Wesley

English Hymnody to 1950

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Over a period of time, the writers of metrical psalms turned to fashioning free paraphrases of psalm texts. Eventually, in the seventeenth century, several English authors began to write hymn texts independent of the specific words of Scripture. Nineteenth-century fervor for hymn singing culminated with the publication of the most famous and influential of all hymnbooks, Hymns Ancient and Modern. The first half of the twentieth century witnessed growth in the study of hymnology, which led, in turn, to a variety of carefully planned hymnals that have had great influence to the present day.

Foremost among the early English hymn writers was Benjamin Keath (1640–1704). In 1668, he became the pastor of the Particular Baptist Church in Southwark. Then, as early as 1674, he published some hymns for use in his church—in particular, hymns written to be sung at the close of the Lord’s Supper. His second collection of 300 original hymns appeared in print in 1691 under the title Spiritual Melody. By this time those in favor of singing hymns each week prevailed over the opposing minority.

Similarly, another Baptist pastor, Joseph Stennett (1663–1713) of London began writing hymns to be used by his congregation at the service of the Lord’s Supper. In 1697, his significant collection of Hymns in Commemoration of the Sufferings of Our Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ, Compos’d for the Celebration of His Holy Supper appeared.

Isaac Watts

However, it was another pastor, Isaac Watts (1674–1748), who was to become the “Father of English Hymnody.” A Nonconformist, he felt no obligation to follow the Church of England ordinance that only the inspired psalms of scripture were to be sung in corporate worship services, a rule that was held in effect until 1821. Nor did he feel limited by the adherence of the Calvinists to the literal Scripture text.

In order to gain acceptance of his ideas, he published The Psalms of David imitated in the language of the New Testament in 1719. In this collection, he versified and paraphrased 138 psalms in hymn form. He had decided to treat the majority of these psalms using the three best-known meters—the common meter, long meter, and short meter. In this process, Watts strove for two primary goals: to interpret psalms in the light of Christ and to write in a language readily acceptable to those who would sing his paraphrases. His first goal was particularly well accomplished. This is evident to the careful reader who will compare any Watts paraphrase with the psalm text on which it is based. Compare, for example, the text, “Jesus Shall Reign,” with the text of Psalm 72, the stanzas of “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” with Psalm 90, “Joy to the World” with Psalm 98, and “Give to Our God Immortal Praise” with Psalm 136.

His contribution to hymnody is even more significant, beginning with his 1707 collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs. The 210 hymns of this collection appear under three headings: (1) hymns based upon Scripture, (2) hymns composed upon divine subjects, and (3) hymns for the Lord’s Supper. Subsequently, an additional 135 hymns were added in the 1709 edition. Among these was his model hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Here, he ideally combines objective realities and subjective sensitivities, expressing thoughts and feelings common to all Christians. This hymn and so many others by Watts are still in regular use throughout America. In fact, apart from Charles Wesley, it may well be that there are more hymns by Watts in current American hymnbooks than by any other single author.

There are ten hymns by Watts in the Psalter Hymnal (1987). The Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and The Presbyterian Hymnal (1990) each have thirteen. The Baptist Hymnal (1991) lists fourteen, The United Methodist Hymnal (1989) has fifteen. Seventeen are indexed in the Episcopal Hymnal 1982; there are eighteen hymns in The Worshiping Church (1990), and Rejoice in the Lord has an amazing thirty-nine!

The contemporaries of Watts who lived in his shadow are also represented in the collections of hymns used by various denominations today. Joseph Addison (1672–1719) is remembered by “The Spacious Firmament on High” and Joseph Hart (1712–1768) by “Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy.” Philip Doddridge (1702–1751) a pastor of the Congregational Church, had seven hymns in the Episcopal Hymnal 1982 and eight hymns in the Reformed Church in America’s Rejoice in the Lord. The best known of these hymns might well be his jubilant Advent hymn, “Hark, the Glad Sound! The Saviour Comes.”

The Wesleys

The two brothers, John (1703–1791) and Charles (1707–1788) Wesley, were inseparable. From their days at Oxford and the Holy Club, John, the great organizer, had the support of his younger brother Charles, “the first Methodist.” Together they boarded the Simmonds in 1735 and sailed for America, John to serve as a missionary to Native Americans, and Charles to serve as personal secretary to the Governor of Georgia, General James Oglethorpe.

During a storm at sea, John was deeply impressed by the conduct of the twenty-six Moravians traveling with them. While the English cried out in fear of being drowned, the Moravians—men, women, and children—calmly prayed and sang hymns. So impressed with their confident faith, John eagerly began his study of the German language and earnestly sought to translate their hymns into English. After his return to England, he journeyed to Hernhut where he made the acquaintance of the founder of the Moravian Church, Count Nicolaus Zinzendorf (1700–1760), himself a hymn writer. Back in London, John pursued an association with the Moravians there.

However, while John was still in America, he edited the first hymnal to be published in America, including in it some of his own translations of Moravian hymns. This Charles Town book of 1737 was entitled A Collection of Psalms and Hymns. A second collection was printed in London in 1738. In 1739, the Wesley brothers began their cooperative work of compiling hymnals, a work that was to include some fifty-six publications within fifty-three years. The culminating book was the famous and influential work of 1780, A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists. Arranging hymns according to Christian experience instead of by the church year, they placed Charles’ “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing My Great Redeemer’s Praise” first. More than two centuries later, this same hymn was accorded the honor of being the first hymn in The United Methodist Hymnal (1989).

This hymn is at once personal, evangelical, and scriptural. The nine stanzas, printed in 1780, were selected from eighteen stanzas previously written in 1739 “for the Anniversary Day of One’s Conversion.” The original text begins with the words “Glory to God, and praise and love”. However, the stanzas in the 1780 collection were rearranged and are, in reality, stanzas 7–10, 12–14, 17 and 18 of the original work. The first line echoes the words of Moravian Peter Bohler to Charles: “Had I a thousand tongues, I would praise him with them all.” The song was likely sung to the tune birstall at the time of its publication.

This and other music that the Wesleys used in their open-air meetings and field preaching was collected in the 1742 Foundry Collection, named after the main Methodist meeting house in London, an abandoned foundry. Only a few psalm tunes from the music editions of the New Version were included. Only four years later, in 1746, their friend, J. F. Lampe (1703–1751), the London bassoonist and composer, issued a collection of twenty-four tunes. And later in 1753, another friend, Thomas Butts, published a complete collection of all of the tunes used by the Methodists at that time. John Wesley compiled an additional collection of tunes in 1761, which appeared ten years later in a second edition.

The tunes were popular in character and were sung at a lively tempo. Old tunes were refashioned and made to sound contemporary. And whereas the older psalm tunes were communal music in which everyone sang the melody together in unison, the new tunes, written out as melody and bass, were better suited for a soloist with accompaniment. They were the ideal vehicle to accompany the evangelical preaching of the two brothers and their associates. They were tuneful, catchy melodies adapted from the opera entertainments heard in London at that time. The Beggar’s Opera and other light operas cast in a more simple style than the Italian operas of the day provided the reservoir which the Methodists tapped for new materials. This adapted music had instant appeal.

Contemporaries of the Wesleys

An early associate of the Wesleys, the evangelistic preacher George Whitefield (1714–1770), is still represented in the current United Methodist Hymnal by his alteration of Charles Wesley’s Christmas song, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” as is John Cennick by his table grace, “Be Present at Our Table, Lord.” Moreover, the work of Augustus Toplady (1740–1778) is signaled by the popular song, “Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me.” Toplady, one of several Calvinist preachers who with Whitefield were a part of Lady Huntingdon’s (1764–1865) “Connexion,” was appointed one of her chaplains. Although she wrote no hymns herself, she encouraged a number of hymn-writing friends in their efforts and promoted the publication of their works. Edward Perronet (1726–1792) had already left the Wesleys when he wrote “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.” William Shrubsole, the composer of the tune Miles Lane used for the hymn, was the organist of one of the chapels established by Lady Huntingdon.

The Olney Hymns

Within the Church of England, the ban on hymn singing in worship services continued. Only psalm-singing was allowed. However, the evangelical influence grew within the ranks of the clergy, and hymn singing was permitted at meetings held outside the sanctuary. Beginning with publications issued in 1760 by Martin Madan (1725–1790) and in 1767 by Richard Convers, new texts became available. However, it was not until 1779 that a truly significant book appeared. That book was Olney Hymns by John Newton (1725–1807) and William Cowper (1731–1800). The two men lived close by each other in the village of Olney, where Newton was the Church of England curate. Together they prepared hymns for the meetings held in the “Great House,” which included weekday services, children’s activities, and prayer meetings.

Cowper is still remembered for his hymns, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way,” “O For a Closer Walk with God,” and “There Is A Fountain Filled with Blood.” Newton, who at one time had been employed in the slave trade, is remembered by his autobiographical hymn, “Amazing Grace,” the most popular of all hymns in America. He was also the author of “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds” and “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken.”

During the transition period which followed the publication of the Olney Hymns, James Montgomery (1771–1854) wrote the Christmas favorite, “Angels From the Realms of Glory,” and Thomas Kelly (1769–1855) wrote, “The Head That Once Was Crowned With Thorns.”

The Nineteenth Century

The new literary style of the nineteenth century was established by Reginald Heber (1783–1826). Consecrated as Bishop of Calcutta in 1823, he died only three years later. His work, Hymns, Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year, was then published posthumously. It included the familiar text, often placed first in hymnals of the past, “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!” The romantic style is also evident in Charlotte Elliott’s (1789–1871) “Just As I Am” and Robert Grant’s (1779–1838) “O Worship the King.” The musical style changed as well. Harmonic enrichment of the melodies became the distinguishing characteristic of English congregational music.

The Oxford Movement. The Oxford Movement was originally known as the “Tractarian Movement” because of the numerous tracts or pamphlets written between 1833 and 1841 by John Henry Newman (1801–1890), John Keble (1792–1866), and others. It all began in 1833 when Keble preached his famous “Assize Sermon” in the church of St. Mary in Oxford. His public stand against national apostasy came to be printed and widely distributed, serving to rally a response in the Church of England to the growing influence of evangelicalism.

This response included bold attempts at the reformation of the worship services of the Church of England and a renewed interest in reviving the ideals of the pre-Reformation Catholic Church. With great respect for the sacraments, the clergy of the church began to counteract the obvious abuses seen in worship services. They also nurtured personal piety. Moreover, with the re-examination of the Book of Common Prayer, the liturgical hymn gained prominence. Whereas the evangelical hymn of personal experience had been read and sung at home and sounded in the fields and meeting houses, the new hymns (which followed the church year), were designed for corporate worship within the sanctuary. Of particular interest was John Keble’s collection of hymns, The Christian Year (1827).

Much of the repertoire was resurrected from the past and was the work of translators of Greek, Latin, and German Hymns. From John Mason Neale’s Translations of Medieval Hymns and Sequences, modern hymnbook editors have retained the Advent song, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” the Christmas chant, “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” and the Palm Sunday hymn, “All Glory, Laud, and Honor”. From Edward Caswell’s (1814–1878) 1849 collection of translations, Lyra Catholica, many still sing “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee”, and from Catherine Winkworth’s 1855 edition, Lyra Germanica, several hymns have been preserved: “If You Will Only Let God Guide You,” “Now Thank We All Our God”, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” and the two great chorale texts, “O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright” and “Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying.”

All of this laid the groundwork for the amazing success of Hymns Ancient and Modern. Although the Church of England had not authorized a hymnal (and would not until 1921), the wide acceptance of this English companion to the liturgy influenced congregational singing in profound ways. Fully 131 of its 273 hymns were by English men and women and were already in use. Another 132 were translations of Latin hymns and another ten of German hymns. The first edition, under the guidance of Henry Williams Baker, was published in 1860. The next year the music edition was released, having been edited by William Henry Monk (1823–1889). For the first time, text and music were printed together. And although sales records were destroyed in the war years of 1939–1945, it is estimated that 150 million copies of this hymnal have been sold. Since the first editions in the 1860s, a variety of editions and revisions of Hymns Ancient and Modern has been issued, including the 1969 supplement 100 Hymns for Today (London: William Clowes and Sons, Ltd., 1969).

The new hymns called for appropriate music, and it was decided by the musicians who formed the committee that new tunes needed to be written. Speaking in the musical language of Victorian England, John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876) contributed Nicaea (“Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty”) and Henry Thomas Smart (1813–1879) composed regent square (“Angels from the Realms of Glory”). Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (1842–1900) contributed St. Kevin (“Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain”), George Job Elvey (1816–1893), st. george’s Windsor (“Come Ye Thankful People Come”), Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–1876), aurelia (“The Church’s One Foundation”); and W. H. Monk contributed the more than 16 tunes and harmonizations which are now in the Hymnal 1982, one of the most familiar tunes being eventide (“Abide With Me, Fast Falls the Eventide”).

During the remainder of the century, efforts in evangelism accompanied by enthusiastic singing increased in England, Scotland, and Wales. The singing generally was focused on the hymns of Watts, Wesley, and Newton. Then in 1873, the American evangelist Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899) and his song leader, Ira D. Sankey (1840–1908), introduced the gospel song of America to the English populace. About this time Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane’s (1830–1869) beloved song, “Beneath the Cross of Jesus,” and Joseph Parry’s (1841–1903) tune Aberystwyth (“Jesus, Lover of My Soul”) became well known.

The Twentieth Century. The two most influential hymnbooks of the first quarter of the twentieth century, The English Hymnal (1906) and Songs of Praise (1925) set new textual and musical standards for congregational singing. The scholarly effort that editor Percy Dearmer (1867–1936) brought to these outstanding collections was appreciated by the cooperating musicians. The 1906 hymnal is famous because of the efforts of music editor Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) to improve the quality and variety of its hymn tunes. His search took him to the wealth of British folk song which he both recorded and adapted. One highly successful merger was the tune forest green and the text “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” In addition, his own original tunes, Sine Nomine (“For All the Saints”) and down Ampney (“Come Down, O Love Divine”) have continuously increased in popularity. The 1925 collection followed the lead of The English Hymnal but contained more adventurous music that was written or selected by Martin Shaw (1875–1958) and his brother Geoffrey (1879–1943).

In addition to new tunes, a number of new texts came into common usage during the first half of the century. In 1906, Canon Henry Scott Holland (1847–1918) of St. Paul’s in London, and author of only one hymn, penned “Judge Eternal, Throned in Splendor.” In the same year, Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936) contributed “O God of Earth and Altar” to The English Hymnal. In 1908, “In Christ, There is No East or West” by John Oxenham (1852–1941) was borrowed from Bees in Amber. Finally, in 1931 Jan Struthers (1901–1953) wrote the inspiring text, “Lord of All Hopefulness.”

Music in the Modern Revivalist Tradition

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The revivalist tradition is rooted in pietist hymnody. It is characterized by an emphasis on the relationship of Christ (the bridegroom) to the church and to the individual believer (the bride). It is commonly held that Isaac Watts combined most successfully the expression of worship with that of human devotional experience. The Wesleys developed what we know today as “invitation” songs. When transported to America, this tradition gave rise to the modern revival movement.

The Pietist Movement in Germany

In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, an important movement flowered in the German Lutheran church known as pietism. Its first leader was Philipp Jakob Spener (1635–1705), who called the church from its obsession with dry scholasticism and cold formalism to an emphasis on personal study of the Scriptures and experiential “religion of the heart.”

Pietists rejected all art music in worship because of the “operatic tendencies” of the time. Johann Sebastian Bach was in constant conflict with the pietists, though his cantata texts show the influence of their theology. The movement inspired a flood of subjective hymnody, much of which was set to tunes in dance-like triple meter, in sharp contrast to the older, rugged chorale style. Some of the best-known hymnists were Johann Freylinghausen (1670–1739), Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700–1760), Benjamin Schmolck (1672–1737), and Erdmann Neumeister (1671–1756). It is interesting to note that Neumeister wrote cantata texts used by J. S. Bach and also the original version of the gospel hymn “Sinners Jesus Will Receive” (Christ Receiveth Sinful Men).

One of the favorite images of pietest hymnody—the relationship of Christ (the bridegroom) to the church and to the individual believer (the bride)—appears in even earlier hymns, such as “Jesu, meine Freude” by Johann Franck (1618v1677). The following is a rather literal translation of the first stanza and part of the last.

Jesus, my joy
My heart’s longing,
Jesus, my beauty.
Oh, how long, how long
Is the heart’s concern
And longing after you.
Lamb of God, my bridegroom,
May nothing on earth become dear
To me except you.
Get out, spirit of sadness!
For my Lord of gladness—
Jesus, enters in.
To those who love God,
Even their sorrows
Are purest sweetness (“sugar”).

Franck had modeled his hymn on the love song of H. Alberti, “Flora, meine Freude” (Flora, my joy). English translations have ignored much of the original anthropomorphic imagery, and current German versions have changed the word Zucker (sugar) to Freude (joy).

Dissenters in England

We have already noted that it was a Dissenter—Benjamin Keach, a Baptist—who first introduced a hymn of “human composure” into the psalm-singing culture of seventeenth-century England. Isaac Watts (1674–1748), a Congregational minister, had the most profound influence on his country’s transition to hymn singing and thus became known as the “father of English hymnody.” It is significant that hymn singing flourished in the “renewal-born” free churches (Congregational, Baptist, and Presbyterian) for a hundred years while it was still being rejected in the established Church of England. Watts has been said to combine most successfully the expression of worship with that of human devotional experience, and it is best illustrated in his well-known hymn “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” of which the first and last stanzas are quoted here.

When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my life, my soul, my all.

The Wesleyan Revival

Evangelistic hymns in the modern sense were one of the glorious by-products of Britain’s Great Awakening in the eighteenth century. It was the preaching of John (1703–1791) and Charles Wesley (1707–1788), and the underlying tenets of the Dutch theologian Jacob Arminius (1560–1609) that led to the creation of the first “invitation” songs. Hard-line “hypercalvinism” based on covenant theology and the doctrine of predestination had rarely generated widespread, enthusiastic evangelism. In contrast, the Wesleys’ Arminian theology emphasized that an individual may say either yes or no to a seeking God. To press the claims of Christ while still admitting human free will, Charles Wesley wrote:

Come, sinners, to the Gospel feast:
Let every soul be Jesus’ guest;
Ye need not one be left behind
For God hath bidden all men sing.
This is the time; no more delay!
This is the Lord’s accepted day;
Come thou, this moment, at his call,
And live for him who died for all. (Methodist Hymnal [1964], no. 102)

The Wesleys must be credited with rescuing hymn singing from the bondage of the two-line meters—common long and short. Their sources were the newer psalm tunes, opera melodies, and folk songs of German origin. An example of this type of tune is “Mendenbras” (which was actually first used with a hymn text by Lowell Mason in 1839), which we commonly sing with the text “O day of rest and gladness,” although it may still be heard with its historic popular words in the beer gardens of Germany. The Wesleys’ texts were fundamental for early Methodist theology. They also covered almost every conceivable aspect of Christian devotional experience and may be said to be the progenitors of the modern gospel song.

In any period of spiritual renewal, old symbols frequently lose their meaning and new ones must be sought. Obviously, they will be found outside the church, and because they must be “common” or “popular,” they will come from folk songs and even from commercial entertainment music. In the evangelistic thrust of renewal, these fresh melodies become an effective vehicle for a witness to the uncommitted. The newly adopted modern language eventually gains a new sacralization and becomes the norm for divine worship. It remains so until another spiritual revival displaces it.

In a theological rationale, one might say that this process demonstrates the church’s willingness to be forever incarnational, to identify with “the world” and to transform it for Christ. It is certainly not a new concept in church music.

The American Scene

The early colonies took their worship and evangelism cues from Mother England. America’s first worship music consisted of metrical psalms, and these were still the norm during the thundering revival preaching of Jonathan Edwards, best remembered by the title of one of his famous sermons, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” When the Great Awakening came to America in the mid-eighteenth century—largely through the preaching sorties of the Wesley’s associate George Whitefield—singing broke the bonds of strict psalmody and the hymns of Isaac Watts came to these shores. In the late 1700s, rural Baptists in New England were singing “old country”; the tunes were perpetuated through such books as Kentucky Harmony (1825) and The Sacred Harp (1844), and have come to be known as “white spirituals” or “Appalachian folk hymns.”

The Camp Meetings. In 1800 the camp meeting movement began with an outbreak of revival in an outdoor encampment in Caine Ridge, Logan County, Kentucky. The music which characterized the camp meetings was very simple with many repetitions, evidently very emotional, and frequently improvised. These are typical texts which are little more than refrains:

Come to Jesus, come to Jesus, Come to Jesus just now,
Just now come to Jesus, Come to Jesus just now.
He will save you, he will save you, He will save you just now,
Just now he will save you, He will save you just now. (The Revivalist [1872], 142)
O get your hearts in order, order, order,
O get your hearts in order for the end of time.
For Gabriel’s going to blow, by and by, by and by,
For Gabriel’s going to blow, by and by. (The Evangelical Harp [1845], 40)

Much has been said about the relationship between black spirituals and camp meeting music, with the general impression that the latter may have copied the former. However, at that time in history, particularly in the revival context, blacks and whites worshiped together. It is possible that both cultures contributed to the spontaneous singing in the “brush arbor” meetings, and that blacks continued the tradition after the interest of the whites had diminished and they had moved on to new forms of more traditional, “composed” music. The similarity between camp meeting songs and black spirituals is shown by Ellen Jane (Lorenz) Porter in her lecture “The Persistence of the Primitive in American Hymnology.” She points out that the song “Where Are the Hebrew Children?” is found in both the North and the South.

Many of the camp meeting songs also used popular melodies. According to Mrs. Porter, “Where Are the Hebrew Children?” has many parodies, including the Ozark song, “Where, O Where Is Pretty Little Susie?” and the college song “Where, O Where Are the Verdant Freshmen?”

It is evident that refrains were the most important element in camp meeting music, and some songs were little more. In other instances, favorite refrains were attached to many different hymns. In the Companion to Baptist Hymnal (p. 48), William J. Reynolds cites a quotation of P. P. Bliss in which “I will arise and go to Jesus” is identified as “one of the old-fashioned camp meeting spirituals” which could be sung as a response to Joseph Hart’s “Come ye sinners, poor and needy” or after each stanza of an anonymous paraphrase of the prodigal son story, “Far, far away from my loving Father.” Note also that the refrain “Blessed be the name of the Lord” appears with Charles Wesley’s “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing” (Baptist Hymnal [1975], no. 50) and with William H. Clark’s “All praise to Him who reigns above” (Hymns for the Living Church [1974], no. 81). In the same tradition, Ralph E. Hudson added the lilting testimony refrain “At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light” to the sober, devotional “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed?” of Isaac Watts. In another example, the final stanza commonly sung to John Newton’s “Amazing Grace,” by an unknown author, was also appended both to Isaac Watts’s “When I Can Read My Title Clear” and to the sixteenth-century anonymous hymn “Jerusalem, My Happy Home,” despite its grammatical weaknesses.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun;
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun. (sic)

The Finney Revival. The Second Great Awakening was an urban phenomenon in Eastern seaboard states in the early nineteenth century. Charles Granville Finney, a Presbyterian with a pronounced Arminian theological bent, was the central preacher. He frequently worked with the music educator-composer Thomas Hastings. Their association marks the first recorded instance of a songbook published specifically for a revival campaign. The following hymn was reputed to have been in one of Hastings’s compilations and to have been used by Finney at the conclusion of the sermon as part of a protracted, emotional “altar call.”

Hearts of stone, relent, relent,
Break, by Jesus’ cross subdued;
See his body, mangled—rent,
Covered with a gore of blood.
Sinful soul, what hast thou done!
Murdered God’s eternal Son.
Yes, our sins have done the deed,
Drove the nails that fixed him there,
Crowned with thorns his sacred head,
Pierced him with a soldier’s spear;
Made his soul a sacrifice,
For a sinful world he dies.
Will you let him die in vain,
Still to death pursue your Lord;
Open tear his wounds again,
Trample on his precious blood?
No! with all my sins I’ll part,
Savior, take my broken heart.

Sunday School Hymns and the Gospel Song

Beginning in the 1840s, the Sunday school hymns of William B. Bradbury and others had the same musical form as camp meeting songs—catchy melody, simple harmony and rhythm, and an inevitable refrain. Eventually, these children’s hymns were picked up by adults, and the “gospel hymn” or “gospel song” was born, so named by Philip Phillips, “the Singing Pilgrim.” It was the evangelistic missions of Moody and Sankey in Great Britain and America that launched the gospel song on its century-long career that is still going strong. The gospel song also received a great impetus by its association with the “sing schools” conducted by itinerant music teachers in the middle of the nineteenth century. The most successful of the teachers—J. G. Towner, P. P. Bliss, and George F. Root, and many others—wrote and published both sacred and secular music, and in much the same style as Stephen Foster, composer of “My Old Kentucky Home” as well as many sacred selections. The hallowed Fanny Crosby, author of perhaps 9,000 gospel song texts, had achieved earlier success writing popular secular songs in collaboration with George F. Root, an associate of Lowell Mason in public school music, who taught at New York’s Union Theological Seminary and also supplied music for the original Christy Minstrel Singers.

It should not be thought that these were unlettered, uncultured individuals who lacked recognition in their own society. Phoebe Palmer Knapp, composer of the music for “Blessed Assurance,” was married to the president of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and William Howard Doane, the most frequent collaborator of Fanny J. Crosby, was an extremely wealthy industrialist and civic leader. William Bradbury, George F. Root, and Charles Converse (What a Friend We Have in Jesus) all studied in Europe, and were acquainted with Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, and Louis Spohr. Fanny Crosby was well known by five American presidents and many other government leaders. The music these individuals wrote was highly successful in nineteenth-century America, and often made a great deal of money for them and their publishers.

We must also note that “experience hymns” continued to appear in evangelical settings the world around. For one thing, American hymns in this style were translated into every language in which Protestant worship was conducted, both in Europe and in mission lands. In addition, other countries produced their own versions. In Sweden, for example, a renewal movement developed in the Lutheran church during the 1840s under the lay preacher Carl Rosenius (1816–1868). Lina Sandell (1832–1903) supported the movement with her hymns to such an extent that she became known as the “Swedish Fanny Crosby.” Music for many of her songs was written by Oscar Ahnfelt, who was called the “Swedish Troubadour” because of his itinerant ministry of singing and playing his own accompaniments on a guitar. The Sandell/Ahnfelt songs were published in a series of books with the help of the famous coloratura soprano, Jenny Lind, “the Swedish Nightingale.” This is the first stanza of one of Lina Sandell’s best-known hymns, many of which were brought to America by Swedish immigrants and are now sung by many evangelicals.

Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best—
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest. (Lina Sandell, 1865, Trans. by A. L. Skoog)

There have been many attempts to define a “gospel song” in order to differentiate it from more traditional hymn forms. Frequently it has been argued that hymns are “objective” (about God, the “object” of our thought) and gospel songs are “subjective” (about the thinking “subject” and his or her experience of God). However, many historic hymns are simultaneously both “objective” and “subjective” (e.g., Watts’s “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”) while some acknowledged gospel songs are quite thoroughly objective (e.g., “Praise Him, Praise Him, Jesus Our Blessed Redeemer,” by Fanny J. Crosby). Even metrical psalms have been set to gospel song music (e.g., E. O. Sellers’s adaptation of Psalm 119, “Thy Word Is a Lamp to My Feet”).

The title gives some cue as to the norm. “Gospel” suggests that it is usually concerned with a simple gospel: the message of sin, grace, and redemption, and a person’s experience of them; “song” indicates a nontraditional origin—that is, it is not a hymn. Basically, the poetry was simpler than that of a hymn—less theological and less biblical, less challenging to the imagination, sometimes even inane. The musical structure was characterized by a refrain—a novelty in hymns, a simple lyric melody, inconsequential harmony, and a sprightly rhythm.

The Moody-Sankey Campaigns

Early in his ministry in the slums of Chicago, the untutored lay preacher Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899) sensed the power of the new songs to motivate men and women to spiritual action. When he embarked on a wider ministry, he chose Ira D. Sankey (1840–1908), a civil servant and amateur musician, to accompany him. Sankey led the congregational hymns and sang his solos while seated at a little reed organ. He was also a prominent composer and publisher of gospel songs. The story of Sankey’s experience as he accompanied Mr. Moody to Scotland in 1873 is told in his own book, My Life and the Story of the Gospel Hymns and of Sacred Songs (New York: Harper, 1907). On one particular occasion, he was concerned because the illustrious hymn writer Horatius Bonar was in the audience:

Of all men in Scotland he was the one concerning whose decision I was most solicitous. He was, indeed, my ideal hymn writer, the prince among hymnists of his day and generation. And yet he would not sing one of his beautiful hymns in his own congregation … because he ministered to a church that believed in the use of the Psalms only.

With fear and trembling, I announced as a solo the song, “Free from the law, oh, happy condition.” Feeling that the singing might prove only entertainment and not a spiritual blessing, I requested the whole congregation to join me in a word of prayer, asking God to bless the truth about to be sung. In the prayer my anxiety was relieved. Believing and rejoicing in the glorious truth contained in the song, I sang it through to the end.

At the close of Mr. Moody’s address, Dr. Bonar turned toward me with a smile on his venerable face, and reaching out his hand he said: “Well, Mr. Sankey, you sang the gospel tonight.” And thus the way was opened for the mission of sacred song in Scotland. (Ibid., pp. 61–62)

In the Moody-Sankey meetings, England and America witnessed the advent of “Jesus” preaching and singing. Along with the biblically-strong “Free from the law,” which was a good choice for the theologically minded Scots, there were many simple expressions of the love of God through Christ:

I am so glad that our Father in heaven
Tells of His love in the book He has given;
Wonderful things in the Bible I see:
This is the dearest, that Jesus loves me. (P. P. Bliss)

It is characteristic of the best witness songs that they are always couched in contemporary language. In Moody’s day the idea of “being lost” or “saved” was often expressed in nautical terms:

Pull for the shore, sailor, pull for the shore,
Heed not the rolling waves, but bend to the oar;
Safe in the lifeboat, sailor, cling to self no more;
Leave that poor old stranded wreck, and pull for the shore. (Author unknown)
I’ve anchored my soul in the haven of rest,
I’ll sail the wide seas no more;
The tempest may sweep o’er the wild, stormy deep,
In Jesus I’m safe evermore. (H. L. Gilmour)

The idea of conflict and challenge in spiritual living probably took images from the Civil War.

Ho, my comrades! See the signal waving in the sky!
Reinforcements now appearing! Victory is nigh!
Hold the fort! for I am coming;
Jesus signals still.
Wave the answer back to heaven;
“By thy grace, we will!” (P. P. Bliss)

Since the days of Sankey, the solo singer has been a distinctive part of musical mass evangelism in America. Philip Phillips (1834–1895) was perhaps the first in a long line of illustrious soloist-song leader-publishers, which includes Sankey’s contemporaries Robert Lowry (1826–1899), P. P. Bliss (1838–1876), James McGranahan (1840–1907), P. P. Bilhorn (1865–1936), and Homer Rodeheaver (1880–1955). The strong contribution of the gospel singer is the “person to person”—often layperson to person—witness of Christian experience. In this ministry, the gospel message acquired an intensity of emotional communication that is acknowledged by both its proponents and its detractors. This was true even in the earliest days when the songs were not characteristically soloistic but were sung by soloists and congregations alike. It is even more so now that styles of writing and performing solo music are fully developed. The gospel singer’s appeal and popularity may be surpassed only by the singer of secular popular music. It was this same personal, emotional communication of common human experience that gave Sankey equal billing with Moody.

“Charlie” Alexander and Gospel Choirs

In the early twentieth century, it was Charles Alexander (1867–1920), song leader for evangelists R. A. Torrey and J. Wilbur Chapman, who brought the “gospel choir” to its apex. Not an outstanding soloist himself, Alexander specialized in the leading of massed choirs and congregations around the world for more than twenty-five years. Once again, the significance of a ministry in music gave the song leader equal billing with the evangelist. Earlier it had been Moody and Sankey. Now it was Torrey and Alexander as well as Chapman and Alexander. One is tempted to discount the laudatory reports of Alexander’s conducting successes in newspapers of that day.

Mr. Alexander is a conductor of the first order, and he exercises a curious spell over an audience. He drills a thousand people with the precision and authority of a drill-sergeant. He scolds, exhorts, rebukes, and jests. And the amusing feature is that the great audience enjoys being scolded and drilled.… They seem at first an audience for whom music has ceased to have any ministry. But as the singing goes on, the tired faces relax, the eyes brighten, the lips begin to move.… Music, as the servant and vehicle of religion, has fulfilled its true and highest office. It has set a thousand human souls vibrating in gladness. No one need doubt that the gospel can be sung as effectively as it can be spoken. (A statement by W. H. Fitchett, editor of The Southern Cross, describing a midday meeting in Melbourne, Australia’s Town Hall, quoted in Helen C. Alexander and J. Kennedy Maclean, Charles M. Alexander: A Romance of Song and Soul-Winning [New York: Marshall Bros., 1921], 51-52)

I have watched the methods and the triumphs of the most famous baton-wielders of the time—Colonne, Nikisch, Mottl, Weingartner, and Henry J. Wood. Never have I been so much impressed as I was by this bright-faced, energetic young evangelist. As the leader of a choir he has an amazing and almost magical influence, not only over the trained choir; he simply makes everybody sing, and sing as he wants them to. “Watch my hand!” he calls, and the men’s unaccompanied voices rise and fall in crooning cadences with an effect any conductor might be proud of. Watch his hands? Why we are watching every part of him; we cannot take our eyes off him; we are fascinated, hypnotized, bewitched … (Ibid., p. 106. The article is by H. Hamilton Fyle, music critic, in the London Daily Mirror, February 6, 1905, reporting on a meeting in Royal Albert Hall.)

This kind of entertaining genius may help to account for the physical stamina which was demonstrated by audiences of that day. A “Festival of Song”—shared equally by congregation, choir, and soloists—was expected to last for three hours. In a report of the meetings in Royal Albert Hall, London, it was said that the audience came at two o’clock in the afternoon and stayed until six. Torrey preached for about forty-five minutes and the rest of the time was consumed by song, with the audience calling for one favorite after another.

It is apparent that the revival choir was expected to share the prophetic/evangelistic ministry of the evangelist; its materials consisted of the “basic gospel,” and it was seated with the evangelists behind the pulpit, not in a “divided chancel” or in the balcony in the tradition of Old World churches.

“Charlie” Alexander was responsible for one more innovation in revivalist music—the use of the piano. Earlier leaders had used the pipe organ when it was available, or else a harmonium, a reed organ. Alexander found that the percussive piano was more helpful in leading the livelier songs of his day. Robert Harkness was his best-known pianist. Harkness also wrote a number of songs in a more distinctively “soloistic” style (e.g., “Why Should He Love Me So?”) It is said that Harkness was recruited from a “music hall” before he was a committed Christian and that Alexander led him to personal faith in Christ.

The Team of Billy Sunday and Homer Rodeheaver

It is a popular misconception that “gospel music” did not change much from 1850 to 1950. Each generation has contributed its own theological, poetic, and musical flavor. From 1890 to 1910, the scene was dominated by teachers and students of the Moody Bible Institute, where D. B. Towner had become the mentor of gospel music. Songs of that period were intensely biblical and theological. Between 1910 and 1920, Billy Sunday came to the fore as an evangelist, with his song leader-soloist-trombonist, Homer Rodeheaver. Both men had gifts suited to the theater—Sunday was the dynamic, compulsive, athletic spellbinder, and Rodeheaver was the genial, suave, relaxed, joking “master of ceremonies.” They brought evangelistic crusades to a new level, with crowd-pleasing mannerisms of entertainment.

“Rody” was a master at getting people to sing. He used every gimmick at his disposal to break down the traditionally staid approach to religious music. Neither “Rody” nor Sunday would tolerate glumness in the Gospel, and the tabernacle crowds soon learned to expect the unexpected. Delegations that came were asked to sing their favorite song; railroaders, for instance, stood to sing “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.” College groups could count on a chance to sing their Alma Mater and give a victory cheer. (D. Bruce Lockerbie, Billy Sunday [Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1965], 58)

Seafaring imagery was still around in those days because memories of the “Titanic” tragedy were still vivid.

I was sinking deep in sin, Far from the peaceful shore …
Love lifted me, love lifted me,
When nothing else could help, Love lifted me. (James Rowe)

Other expressions were more serene, if not strongly theological:

What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought,
Since Jesus came into my heart;
I have peace in my soul for which long I had sought,
Since Jesus came into my heart. (C. H. Gabriel)

The early twentieth century had its own “physical” music, as well. I remember singing one in the 1920s that was obviously inspired by stories of the First World War.

Over the top for Jesus, Routing every foe;
Never delaying when we hear the bugle blow,
We’ll fight for the right with all our might
As over the top we go. (Author unknown)

Radio Renewal

During the “roaring twenties” mass revivalism went into a decline. It continued to be practiced in the local church, but there was no commanding evangelist to capture the nation’s attention for a period of almost thirty years. Southern Baptists showed the most interest in continuing the tradition in the local church or community, and their most gifted songwriter, B. B. McKinney, composed words and music of some of the most important gospel hymns of the period. For many, the interest in outreach shifted to radio. The music of “gospel radio” was colored by the demands and the traditions of the new medium. Like television twenty-five years later, radio contributed much to the “spectator complex” in the recreation habits of our culture, and undoubtedly it encouraged spectatorism in church life. Much of the new gospel music had been “special,” never intended for congregational use. Undoubtedly the voicing (the ladies’ trio, for instance), the choral and instrumental arranging techniques, and the more advanced harmonic and rhythmic patterns were all borrowed from the entertainment world.

At the historic, radio-conscious Chicago Gospel Tabernacle, Merrill Dunlop wrote and published Songs of a Christian (Chicago: Van Kampen Press, 1946). He says that he was first inspired by the “different” harmonies and styles of Robert Harkness’s songs. In his own advanced, jazz-related rhythm and harmony, Dunlop foreshadowed the present day. On one occasion he wrote a missions hymn in rhumba rhythm; to him, this was perfectly logical because his special interest in foreign missions was South American. At about the same time and in the same city, Moody Bible Institute began gospel broadcasting in 1926; their radio director, Wendell Loveless, wrote gospel songs and choruses in a pseudo-Broadway style.

Youth for Christ

In the 1940s, evangelism was frequently associated with Youth for Christ, one of the parachurch organizations that have become so common on the evangelical scene. Traditionally YFC rallies met on Saturday evening for a pleasant blend of entertainment, fellowship, and religious challenge. Their norm for congregational singing was the gospel chorus. This return to the camp-meeting emphasis of the 1800s seemed to indicate that they agreed that the refrain was the only significant part of a gospel song, or that it was all the text that an audience could be expected to assimilate. When traditional gospel songs were sung, frequently the stanzas were completely omitted. In addition, many independent choruses were composed and collected in a huge proliferation of “chorus books.”

In the late 1940s a new gospel hymn writer appeared. John W. Peterson (b. 1921), a pilot in World War II, first came to national attention about 1950 when his song “It Took a Miracle” began to be played on jukeboxes. His music was generally designed to be sung by soloists, choirs, and small ensembles, and only recently has begun to appear in hymnals. Peterson later found that he had a talent for composing “cantatas” for churches that had not traditionally used that form; he has now written more than a score of them and reportedly has sold more than a million copies!

In general, his lyrics show his strong biblical roots, particularly his postwar study at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. His music varies from a typical gospel song style to an imitation of Broadway show tunes and was sufficiently creative to capture the attention of a large section of the evangelical public.

The Era of Billy Graham

The world-famous evangelist Billy Graham began his ministry with Youth for Christ, and in 1949, thanks to publicity by Hearst newspapers, he came to the attention of much of the world. The music of the Billy Graham crusades has largely depended on materials developed since 1850, borrowing some items from each period. A doctoral dissertation (George Stansbury, The Music of the Billy Graham Crusades, 1947–1970 [Louisville, Ky.: Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1971], 311-312) points out that, unlike its revivalist predecessors, the Graham ministry has neither produced nor promoted a large body of new musical material. This may be partly due to the fact that, unlike Sankey, Alexander, and Rodeheaver, song leader Cliff Barrows is not a publisher.

However, this unique phenomenon in the history of evangelism more likely reflects the “establishment” image which characterized revivalism in the mid-twentieth century. Dr. Graham evidently purposes to be conservative—fresh and appealing but shunning the sensational and overemotional. Consequently, Barrows has used materials that have been already proven to be widely popular, choosing them from the compositions of Ira Sankey, Fanny Crosby, Charles H. Gabriel, Haldor Lillenas, Merrill Dunlop, John Peterson, and finally, Bill Gaither. The Billy Graham films have made their own contribution to contemporary music through the folk/ballad songs of Ralph Carmichael (e.g., “He’s Everything to Me” and “The New 23rd”), who composed the musical scores for several releases. Pianist Tedd Smith has also written some very significant music. The new musical feature in Graham crusades, however, has been the use of show-business talent like Johnny Cash and Norma Zimmer—as well as the best-known contemporary gospel singers—to attract the unchurched.

In the 1980s, the music of John Peterson came to be considered sophisticated and even elitist. In the typically “gospel song” style, it was Bill and Gloria Gaither from central Indiana who captured the imagination and the approval of much of the evangelical public. The Gaithers write songs that are much less theological and overtly biblical than Peterson’s. They get their inspiration, they say, by listening to the latest pop songs; their songs, then, are “religious” reply. There is just enough contemporary freshness in the title and the principal refrain-phrase to appeal to modern evangelicals, many of whom are drawn to country music. Among the best-known Gaither songs are “He Touched Me,” “Get All Excited,” “The King Is Coming,” “Just Because He Lives,” and “The Old Rugged Cross Made the Difference.”

As in all experience songs, the new gospel music reflects the thought patterns of our day. A modern person’s need of God will not be expressed well in such frontier language as “I’ve wandered far away from God; Now I’m coming home,” or “Would you be free from your burden of sin? There’s power in the blood.” Sin and lostness must be redefined for each succeeding generation. An individual’s estrangement from God may be better described today in one of the favorite solos of Graham’s gospel singer, George Beverly Shea: “Tired of a life without meaning / Always in a crowd, yet alone.”

Other Musical Styles

Of course, the gospel song has not been the only variety of witness music known in recent years. In the 1930s, perhaps recalling the heyday of barbershop quartet singing, the Stamps-Baxter “gospel quartet” emerged to present all-night gospel sings and to publish scores of small songbooks which became popular, particularly in rural churches of the South. Most of these Southern hymns were up-tempo, combining the call-and-response techniques of spirituals with the word-repetition common to the quartet song. In later years, the singing groups have varied in size and in voicing (including women as well as men), have adopted several different musical styles, and communicate both in “sacred concerts” and on television.

Even more startling varieties of gospel music were yet to come. In the wake of the Beatles and Geoffrey Beaumont’s Twentieth Century Folk Mass, “gospel folk” and “gospel rock” appeared in Great Britain in the early 1960s. It was quickly transported to America, where its first appeal was strongest in the liturgical and more liberal ecclesiastical communities. It was heralded as a renewal in communication by churches whose attendance and financial support were falling off, and where young people were conspicuous by their absence.

The first reaction of the traditionally evangelical groups was a little amusing when one remembers their long-time heritage of borrowing secular tunes for sacred purposes. Horrified protests that “this-worldly, entertainment music [was] not worthy of the message of Christ” poured in from many denominations. However, most evangelicals soon recovered their equilibrium, and their young people eagerly joined the crescendo of drums, guitars, and voices. At first, they were not allowed to indulge their new musical tastes in the church sanctuary; the folk musicals had to be performed in the fellowship hall or in an outside auditorium. But in the last ten years, gospel rock and gospel folk music have become common, and many other styles have been added. It is already apparent that we have seen the most complete invasion of religious expression by popular music in history. Music leaders change formats almost monthly to keep up with the latest trends in secular popular music.

Summary and Evaluation

Much criticism has been leveled at modern-day evangelism. What can we say then about the effectiveness of revivalism with its music in the history of America and of the world? Since we believe that the Holy Spirit has been present and creatively active in the world since Pentecost, we must acknowledge that the extra-ecclesiastical, personality-centered ministry of revivalists has contributed to the growth and the renewing of the church, from Francis of Assisi to John Hus to the Wesleys to D. L. Moody to Billy Sunday to Billy Graham and Barry Moore. Whatever their personal weaknesses—of character or theology or method—these individuals have been used by God to accomplish some of his purposes.

It would be difficult to separate the musical expression of revivalism from the preaching; the two seem to belong to each other, though both have tended to be anti-establishment. In sixteenth-century Germany, Luther was both a preacher and hymn writer, and it would be hard to prove that one role was more significant than the other in advancing the cause of the Reformation. In the history of Great Britain in the 1870s and 1880s, the names of Moody and Sankey are forever linked, for the musician seemed as important as the preacher in accomplishing God’s work. It was the same with Chapman and Alexander and later with Sunday and Rodeheaver. Furthermore, each period of renewal has been characterized by a flowering of new hymnody; it is as a result of these stimuli that hymnology textbooks are written.

We need both the transcendent and the immanent in music because that is the God we know—the God who is above all his creation, whom we cannot see except “through a glass darkly” (1 Cor. 13:12), and yet One who dwells within the believer, closer than hands and feet. It is expressed well in one verse from the Old Testament:

For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isa. 57:15)

This theological paradox is argument enough for a twofold purpose in church music. The church requires music that expresses both the perfections of the “high and holy” God, and also the personal, religious experience of the “broken and humble.”

A Post-Reformation Model of Worship: John Wesley’s Sunday Service

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The service below is strongly dependent on the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

Introduction

Wesley was an Anglican priest and organized the Methodists into small groups for prayer, Bible study, and worship. These groups would continue to worship in Anglican parishes on Sunday.

Text:

The Order for the Administration of the Lord’s Supper

The Table at the Communion-time, having a fair white Linen Cloth upon it, shall stand where Morning and Evening Prayers are appointed to be said. And the Elder, standing at the Table, shall say the Lord’s Prayer, with the Collect following the People kneeling.

Commentary: Early Methodists often worshiped in rather plain settings. Their society room or preaching house was generally a multipurpose room of simple construction: it may have been a barn, school, factory, or theater which was converted to the cause of the revival. Wesley’s Chapel, on City Road, London, with its rose-colored marble columns and white lacquered woodwork, was the exception to this pattern. In most instances, rather than ornate surroundings and lofty cathedral music, the liturgy, sermon, congregational song, and sacrament marked off sacred space by creating a sense of the presence of God and communion among Christians. Ironically, this Sunday Service does not designate where the Wesleyan hymns were to be used in the liturgy, but they certainly were utilized as congregational songs formed an important part of early Methodist worship.

The liturgical furniture is specifically called a “table” so that it cannot be construed as an “altar” where sacrifice could occur. The model of table fellowship is based on Jesus’ parables about the “great feast” and his institution of the Lord’s Supper at the table of his last meal.

Text:

Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name; Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven; Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into Temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Commentary: The Lord’s prayer functions as an invocation. It is a familiar prayer; since most of the early Methodists were Anglicans, it was prayed thrice daily as a part of their personal spiritual discipline. Its presence at the head of the service calls to mind God’s fatherhood, holiness, and sovereign will. The prayer reminds the petitioner of his or her call to be submissive to the divine will (which is reinforced by the act of kneeling), as well as the deep and constant need to both ask for and to bestow forgiveness. The petition about freedom from temptation and deliverance from evil fits well with Methodism’s emphasis upon “scriptural holiness” or “Christian perfection.”

Text:

The Collect

Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Commentary: Praying the first clause, along with the elder, causes the congregation to reflect upon the experience of living one’s life as being always “open to God.” Because “all hearts are open” and “no secrets are hid” from God, the second clause and petition comes with deep urgency: “cleanse the thoughts of our hearts.” Methodists sought “circumcision of the heart,” a renewing of the inner person by the Holy Spirit, so that one wills God’s will and loves with God’s love. The Collect reinforces this experience through its petition that we “may perfectly love” God and “worthily magnify” God’s holy name.

Text: Then shall the Elder, turning to the People, rehearse distinctly off the TEN COMMANDMENTS: and the People still kneeling shall, after every Commandment, ask God Mercy for their Transgression thereof for the Time past, and Grace to keep the same for the Time to come, as followeth:

Minister:     God spake these words, and said, I am the Lord thy God: Thou shall have none other gods but me.

People:     Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Minister:     Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the others upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and shew mercy unto thousands in them that love me, and keep my commandments.

People:     Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Minister:     Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain.

People:     Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Minister:     Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all that thou hast to do; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt do no manner of work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, thy cattle, and the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it.

People:     Lord, have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law.
Minister:     Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
People:     Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.
Minister:     Thou shalt do no murder.
People:     Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.
Minister:     Thou shalt not commit adultery.
People:     Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.
Minister:     Thou shalt not steal.
People:     Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.
Minister:     Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
People:     Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.
Minister:     Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his.
People:     Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Commentary: This litany of prayer focuses the congregation’s attention upon transgression and forgiveness. It makes specific the “trespasses” regretted in the Lord’s Prayer, and since genuine repentance demands amendment of life, each reflection ends with a petition for God’s mercy as well as for the resolve “to incline our hearts to keep this law.”

Wesley’s willingness to walk the congregation through the deep waters of their specific transgressions was characteristic of his own resolve to give a strict account of his life. This litany also emphatically confronts one with the utter seriousness of one’s sin. The congregation remains on their knees, acting out contrition and humility through bodily posture. In an age when many people were “triflers with sin,” Wesley wanted the Methodists to take serious account of their sins so that they might not only be forgiven but also healed from their bent to sinning.

Christian life, for Wesley, was a life that was victorious over sin; it was therefore necessary and important to know what sin was, and to resolve and seek spiritual assistance to turn from it.

Text: Then shall follow this Collect. Let us pray.

Almighty and everlasting God, we are taught by thy holy word, that the hearts of the Princes of the earth are in thy rule and governance, and that thou dost dispose and turn them as it seemeth best to thy godly wisdom; we humbly beseech thee so to dispose and govern the hearts of the Supreme Rulers of these United States, our Governors, that in all their thoughts, words, and works, they may ever seek thy honour and glory, and study to preserve thy people committed to their charge, in wealth, peace, and godliness. Grant this, O merciful Father, for thy dear Son’s sake, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Commentary: The prayer on behalf of the “Princes of the earth” and “Supreme Rulers of these United States” continues the congregation’s reflection upon the law of God (see Rom. 13, and 1 Pet. 2:13ff.), as well as concrete submission to God’s will as it is worked out in the world, through God’s ordained agents. Yet submission gives way to intercession as the congregation prays that their leaders will seek to glorify God, and thereby to preserve the people “in wealth, peace, and godliness.”

Text: Then shall be said the Collect of the day. And immediately after the Collect, the Elder shall read the Epistle, saying,

The Epistle [or, The Portion of Scripture appointed for the Epistle] is written in the _______ Chapter of ____________ beginning at the ________ Verse.

And the Epistle ended, he shall say.

Here endeth the Epistle.

Then shall he read the Gospel (the People all standing up), saying,

The holy Gospel is written in the ________ Chapter of ________ beginning at the ________ Verse.

Commentary: As the liturgy turns to the “Collect of the day,” we are reminded of Methodism’s debt to the Book of Common Prayer, and to a lectionary of Scripture texts which moved the congregation through the entire Bible, in an orderly fashion, over the course of three years. The “Collect of the day” tailored the Sunday Service to the liturgical year.

Text: Then shall follow the Sermon.

Commentary: John and Charles Wesley often preached extemporaneously, giving a line by line exposition that was heavily seasoned with basic Christian doctrine and ethical injunctions. Their published sermons provide good examples of the content of Wesleyan preaching, but they obviously cannot preserve the original urgency with which they were delivered.

The sermon’s location in the Sunday Service, following the Scripture readings, suggests that the sermon is an application of the Word of God, and a vehicle through which the Word of God speaks afresh, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the words of the preacher. The sermon is an application and vehicle of the Word, but it is not the culmination of the Sunday Service.

Text: Then shall the Elder say one or more of these Sentences.

The elder may choose from:
Matt. 5:16; 6:19–20; 7:12, 21;
Luke 19:8;
1 Cor. 9:7; 9:11; 9:13–14;
2 Cor. 9:6–7;
Gal. 6:6–7; 6:10;
1 Tim. 6:17–19;
Heb. 6:10; 13:16;
1 John 3:1–3;
Tob. 4:8–9;
Prov. 19:17;
Psalm 41:1

Commentary: The Scripture sentences pronounced after the sermon exhort congregations to actualize the spoken Word through holy, merciful, and charitable living. The selection of texts is broad enough to cover any eventuality arising from the lectionary readings and the sermon. Several of these sentences were probably read solemnly, as the offering was being taken, instead of the organ interlude that is more familiar in modern churches. These sentences applied as exhortations to obedience and faithfulness set the offering in its appropriate context; offering of money was to be understood as a response to the word of God, acting out of the gospel.

The liturgy specifies two applications for the offering: “alms for the poor” and “devotions of the people.” Methodism’s advocacy for the poor was both deeply felt and necessary, because of the economic status of many of the early Methodists. Many people lived in or on the edge of poverty, and practical sustenance was a regular ministry of the Methodist societies. For Wesley to describe the various ministries of the congregation as “devotions” is also rather instructive; it reminds us that these too are acts rendered unto God. They are acted prayers of intercession and sanctification.

Text: While these Sentences are in reading, some fit person appointed for that purpose, shall receive the alms for the poor, and other devotions of the people, in a decent Basin, to be provided for that purpose; and then bring it to the Elder who shall place it upon the Table.

After which done, the Elder shall say:

Let us pray for the whole state of Christ’s Church militant here on earth.

Almighty and everliving God, who, by thy holy Apostle, hast taught us to make prayers and supplications, and to give thanks for all men; We humbly beseech thee most mercifully … to receive these our prayers, which we offer unto thy Divine Majesty; beseeching thee to inspire continually the universal Church with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord: and grant that all they that do confess thy holy Name, may agree in the truth of thy holy word, and live in unity and godly love. We beseech thee also to save and defend all Christian Kings, Princes, and Governors; and especially thy Servants the Supreme Rulers of these United States; that under them we may be godly and quietly governed: and grant unto all that are put in authority under them, that they may truly and indifferently administer justice, to the punishment of wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of thy true religion and virtue. Give grace, O heavenly Father, to all the Ministers of thy Gospel, that they may both by their life and doctrine set forth thy true and lively word, and rightly and duly administer thy holy Sacraments. And to all thy people give thy heavenly grace; and especially to this Congregation here present; that with meek heart and due reverence they may hear and receive thy holy word, truly serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life. And we most humbly beseech thee of thy goodness, O Lord, to comfort and succor all them, who in this transitory life are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity. And we also bless thy holy Name, for all thy servants departed this life in thy faith and fear; beseeching thee to give us grace so to follow their good examples, that with them we may be partakers of thy heavenly kingdom. Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

Commentary: This prayer for “the whole state of Christ’s Church” returns again to Jesus’ deeds in the upper room where the Lord interceded for his disciples in the immediate context of his Supper (John 17). Wesley’s “catholic spirit” shows through here since the prayer is for the entire Christian Church, not for the Methodists alone. It also reminds us that the Methodist movement began as a society of Christians drawn from a variety of churches. For the Elder to describe this church as “militant here on earth” reminds us that the church is, through the various agents enumerated, actively engaged in a victorious struggle against evil and injustice.

The enumeration of specific persons prayed for is as broad as the introduction to the intercession implies; it turns the congregation’s heart and mind to consider the service of political, civil, and religious leaders. This approach weaves the many spheres of the Christian life into one broadcloth; it reminds us that the various offices each have their own purview and service, yet they each in their way are avenues of service and vehicles through which God’s Word and kingdom are made manifest. Those who suffer and those who succor them are mentioned as special objects of prayerful intercession. The departed saints of the congregation are remembered as examples of “faith and fear”; but our intercession is not for those who already have their reward, but for we who need “grace so to follow their good example.”

Text: Then shall the Elder say to them that come to receive the Holy Communion.

Ye that do truly and earnestly repent of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbours, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways; Draw near with faith, and take this holy Sacrament to your comfort; and make your humble confession to Almighty God, meekly kneeling upon your knees.

Commentary: The invitation to the Lord’s Table is addressed to all repentant sinners, who are being reconciled to God and to neighbor, and who “intend to lead a new life.” Wesley esteemed the Eucharist as a “converting and confirming sacrament.” Wesley, and the Methodists after him, believed that communion was a place where the earnest seeker could meet Christ with saving and strengthening import. It must be remembered, however, that in Wesley’s time very few in England would not have been baptized; it is extremely doubtful that John Wesley intended the giving of the Lord’s Supper to unbaptized persons. The Elder’s preparatory words ready the communicants for reconciliation and new life with God through faith in Christ: “Repent,” “intend to lead a new life,” “draw near in faith,” and “make your humble confession to Almighty God.” Thus, through this sacramental act, the liturgy extends to us the comforts of the Gospel and fellowship with the risen Christ.

Text: Then shall this general Confession be made by the Minister in the name of all those that are minded to receive the Holy Communion, both he and all the people kneeling humbly upon their knees, and saying,

Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men; We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we from time to time most grievously have committed, By thought, word, and deed, against thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; The remembrance of them is grievous unto us. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, forgive us all that is past; And grant, that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life, To the honour and glory of thy Name, Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Commentary: The petitioner feels the awesomeness of almighty God and the depth of his or her unworthiness; our sins are “manifold,” “grievous,” and have been permeated into every sphere of our lives—“in thought, word, and deed.” Our sins have provoked the “wrath and indignation” of Almighty God. We are sinners in the hands of an angry God, completely undone because of the depth of our corruption, and God’s infinite knowledge of our wrong. Our repentance must be “earnest” and it must run as deep as our former falseness. We feel an awesome sense of our guilt and a familiar sorrow because of our willful wanderings from the Father of our love. The petition ends with pleas for mercy and forgiveness for the sake of Christ as well as for amendment (“newness”) of life.

Text: Then shall the Elder say,

O Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who of thy great mercy hast promised forgiveness of sins to all them that with hearty repentance and true faith turn unto thee; Have mercy upon us; pardon and deliver us from all our sins, confirm and strengthen us in all goodness, and bring us to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Commentary: The Elder’s intercession for the congregation emphasizes the same constitutive elements requested in the corporate confession. Having prayed for themselves and each other—and subsequently receiving the intercession of the Elder—the congregation has moved through confession and repentance and now awaits the renewal and reconciliation which the Lord’s Supper both symbolizes and affects.

Text: Then all standing, the Elder shall say,

Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all that truly turn to him:

Come unto me, all ye that are burdened and heavy-laden, and I will refresh you. Matt. 11:28.

So God loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16.

Hear also what St. Paul saith:

This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received, That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 1 Tim. 1:15.

Hear also what St. John saith:

If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 2:1, 2.

Commentary: These scriptural sentences are “comfortable words,” because in announcing them afresh in the context of confession, repentance, and faith, we hear in the Elder’s words God’s voice of acceptance. The sentences assure the congregation that those who have made a sincere confession and repentance shall certainly have forgiveness through faith in the grace of Christ. We feel that a burden of sin is lifted off our shoulders, and we are filled with joy and gratitude.

Text: After which the Elder shall proceed, saying,

Lift up your hearts.

Answ.     We lift them up unto the Lord.

Elder.     Let us give thanks unto our Lord God.

Answ.     It is meet and right so to do.

Then shall the Elder say,

It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty, Everlasting God.

Commentary: This litany of thanks encourages the congregation to “lift up your hearts”; they are forgiven and reconciled, their hearts are no longer downcast and penitent. Because of the annunciation and reality of God’s will to save, it is “meet and right” to thank God with elevated hearts.

Text: Here shall follow the proper Preface, according to the Time, if there be any especially appointed; or else immediately shall follow;

Therefore with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious Name, evermore praising thee, and saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Glory be to thee, O Lord most high. Amen.

Proper Prefaces

Upon Christmas-day

Because thou didst give Jesus Christ thine only Son to be born as at this time for us, who, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, was made very man, and that without spot of sin, to make us clean from all sin. Therefore with Angels, etc.

Upon Easter-day

But chiefly we are bound to praise thee for the glorious Resurrection of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord: for he is the very Paschal Lamb, which was offered for us, and hath taken away the sin of the world; who by his death hath destroyed death, and by his rising to life again, hath restored to us everlasting life. Therefore with Angels, etc.

Upon Ascension-day

Through thy most dearly beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord; who, after his most glorious Resurrection, manifestly appeared to all his Apostles, and in their sight ascended up into heaven, to prepare a place for us, that where he is, thither we might also ascend, and reign with him in glory. Therefore with Angels, etc.

Upon Whitsunday

Through Jesus Christ our Lord; according to whose most true promise the Holy Ghost came down, as at this time, from heaven with a sudden great sound, as it had been a mighty wind, in the likeness of fiery tongues, lighting upon the Apostles, to teach them, and to lead them to all truth; giving them both the gift of divers languages, and also boldness, with fervent zeal, constantly to preach the Gospel unto all nations, whereby we have been brought out of darkness and error, into the clear light and true knowledge of thee, and of thy Son Jesus Christ. Therefore with Angels, etc.

Upon the Feast of Trinity

Who are one God, one Lord: not only one person, but three persons in one substance. For that which we believe of the glory of the Father, the same we believe of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, without any difference or inequality. Therefore with Angels, etc.

After each of which Prefaces shall immediately be said,

Therefore with Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify thy glorious Name, evermore praising thee, and saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Glory be to thee, O Lord most high. Amen.

Commentary: The three-fold cry of “holy” blends our thanksgiving for reconciliation with praise for the perfections and majesty of God. The “Proper Prefaces” again fit the Sunday Service into the liturgical calendar. Just as the introductory praise reminded us that “heaven and earth are full of the glory of God,” so now we are reminded, through attention to the major Christian festivals, that the Incarnation, Resurrection, Ascension, the bestowal of the Holy Spirit, and the tri-unity of God are manifestations and demonstrations of that same glory.

Text: Then shall the Elder, kneeling down at the Table, say, in the Name of all of them that shall receive the Communion, this Prayer following; the People also kneeling:

We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table. But thou are the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.

Commentary: The Elder approaches the Communion table as a representative of the congregation. His prayer of approach reminds all that they must come to the Lord’s Table deeply aware of their unworthiness and equally aware of God’s great mercy. Wesley’s Anglican heritage contributes to the sacramental realism; partaking in faith, the bread and wine are to us the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. The effects of faith-filled partaking are not only forgiveness and renewal (since we are “made clean” and “our souls washed”), but also union with the risen Christ—“that we may … dwell in him, and he in us.”

Text: Then the Elder shall say the Prayer of Consecration, as followeth:

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who, of thy tender mercy, didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption; who made there (by his oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world; and did institute, and in his holy Gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious death until his coming again; hear us, O merciful Father, we most humbly beseech thee, and grant that we, receiving these thy creatures of bread and wine, according to thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ’s holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood: who, in the same night that he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat; this is my Body which is given for you: Do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, after supper, he took the cup; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of this; for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you, and for many, for the remission of sins: Do this, as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of me. Amen.

Commentary: The Prayer of Consecration focuses our attention upon the historical and theological reality of Christ’s death on our behalf. The belief in the saving efficacy of Jesus’ death is reinforced through a series of traditional phrases: his death is “once offered” and need not be repeated. It is “a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice” so that we need to bring nothing more than faith in Christ before God for the covering of our sins. It is an “oblation,” or offering, which Jesus willingly made for us. Jesus’ death was a “satisfaction,” which means that God’s just penalty against sinners has been paid by a sinless substitute. And finally, Jesus’ death is not for himself alone or for a few. Rather it has such power and significance that it covers the “sins of the whole world.”

The prayer does not specifically consecrate or set apart the Communion elements (bread and wine) through a special transformation; the congregation is the focus of this prayer of consecration. Reflecting upon the deep significance of Jesus’ death, and the reality of our forgiveness, we dedicate ourselves to God through participation in the Lord’s Supper. Thus this new relationship (“covenant”) brings Christ’s life into our lives. The bread and wine are set apart through our faith; they remain unchanged, but by faith, they are received as emblems of Jesus’ body and blood.

The second section of the Prayer of Consecration turns our attention to Jesus’ establishment of the Lord’s Supper. The “gospel command” is found in the Lord’s words: “Do this … in remembrance of me.… For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:25–26). The Elder’s liturgical reenactment of Jesus breaking the bread and the blessing of the cup makes our remembrance vivid and tangible. The minister speaks Jesus’ words to the congregation: “Take, eat … Drink ye all of this … ” and thereby proclaims the gospel to us. These sacramental signs of bread and wine testify to the remission of our sins through Jesus’ broken body and shed blood.

Text: Then shall the Minister first receive the Communion in both kinds himself, and then proceed to deliver the same to the other Ministers in like manner, (if any be present) and after that to the People also, in order, into their Hands. And when he delivereth the Bread to anyone, he shall say,

The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving.

And the Minister that delivereth the Cup to any one shall say,

The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ’s Blood was shed for thee, and be thankful.

Commentary: The minister receives and offers communion in “both kinds,” in that both bread and wine are offered and received. With the Protestant reformers, (and in contrast to Roman Catholic rites of the same era) Wesley affirmed the equality and unity of all Christians before God by stipulating communion be offered and received by all.

The words for offering the bread make Christ’s sacrifice very tangible for us; “the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ … ,” and we take bread into our hands. Once again, the Methodist rite is more concerned with the transformation of the Christian through the Lord’s Supper, than with a transformation of the elements.

The second sentence shows how the sacrament bridges time and space with the saving effectiveness of Christ’s death: we “take and eat … in remembrance” of Christ’s death in the historical past. This taking and remembering enable us to “feed on him … by faith with thanksgiving.” In a similar way, the taking of the cup calls to mind the shedding of Christ’s blood and evokes thankfulness on our part.

Text: If the consecrated Bread or Wine be all spent before all have communicated, the Elder may consecrate more, by repeating the Prayer of Consecration. When all have communicated, the Minister shall return to the Lord’s Table, and place upon it what remaineth of the consecrated Elements, covering the same with a fair Linen Cloth. Then shall the Elder say the Lord’s prayer, the People repeating after him every Petition.

Commentary: That the prayer is also understood to consecrate the Communion elements is clear from the treatment accorded them here. The bread and the wine are set apart for sacramental use. But they are not said to be “holy,” nor are they elevated, bowed to, or shown special veneration.

Text:

Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on Earth, As it is in Heaven: Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil: For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, For ever and ever. Amen.

Commentary: The congregation’s recitation of the Lord’s Prayer reminds us that the Lord’s Supper is “communion,” communion with Christ, and with Christians. The act of praying together establishes both aspects of our communion. The prayer, as an act of devotion and commitment, is also an appropriate response to God’s bestowal of himself to us through the offering of his Son.

Text: After which shall be said as followeth:

O Lord and heavenly Father, we thy humble servants desire thy Fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; most humbly beseeching thee to grant that, by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood, we and all thy whole Church may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of his passion. And here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto thee; humbly beseeching thee that all we who are partakers of this holy Communion, may be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction. And although we be unworthy, through our manifold sins, to offer unto thee any sacrifice, yet we beseech thee to accept this our bounden duty and service; not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences, through Jesus Christ our Lord; by whom, and with whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honour and glory be unto thee, O Father Almighty, world without end. Amen.

Commentary: The communicants respond to the gift of Christ’s sacrifice by offering up “this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.” The magnitude of God’s gift, made tangible for us through the bread and wine, elicits heartfelt thanks and adoration. The petition to “obtain the remission of our sins” is based on the merits of Christ’s death, and not on our participation in the Lord’s Supper. The reference to “all other benefits of his passion” reminds us that Jesus’ suffering and death on our behalf unlock the riches of a relationship we can have with God, which defies enumeration. The sacrifice of our praise is fittingly followed by the sacrifice of ourselves; just as Christ gave himself to us, and for us, so now we give ourselves (“souls and bodies”) and whole lives (“bounden duty and service”) to Christ.

The phraseology of “not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offenses,” creates a sense of humility and penitence because of our failings. It also creates an important juxtaposition between the “merits of Christ” and “our merits”; the former are reconciling and life-giving, the latter is utterly worthless.

Text: Then shall be said,

Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will towards men, We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we glorify thee, we give thanks to thee for thy great glory, O Lord God, heavenly king, God the Father Almighty.

O Lord, the only-begotten Son Jesus Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us.

For thou only art holy, thou only art the Lord, thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Commentary: This glorious annunciation puts the angels’ words announcing Christ’s birth (Luke 2:13–14) into our own mouths. It is a fitting reminder that through the Lord’s Supper and through our communion with Christ in the newness of life, Christ has come again among his people. The next clause of praise is formed on words and imagery borrowed from the prologue of John’s gospel (John 1:1–17). It reminds us that our sins, and those of the whole world, are genuinely borne away by Jesus. But Jesus is no longer upon the cross of his sacrifice, he has ascended on high (“at the right hand of God the Father”) to his place of glory, dominion, and intercession for us. The triune ascription of holiness (“only thou art holy”) reminds us that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God and that each has their role to play in our salvation and in our relationship with God.

Text: Then the Elder, if he see it expedient, may put up an Extempore Prayer; and afterwards shall let the People depart with this Blessing:

May the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with you always. Amen.

Commentary: Extempore prayer was an important part of the Wesleyan tradition. One can well imagine that there were extensive, personal prayers made at this juncture. The benediction (drawn from Phil. 4:7) invokes a deep and enduring sense of God’s peace upon the “hearts and minds” of the communicants, to the end that they are kept in the knowledge and love of God. Peace with God and an enduring sense of God’s presence were certainly gifts given in the Lord’s Supper, and they are the best gifts with which one can leave the worship service. Once again, the final blessing is tripartite, and it emphasizes the enduring effects of these sacred moments (“be among us and remain with you always”).

(Text: John Wesley, “The Order for the Administration of the Lord’s Supper” from The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America [1784], published in Bard Thompson, Liturgies of the Western Church [Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1961].)

The Modern Holiness-Pentecostal Movement

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The origins of the Holiness-Pentecostal movement are found in the work and teaching of John Wesley. Worship within the movement varies widely, but it seems to thrive in contexts that encourage spontaneity and freedom. Traditional Pentecostal worship is currently undergoing significant change because of the growing popularity of contemporary worship choruses.

Throughout their history, the Holiness and Pentecostal movements have been characterized by an extemporaneous vernacular style that assigns a large role to music in the expression of corporate and individual worship.

The American holiness movement traces its origins to John Wesley and his associate, John Fletcher, whose persuasion that a conversion experience should always be followed by a dynamic encounter with sanctifying grace stands at its core. In the course of the nineteenth century, some American Methodists derived from that premise the teaching that an instantaneous second definite work of grace should be part of every Christian’s religious experience. They—and people from many other denominations who embraced the general teaching that practical holiness was part of the essence of Christianity—gathered in camp meetings and brush arbors around the country for simple teaching, enthusiastic singing, and agonizing prayer. Gradually, the most radical among them severed relationships to historic denominations. Over several decades, they generated a new cluster of Holiness denominations such as the Church of the Nazarene, the Free Methodist Church, and the Wesleyan church.

Methodists were well-known for pursuing intense religious experiences and for “raising the shout” when they “broke through” and experienced grace. They sang the majestic hymns Charles Wesley had bequeathed them, the pietist hymns John Wesley translated from German, and the simple songs of exhortation and testimony that were spawned by revivals and camp meetings. Because they dealt in verities that touched the deepest human emotions, they regarded tears, groans, vocal praise, and audible individual prayer as appropriate, even necessary, in corporate and individual worship. They made room in their services for personal testimonies, partly because testifying to an experience seemed to them to be part of “owning” or appropriating that experience for themselves.

Holiness emphases on grace and cleansing generated a holiness idiom that found expression in devotional literature and gospel songs. The new style used Old Testament stories of Israel’s crossing the Jordan into Canaan as analogs for the “second definite work of grace” and the “baptism with the Holy Spirit.” Like early Methodism, it also emphasized the blood of Jesus. It popularized the holiness experience as both an end and a beginning: it ended the first phase of the Christian life and introduced believers into a new dimension of Christian living. It made them “happy” and “free” and gave them assurance of cleansing from sin. A significant number of the gospel songs that were incorporated into the hymnals of twentieth-century evangelicals expressed the sentiments of these women and men whose deep religious experiences seemed natural to find musical expression. Elisha Hoffman, Annie Johnson Oatman, Mrs. C. H. Morris, Fanny Crosby, Charles Price Jones, A. B. Simpson, and Phoebe Palmer Knapp are just a few of those whose names are found in many Protestant hymnals. Their songs, read through a Holiness lens, reveal much of the movement’s message and power.

One wing of the Holiness movement, the Salvation Army, was often denounced for setting religious words to popular secular tunes. The Salvation Army also popularized the use of band instruments in outdoor evangelism and worship services. Parading through city streets in military-style uniforms, and playing popular melodies, they regularly drew crowds that responded to their vernacular style.

Holiness people gathered in all kinds of settings, some formal and many informal: camp meetings, brush arbors, tabernacles, missions, homes, churches. They welcomed participation by everyone in attendance, often providing opportunities for both corporate and individual involvement, as well as structured and spontaneous participation. Fringe groups gained notoriety when they opted for either extreme legalism (such as reinstituting the Old Testament law and feasts) or boisterous behavior (contortions while fighting demons, or falling, shouting, and jumping during services). The movement’s mainstream, both African-American and white, however, made a rich contribution to American religion, not least through the thousands of songs written to express the admittedly inexpressible bliss of the sanctified soul.

While singing, testimony, shouts of praise, and demonstrative prayers frequently marked Holiness worship, controversy raged in some circles over the use of musical instruments in church worship. In the 1890s, for example, Free Methodists argued heatedly about organ accompaniment. The debate seriously jeopardized the denomination’s future.

When Pentecostalism, after 1901, emerged as an identifiable religious movement, it appropriated much of the idiom of the Holiness movement, reinterpreting some of it to nuance its understanding of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Many of the songs Pentecostals have sung over the years to describe their experience were written before Pentecostalism began, by Holiness people intent on describing sanctifying grace. The two movements shared religious language about life in the Spirit that had very different theological connotations in each context.

From the beginning worship style and musical tastes in Pentecostalism varied widely. Like the Holiness movement, Pentecostalism thrived in contexts that encouraged spontaneity and individual expression. What was perceived as corporate worship might alternatively be described as simultaneous individual worship. Pentecostals perhaps met together as much to pursue individual experiences as to express corporate solidarity as the people of God. Their corporate unity tended, then, to be more apparent than real, except during sporadic opposition. Referring to one another as “brother” and “sister” on the surface seemed to cultivate a sense of family unity, but that was not generally reflected in worship style. That family language has long since disappeared in many quarters, as has opposition, and individualism thrives.

Pentecostals sang the gospel songs of their day, some of the better-known hymns of the church, new songs were written by adherents, and choruses billed as “given” by the Holy Spirit. In many places, they kept singing songs they had sung before, adding some to express new dimensions of religious experience. Southern gospel music has always been popular. Vocal and instrumental ensembles and musically talented evangelists were part of the movement from its inception. Singing was incorporated throughout the worship service. Through songs, people expressed emotions, declared doctrines, glorified God, exhorted one another, entreated sinners, responded to testimonies, invoked miracles, and yearned for God’s tangible presence. Early Pentecostals were probably right in the observation that singing was an essential part of what adherents understood Pentecostalism to be.

An additional dimension in Pentecostal worship is known as “singing in the Spirit.” Variously described, this involves one, several or all the gathered worshipers in singing simultaneously and harmoniously in either tongues or the vernacular. In its most elementary form, this happens as a congregation moves from singing a worship song into sung expressions of individual praise. Singing in the same key and moving among several basic chords, individuals express their feelings in words meaningful to them. The music may seem to flow from one individual to another, the voice of one occasioning another’s participation until many are involved. Another form is believed by participants to involve the orchestration by the Holy Spirit of the worship of several or all of the worshipers. Sometimes individuals who are understood by those around them to be “in the Spirit” may sing solos that hearers describe as beautiful songs. This resembles the “singing exercise” described in Barton Stone’s well-known account of the Cane Ridge camp meeting.

Pentecostalism’s ethnic diversity was also reflected in its worship traditions, which have always ranged from Quaker-like waiting for the Spirit to camp-meeting style to dignified formality. German and Scandinavian Pentecostals have preserved some of the hymnody of the Reformation and Pietism; Hispanic Pentecostals have used their culture’s musical idiom; black Pentecostals have contributed significantly to the music of the movement as a whole, especially through the songs of people like Thoro Harris, G. T. Haywood, and more recently, Andrae Crouch.

Aimee Semple McPherson, one of the most prolific Pentecostal musicians, used innovative worship techniques that extensively influenced American Pentecostalism. Reared in the Salvation Army but converted to Pentecostalism by an evangelist she later married, McPherson blended the Holiness and Pentecostal traditions with such creativity that in the 1920s, she was widely hailed as Los Angeles’ premier star. Her dramatic entry down a ramp and into her pulpit at her 5,000-seat Angelus Temple was always preceded by thirty minutes of singing led by award-winning choirs and accompanied by an excellent orchestra seated in a hydraulic orchestra pit. She composed songs for her people, operas for their holiday entertainment, and graphic sermons to convey her message. She represented a style that gained increasing favor among Pentecostals, a style that featured one or more performing stars. She altered the nature of individual participation, which she professed to value but at the same time insisted on controlling. In many ways, her style was the trend of the future.

In recent years, both the Holiness and Pentecostal movements have significantly modified the form and content of their worship. These innovations have moved through several generations of hymnals and have replaced many of the songs that once provided each with its distinctive idiom. Some denominations in these families have become increasingly like other evangelicals in both their music and their worship style. On the other hand, the charismatic renewal has generated a fresh musical style that has greatly influenced Pentecostalism and, to a lesser extent, virtually every form of Christianity. Rejecting much traditional hymnody and the gospel songs of an earlier era as outdated, charismatics opted for simple choruses. They set Scripture to music or composed worship choruses that enabled people to express their feelings, their experiences, and their praise. In many Pentecostal congregations, overhead transparencies have virtually replaced hymnals which are used selectively, if at all. Almost overnight, and with no struggle, Pentecostal churches have abandoned the musical vocabulary through which they had once understood and expressed the meaning of their religious experience. Having gained a vast repertoire of praise choruses, they have lost the stirring exhortations to mission and evangelism, the declarations of doctrine, and admonitions about the second coming and the hope of heaven that had once prodded them along the “upward way.”

Praise choruses, then, both symbolized and facilitated a change in Pentecostal worship style. By the 1960s, singing generally occurred only at stated times in the service, not whenever a worshiper felt inclined to introduce a song. Large Pentecostal churches had begun hiring professional musicians who not only worked with choirs and orchestras but who also led congregational singing. The introduction of these “music pastors” significantly impacted congregational worship style in a manner that requires further study and analysis. With the acceptance of praise choruses came a turn toward other charismatic practices like standing for long periods at the beginning of services, lifting up hands, and repeating the same choruses. Choreographed dancing, favored by some charismatics, also gained acceptance in many Pentecostal congregations.

The Holiness and Pentecostal traditions historically have been hospitable to the expression of individual spiritual longings. They have been sufficiently adaptable to mirror the desires and needs of common people in different times and places. By encouraging private and public expression of profound human emotions, they have become traditions through which people enact privately and corporately the passion of personal responses to the gospel. Richly textured, relying on a familiar idiom that relates divine grace to everyday experience, and open to infinite variety, these traditions have offered ways through which people can affirm God’s presence and power in their lives.

Holiness Worship in the Post-Reformation Period

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The holiness movement traces its origins to John Wesley. The worship of the holiness churches, however, was shaped primarily by the liturgical forms of the camp meeting movement.

In 1784 John Wesley recognized the establishment of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America and attempted to offer guidance for its worship through the publication of his revision of The Book of Common Prayer. Wesley’s work was entitled The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America and Other Occasional Services. Elements that survived Wesley’s abridgment of The Book of Common Prayer included morning and evening prayer, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, rites of ordination (for deacons, elders, and superintendents), the Psalms, the litany and collects, and Epistles and Gospels for the Lord’s Supper. Worship was to be marked by weekly sacramental celebration. The Sunday Service, however, was never widely accepted or used in America. Wesley had not accurately perceived the North American situation, nor had he anticipated the influence of Francis Asbury, the General Superintendent. The “father of American Methodism” was not committed to worship in the prayer book tradition. By the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1892, only one year after the death of Wesley, the restructuring of worship was apparent. The Sunday Service, a book of more than three hundred pages, had been reduced to fewer than forty pages of “Sacramental Services, &c” which were included within the church’s Discipline. What remained of Wesley’s services were the orders for baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and ordination. An order of worship was also included in the 1792 Discipline; the standard, however, was no longer a service of Word and sacrament, but one in which evangelistic proclamation, occasionally followed by eucharistic celebration, was primary.

Within ten years of the 1792 Discipline, camp meeting religion was crossing the frontier. Although originally an interdenominational enterprise, camp meetings quickly became predominantly Methodist institutions. Methodism’s theology, organization, and evangelistic fervor were well suited to the challenge of an isolated, often illiterate, and largely unchurched populace. Camp meetings provided fellowship with rarely seen neighbors and relief from the hardships and monotony of life on the frontier. Worship utilized simple and repetitive “gospel songs.” Above all, camp meeting religion called the unchurched to a conversion experience.

By the 1820s, the simple, evangelistic worship model of the camp meeting was being appropriated by revivalists like Charles G. Finney to meet the challenge of the new frontier, the unconverted city. The rise of revivalism ran parallel to an increasing emphasis upon the doctrine of holiness as understood by John Wesley. In the same year that Finney published Lectures on Revivals of Religion (1835), Sarah Lankford and Phoebe Palmer began, in New York City, the “Tuesday Meetings for the Promotion of Holiness.” By 1839, Timothy Merritt’s Guide to Christian Perfection provided the holiness movement with a vehicle to promote the cause and to publish the effects of this recovered doctrine. No longer was worship intended solely to call the unconverted to conversion; it was also to call the converted Christian to a complete consecration. The holiness movement appropriated for its own purposes the prevalent revivalistic model of worship consisting of singing, praying, preaching, and the call to response (“harvest”). The holiness movement of the nineteenth century was not a movement of liturgical reform; it was, rather, the revival of a doctrinal emphasis perceived to have been lost. The origins of the Church of the Nazarene, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, the Wesleyan church, and the Pentecostal movement can be traced to the era and theological thrust of the holiness movement.