One of the things I like most about Methodism is its strong history of singing. We have good four-part writing in our standard hymnal, and members of Voices In Praise help to lead the congregational singing during worship. They did a FABULOUS job on Tour, singing in 5 worship services throughout the week.
The Fourth of July was a week ago and I was interested to see what hymns would be sung. "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" has gone through its own battle over the years, not only over the song itself and it's link to the Civil War, but for the controversial line in the fourth verse:
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free
The line was changed in the choral arrangement to:
As he died to make men holy, let us live to make men free
Apparently, this change was supposed to make it to the Methodist Hymnal. The General Council (the Church's top decision-making group) voted on it more than 20 years ago, but it was never changed in the hymnal! No one seems to know why.
On all sorts of levels, I find this situation (and the article about it) interesting. Don't you just wonder where the buck stopped?
I envision this young guy sitting in a cubicle at the UM Conference headquarters, who gets a memo: "Please change lyrics." Does he throw the memo out and pretend he never got it? Does he stomp and rage and tell his boss how wrong it is? Does the boss agree and do they conspire to not chanage the lyrics?
Or, was it a simple oversight? A human mistake that has gone un-corrected for more than 20 years.
Honestly, I'll sing either set of lyrics but I do think it's important that singers/worshippers/congregations commit to singing in unity. This comes up regularly in VIP. It always makes me laugh when an entire section or the whole choir makes a mistake together. I often tell them, "OK, guys - we messed up the words/rhythm/notes but you get major points for making the same mistake together!" And I believe that sort-of "group think" is important and valuable.
What really bothers me in the article, is that Dean McIntyre, Director of Music Resources for the United Methodist Board of Discipleship, admits to singing is OWN set of words, which is neither the original, nor the UM-approved change:
In my own selecting, leading, and singing of this hymn in worship, I have always sung, "as he died to make us holy, now he lives to make us free," regardless of what those around me are singing.
I respectfully disagree -- not only with the lyrics Mr. McIntyre chooses but with the fact that you're singing something different from everyone around you.
Can you imagine if individual VIPs starting changing words to suit them? Yikes...
Hymn-singing is a form of worship. It's designed to (literally) put everyone on the same page. As individuals and music leaders, we might not agree with everything on that page, but that doesn't mean we should create our own individual, musical diversions... especially when we're in positions of musical leadership.
Welcome! Voices In Praise exists for the glory of God and in service to others. As the youth choir of Friendship United Methodist Church, the group is open to all youth in grades 6 -12 who have a desire to sing and a willingness to make the commitment to the group. Singers are not required to be a member of the church or to have any background in singing. Our doors are open to everyone!
The choir rehearses on Mondays. Girls rehearse from 6:30pm – 8pm; Guys rehearse from 7pm – 8:30pm.
New singers are welcome any time. Feel free to contact Director Holly Reynolds Lee at 301-728-1748 with questions!
The choir rehearses on Mondays. Girls rehearse from 6:30pm – 8pm; Guys rehearse from 7pm – 8:30pm.New singers are welcome any time. Feel free to contact Director Holly Reynolds Lee at 301-728-1748 with questions!