Monthly column on hymns and songs

Among the leaflets temporarily decorating our doormat, one pizza firm has printed 12 images from the 20th century. Most are predictable (man on moon, Elvis, Mandela), but the only pre-1950 pictures feature a Spitfire, and Laurel and Hardy. Now read on . . .

Thanks to all who responded to the quest for hymns of the century. I asked for a maximum of three each, all written in 19-something. Admittedly the results look more like a focus group than a MORI poll; many of the 60-odd nominations received one or two votes only. But while you cannot take this as EN's final league table, some trends are clear.

By way of contrast, both Graham Kendrick and Bishop Frank Houghton feature here. Of their leading entries, 'From heaven you came' (the Servant King) squeezed ahead of 'Facing a task unfinished'. Also among the chasing pack were 'How deep the Father's love for us' by Stuart Townend, Michael Saward's 'Christ triumphant', and 'How great thou art'.

Moving up to number three, we are looking at a photo-finish. One more postcard could have settled it, but it proved impossible to separate 'Tell out, my soul' from 'Great is thy faithfulness'. The first of these deservedly ranks as a modern classic - if 1961 is still modern. I hope these voters realise that Timothy Dudley-Smith has written even better texts than this, his earliest. 'Name of all majesty' and 'Safe in the shadow of the Lord' were also well-supported. By contrast, 'Great is thy faithfulness' one of four American entries, comes from another world. But it is well within our century and the lifespan of many who sing it.

So to your runner-up. Vernon Higham secures this slot with 'Great is the gospel of our glorious God', itself one glory of the 1977 book Christian Hymns. The words are now available in his own collected volume (Tentmaker Publications 1998). Like most others on your lists, they also appear this very month in the new FIEC and Grace Baptist hymnal Praise!

Number one

So what is our number one? From the first few cards received, this hymn pulled away from the rest and never lost its lead. It has already taken top spot in two other very different polls. The words were written for 'Finlandia', but the established music was composed by Michael Baughen, with some help from his friends. They were requested for Scripture Union's centenary, written on a Nottingham-London train over 30 years ago, and form some of the enduring fruit of the often-maligned bestseller Youth Praise. The gentle evangelical bishop whose works you placed joint third has also come first, for the hymn is (of course!) 'Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided'.

But all your choices invite speculation. Whatever happened to 'Jesus is Lord', which was obligatory within recent memory? Even 'Our God reigns' and 'Shine, Jesus, Shine' received only one vote apiece! The top dozen all have distinctive tunes, with 'Woodlands' one of the oldest, but still within the last 100 years. And apart from your first choice, the great buzz-word seems to be - great!

And what about those pizzas? The striking feature of our voting is the scarcity of hymns from the first half of the century. Apart from those mentioned, only 'Thine be the glory', 'I cannot tell', and 'Thou who was rich' made any impression. Do we find it hard to think in 'century' terms at all? Most of the 'top sporting personalities' were from the post-war TV age. Perhaps we should attend more to Scripture's time-scales, which sit light to centuries, but often measure by the classic 40 years. And the best hymns endure, if not for ever, then well beyond the memory span of your average pizza-clutching telly-addict.

Christopher Idle

© Evangelicals Now - April 2000
Please consider supporting this ministry by subscribing.