrous Cross” (Isaac Watts, 1674–1748) can be, for some, a source of great comfort. Another way to respond to our difficulties is to take collective action and band together to confront threats. When we feel moved to act with others, singing hymns can bolster our sense of solidarity. In these situations, it is vital that everyone knows the words which will serve to unite them in a common purpose. More recent vintage hymns such as “When I needed a neighbour” (Sydney Carter, 1915–2004) can send out a strong message of Christian love and charity. However we choose to respond, when we look with fresh eyes at age-old problems we can find, in vintage hymns, something to fire the imagination and prompt us to action, each in our own way.

Many hymns from the pre-digital age dwell on the beauties of the natural world and Romantics, such as William Wordsworth (1770–1850), have taught us that natural things are not just beautiful, but have the power to express moral truths which we ignore at our peril. Since the spread of the Romantic ideal, it has been agreed more widely that time spent out-of-doors is time well spent. In “The tables turned” (1798), Wordsworth encourages us to quit the grind of desk-bound work, and seek refreshment outside:

Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;

Or surely you’ll grow double:

Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;

Why all this toil and trouble?

Admiration for the countryside in all its variety is a theme perfectly exemplified in “Glad that I live am I” (Lizette Woodworth Reese, 1856–1935). This joyful hymn appeared in several hymnbooks between 1931 and 1991 but has now fallen from favour with its seemingly dated outlook. Whilst Reese could not possibly have foreseen the kind of disaster faced by future generations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, is it not appropriate that a text which encourages us to celebrate life itself should continue to be sung? Amidst the frustrations of forced isolation and inactivity, the feeling has grown that there might be a welcome opportunity to press the pause button on our hectic daily lives and slow down. We do not know what the future holds for us and must look for comfort where we can. Perhaps vintage hymns can help us through the dark times?

All that we need to do,

be we low or high,

is to see that we grow,

nearer the sky.

Lost hymns, lost words?

As we consider our natural environment, it is but a small step to the matter of our planet’s limited resources which are being eroded through human action. How can vintage hymns help us respond to this emergency? A vital part of being able to perceive our environment in all its infinite detail and wonderful variety is to possess the necessary wealth of vocabulary with which to describe it. We have already seen that many of the hymns we love to sing we learned as children, and many hymns written for children are about nature. Sadly, there has been a trend to eradicate certain words from our language—even among those editing a children’s dictionary. Part of education is acquiring such a vocabulary, and this applies to adults and children alike—without words we can have no perception. By impoverishing our vocabulary, however, especially the vocabulary of children, who are of an age to be most receptive to fresh ideas, we undermine our ability to attain a clear perception of nature. In 2017, author Robert Macfarlane drew attention to the fact that certain words in nature are simply disappearing due to lack of use. He writes:

Once upon a time, words began to vanish from the language of children. They disappeared so quietly that at first almost no one noticed . . . 5

In his beautiful book The Lost Words, exquisitely illustrated by Jackie Morris, Macfarlane recovers some of these lost words—words that are familiar to adults such as heron, bluebell and kingfisher—and brings them back to life with a vibrancy of colour and language. Singing vintage hymns is one way that we can keep these lost words in our vocabulary. In “All things bright and beautiful”, for example, Mrs Alexander reminds us of the “glowing colours” which surround us and, I fear, if our attention is no longer drawn to them, we might cease to notice them. We can see the palette of our hymnody becoming grey as we discard other hymns, including “I love God’s tiny creatures” (George Wallace Briggs, 1875–1959), which gives us the visually brilliant “coral-coated ladybird” alongside a tactile awareness of the “velvet humming-bee”. Another text which emphasizes the light and colour of the natural world is “Daisies are our silver, buttercups are gold” (Jan Struther, 1901–53) which uses the imagery of jewellery and wealth. If the trend to root out unfamiliar words continues, there is a danger that children may come to lack the necessary tools to develop a true appreciation of nature and will grow up caring nothing for the natural world. Would it not be terrible if Bunty Newport’s (1927–2004) dystopian hymn “Think of a world without any flowers” actually came true?

Without a doubt singing hymns is one tool that can help draw attention to things of vital importance that we might be in danger of forgetting. As we appreciate the wonders of nature and are spurred to preserve it, our realization that we are dependent on the world around us is sharpened. The ritual of the harvest festival, with its associated vintage hymns, serves to remind us of our total dependence on the fruits of the earth. This annual celebration of God as creator has long been marked by decorating churches, the distribution of produce and the singing of specific hymns including “We plough the fields, and scatter”, translated from the German by Jane Montgomery Campbell (1817–78). In more recent years, collection of foodstuff has, rightly, focused on dried and tinned items which are later contributed to a local foodbank or charity. Naturally these longer-lasting provisions are needed by far too many people, but we should remember where our food comes from, and hymns can help us do that. “We plough the fields, and scatter” is a favourite harvest hymn which shows God as arti...

Table of contents

• Introduction
• The tradition of hymn singing
• Keeping the tradition of hymn singing vibrant
• Altering texts
• A new tradition
• Hymnbooks mentioned
• Notes