Review of Sacred Songs of the Church

by Wayne S. Walker The first new hymnbook among churches of Christ for the 21st century (notwithstanding the late Alton H. Howard’s Songs of the Church 21st Century Edition which actually came out in 1990) is now available. It is Sacred Songs of the Church, edited by William D. Jeffcoat, copyrighted in 2007 by Psallo Publications LLC (3642 Peachtree…

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A Review of the Hymnbooks

by Wayne S. Walker Originally published in Torch, October 1988 Please understand that my review is of necessity going to be biased by my own view of what constitutes a good hymn selection. With that in mind, I shall begin by saying that I grew up using the old “brown book,” Christian Hymns II (edited by…

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The Songs and Hymns of Robert Lowery

by Wayne S. Walker Robert Lowry was born in Philadelphia, PA, on Mar. 12, 1826, and educated at Bucknell University where he graduated with high scholastic honors in 1854.  Afterward, he served as a Baptist minister, first at West Chester, PA, near Philadelphia, from 1854 to 1858, then in New York City, NY, from 1859…

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Notes on the Words and Terms Used In Our Songs

by Roger and Becky Williams -A- Abba – Aramaic for father; Mark 14:36 abhor – to shrink away from with disgust abide – to continue to stay; remain; wait abode – a dwelling place; home acclamation – strong approval or loud applause accord – being in agreement; harmony adoration – devoted love, respect, and honor…

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Evaluating New Songs

by Mark Roberts in Abundant Life via Meditate on These Things For the longest time, it seemed brethren were fairly certain Sacred Selections contained just about every hymn that needed to be sung. Like it or not, that has certainly changed. Many congregations are now using some other hymnal other than Sacred Selections. Many congregations have also added…

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Sons of Jacob (Children’s Class Song)

by Jeanie Pratt Please feel free to use the following lyrics which I wrote many years ago. I could not remember the usual version and wanted the order of birth. I sing this to the tune of Jesus Loves Me. I have a poster board with the song. I color code the boys’ names by…

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The Songs That We Sing

by Wayne S. Walker As I was growing up, I loved to join in the singing of hymns and gospel songs during church services and other occasions where people gathered together to praise God in song, and through the years with my general love of music I have maintained an active interest in the songs…

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