St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Ministries of hymns

Midway through July I went to the annual conference of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland. I went as a piece of in-service training: as an aspiring hymn-writer I was hoping to pick up hints of how to write better hymns and to learn some lessons from good hymn-writers nowadays. And I wasn’t disappointed: participants included Fred Kaan, Christopher Idle, Michael Saward and John Barnard. My friend Michael Lehr and I even had them singing one of our hymns (my words, Michael's tune).

The conference took place in Northampton and included visits to the churches of two famous hymn-writers of past generations. John Newton, after his slave-trading days, was the curate of Olney (this was in the days of absentee vicars - so he was the minister in charge of the parish), and he used to conduct weekly prayer meetings. So he set himself the goal of writing a new hymn each week for these weekly prayer meeting. In 1780 he published the “Olney Hymn Book” which had 280 of his hymns and 68 by William Cowper who came to live in his parish. Favourites like “Oh for a closer walk with God” (Cowper), “How sweet the name of Jesus sounds” and “Amazing Grace” (both Newton) come from this book.

In Northampton itself is Castle Hill United Reformed Church, where Philip Doddridge was minister for 22 years. As well as preaching and writing bible commentaries, he too published a book of hymns - an edition with the name “The Scripture Hymn-Book” is still on display in the chapel. “Hark the glad sound”, “O happy day”, and “O God of Bethel by whose hand” were written by him - but what impressed me was the way that virtually all of the 397 hymns are based on bible texts - in fact the headings of the pages, arranged in biblical order, make the book look like a mini-bible in verse. Here was a man who was inspired by God’s word and wanted to pass it on to others.

And, of course, it is Charles Wesley’s 300th birthday this year - the conference included a study of his hymns too. “Whereas Watts was a paraphraser of scripture and a logical mind, Wesley always wanted to reach for the personal encounter in which God touches the emotions,” said one lecturer.

So, all in all, some lessons for me to learn. All of these hymn-writers wrote some lines which are best forgotten, but they all saw the way that songs can touch hearts and open the way for God to enter our lives. I am not promising to write one biblical and emotionally-satisfying hymn every week for a prayer meeting ... but I think it’s a goal worth aiming at!

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. August 2007, Page 4.
Home Page. Index of articles: by subject, by date. In this issue: (August 2007) Prayer, Appointments, Hymnwriters, Egypt, Covenant. Hymns & Songs.	Ministries of hymns Midway through July I went to the annual conference of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland. I went as a piece of in-service training: as an aspiring hymn-writer I was hoping to pick up hints of how to write better hymns and to learn some lessons from good hymn-writers nowadays. And I wasn’t disappointed: participants included Fred Kaan, Christopher Idle, Michael Saward and John Barnard. My friend Michael Lehr and I even had them singing one of our hymns (my words, Michael's tune). The conference took place in Northampton and included visits to the churches of two famous hymn-writers of past generations. John Newton, after his slave-trading days, was the curate of Olney (this was in the days of absentee vicars - so he was the minister in charge of the parish), and he used to conduct weekly prayer meetings. So he set himself the goal of writing a new hymn each week for these weekly prayer meeting. In 1780 he published the “Olney Hymn Book” which had 280 of his hymns and 68 by William Cowper who came to live in his parish. Favourites like “Oh for a closer walk with God” (Cowper), “How sweet the name of Jesus sounds” and “Amazing Grace” (both Newton) come from this book. In Northampton itself is Castle Hill United Reformed Church, where Philip Doddridge was minister for 22 years. As well as preaching and writing bible commentaries, he too published a book of hymns - an edition with the name “The Scripture Hymn-Book” is still on display in the chapel. “Hark the glad sound”, “O happy day”, and “O God of Bethel by whose hand” were written by him - but what impressed me was the way that virtually all of the 397 hymns are based on bible texts - in fact the headings of the pages, arranged in biblical order, make the book look like a mini-bible in verse. Here was a man who was inspired by God’s word and wanted to pass it on to others. And, of course, it is Charles Wesley’s 300th birthday this year - the conference included a study of his hymns too. “Whereas Watts was a paraphraser of scripture and a logical mind, Wesley always wanted to reach for the personal encounter in which God touches the emotions,” said one lecturer. So, all in all, some lessons for me to learn. All of these hymn-writers wrote some lines which are best forgotten, but they all saw the way that songs can touch hearts and open the way for God to enter our lives. I am not promising to write one biblical and emotionally-satisfying hymn every week for a prayer meeting ... but I think it’s a goal worth aiming at! John Hartley
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