I grew up without television, and consider my generation to be the last of the radio generation. I'm sure many of you can relate to this. For entertainment at home in these pre-TV days we listened to music on the radio or made our own by singing all kinds of songs at the piano, including hymns. We also became familiar with hymns as a church-going family. Singing around the piano was a popular Victorian pastime reaching into about the first half of the 20th Century, but I daresay it is a rarity today.
What hymns are our children exposed to today? When children come to church, the only hymn they hear each Sunday is our opening hymn. I understand they have learned the Doxology in Sunday School and some children's songs, but few of the standard hymns. To quote from William Merrill in The Hymn (April 2003): There are hymns of such power and grace that, once they get into your soul and are really known there, will lift you over hard places, carry you safely past temptations, give wings to your praying, bring comfort and joy in hours of sorrow, and open the doors of your heart that Christ may come in and dwell there ... Here at your hand is a precious aid, through which the souls of the saints lay hold on your soul to help you climb and keep you climbing. Thank God for such a gift! Let it have its full power and do its full work in you!
I have come up with an idea to increase children's exposure to the wealth of Christian hymns, but it will need your help. The little slice of time when the children are gathering for the Children's Story is an excellent opportunity for them to hear a verse from a classic Christian hymn that can start to resonate with them, especially when we sing the second verse as an "exit" hymn while they leave for Sunday School. My selection process will focus on hymns that are usually not opening hymns, such as Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us; For the Beauty of the Earth; Jesus Calls Us; We Would Be Building; Abide With Me; Softly and Tenderly, etc. Starting on September 7 with the new season, a "Children's Hymn" will be featured each week, with a very short introduction and singing of the first verse, then another verse as they leave. I welcome suggestions of favorite hymns you learned as children. I'm sure I can count on you all to sing out heartily as we enfold the children in song and give them a lifetime treasure.
Ele Nash
Music Director