How To Download Methodist Hymn Book
Harald Atta
The favorite hymn "Blessed Assurance" is one of more than 8,000 penned by a blind, musical visionary. Fanny Crosby's songs are favorites in the United Methodist Hymnal. The Rev. Alfred Day of the General Commission on Archives and History tells us why the life story of this 19th century poet is as inspiring as the words we sing today.
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"Blessed Assurance" is one of the most beloved songs in the United Methodist Hymnal. The person who composed this classic is credited with writing 8000 hymns in her lifetime--despite losing her sight six weeks after birth in 1820.
The Rev. Alfred T. Day: "Fanny Crosby was not held back at all by her blindness. And probably the words of her poetry and hymns helped more people to see and know and experience Jesus as anybody with two working eyes and 20/20 vision."
From the age of 15, Crosby attended the New York Institute for the Blind and later joined the faculty and met her husband there. Alexander Van Alstyne, blind himself, was supportive. He often transcribed his wife's poems since Crosby could not write and composed the lyrics entirely in her mind.
Crosby's writings never brought her wealth. She was often paid just a dollar or two per poem with the rights to the songs being retained by the composer or music publishers. At one point, the songstress was destitute but Crosby wrote in her autobiography that the songs were God's work and not for profit. Any royalties she received were often donated toward the mission work she championed with immigrants and the poor. "Pass Me Not O' Gentle Savior" was penned while Crosby was working in prison ministry.
"Rescue the Perishing" was written one night after Crosby prayed with men at a city homeless shelter. Crosby's songs spoke to social issues of the day including the temperance movement and the campaign against child labor. Her writing process always started with a prayer and she sometimes composed six or seven poems a day. Setting a personal goal of winning a million people to Christ through her hymns. Crosby said many times, "Don't waste sympathy on me, I'm the happiest person alive." She passed away in 1915, at the age of 94.
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In 1975, Fanny Crosby was posthumously inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. United Methodist Discipleship Ministries features the stories behind some of Fanny Crosby's hymns including "Blessed Assurance" and "Close to Thee."
I need suggestions for music to play on the organ for a memorial service. The family has requested music that is not sad and depressing. I am not a professional musician, although I play for the church services. I will appreciate any help you can offer.
My counsel would be to stay with hymns that celebrate resurrection, witness, hope, and eternal life. All of these may be found in The United Methodist Hymnal and The Faith We Sing. A great many of these would be familiar to people, which is always a source of comfort. They would also allow you to contribute a spirit of hope, joy, and positive remembrance rather than dwelling on the sorrowful and sense of loss. I'm glad to hear the family has this attitude. It tells me a lot about them and the deceased. You should also consider including congregational singing of any of these as part of the service. This allows the people present to contribute to and participate in worship more actively than as merely spectators or hearers. It provides a way for them to enter into the celebration of the deceased's life rather than to simply mourn, and it also gives the family strength and encouragement to hear the people singing the praises of God at this time. Here are some suggestions. Others are included in the Topical Indexes under such topics as Funerals and Memorial Services, Hope, Comfort, Eternal Life, and Christian Year/Easter.
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The United Methodist Hymnal is the hymnal used by The United Methodist Church. It was first published in 1989 as the first hymnal for The United Methodist Church after the 1968 merger of The Methodist Church with The Evangelical United Brethren Church. The 960-page hymnal is noted for many changes that were made in the lyrics of certain hymns, so as to modernize the hymnal.
Prior to the release of The United Methodist Hymnal, The United Methodist Church used the hymnals that were in use by The Methodist Church and The Evangelical United Brethren Church at the time of the merger. The Methodist Church generally used The Methodist Hymnal, also known as The Book of Hymns, or a 1982 supplement, while The Evangelical United Brethren Church had its own hymnal, The Hymnal, which was first published in 1957, and other congregations sometimes used special hymnals oriented to different nationalities.[2]
The release of United Methodist Hymnal in 1989 followed the updates of several other denominational hymnals in the previous decade, such as Lutheran Book of Worship in 1978 and the Episcopalian The Hymnal 1982.[3] The United Methodist Hymnal was developed by a revision committee composed of twenty-five members led by editor Carlton R. Young (who also edited The Methodist Hymnal), and chaired by Bishop Rueben P. Job. It was the first hymnal following The Methodist Church's merger with The Evangelical United Brethren Church.[2]
In selecting and arranging hymns, many that contained masculine pronouns were altered so as to include gender-neutral pronouns instead.[3] Male references to God, such as "Master", "Father" and "King", were retained, and a hymn entitled "Strong Mother God" was rejected.[3]
The editors had also considered eliminating militaristic references, and in 1986 the hymnal revision was the subject of controversy as the editors had considered eliminating "Onward Christian Soldiers" and some verses of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," but retained both hymns after receiving more than 11,000 protest letters.[3] The line "white as snow" was changed to "bright as snow" in "Nothing but the Blood of Jesus", so as to eliminate the imagery of black and white respectively being images of sin and redemption. A line in "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing" containing references to blindness, deafness and muteness was marked with an asterisk to indicate that it may be omitted.[3] Several international hymns were also selected, including Spanish, Asian and American Indian hymns, as well as Black spirituals.[3] Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday" was also included.[3] In compositions by John Wesley, many of the lyrical changes made by his brother Charles were reverted, and most uses of "thee" were replaced with "you".[2]
The hymnal also contains four forms of the Holy Communion ritual, known as the Service of Word and Table, and also of the Baptismal Covenant, along with several musical settings for both of those services. It also contains the marriage and funeral rites, forms for morning and evening Praise and Prayer, and a Psalter based on the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible but with a few revisions.
Before the hymnal's official release, The United Methodist Publishing House sent a 73-page sampler to several churches.[3] More than three million copies were sold by July 31, 1989,[1] and the total was over four-and-a-half million ten years later.[2] Two supplemental hymnals have been issued, The Faith We Sing in 2000, and Worship & Song in 2011.
There are two other equally official hymnals of The United Methodist Church: Mil Voces Para Celebrar: Himnario Metodista (published in 1996) and Come, Let Us Worship: The Korean-English United Methodist Hymnal (published in 2000).[4]
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