Gospel Gold - Hymns of the Church

When I was growing up, my grandmother often quoted lines from hymns, and my mother liked to play them using a small keyboard. At the time, I lacked the knowledge and life experiences to comprehend the songs’ connection to the gamut of human experience. To night Gospel Gold will take a look at the "Hymns of the Back Church.

As matters of faith became important to me, I realized that no other part of a church service belongs so emphatically to the people. Hymns express joy, sorrow, brokenness, forgiveness and grace. They call into question the idolatries of the day and speak of God’s love.
What we sing is important and always has been. The church’s earliest hymns were the psalms. The Gospels and letters of Paul contain lyrical fragments. Jesus and his disciples finished their last meal together by singing a hymn. Sixteenth- century Reformation leaders and their followers sang to express praise while edu­cating and nurturing the development of an informed and spirited people.

The songs we sing in churches and on the streets have denounced the evils of slavery and racism, called us to freedom and affirmed justice, peace and environmental stewardship. In 1845, Once to Every Man and Nation asked churchgoers to “decide, in the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side” by opposing the establishment of any new slave states in the United States. 

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