Singing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land
Subtitle: Hymnody in the History of North American Protestantism (Religion & American Culture)
Contributors: Edith L. Blumhofer (Editor); Mark A. Noll (Editor); Stephen Marini (Introduction)
Publisher: University Alabama Press; University of Alabama Press
Published: July 19, 2004
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 264
ISBN-13: 9780817313968
Subjects: Christian hymnals; Cultural studies; Protestantism & Protestant Churches; Sacred & religious music; Vocal music; Religion - Church Life; Hymns; General; Religion; North America; Institutions & Organizations; Religion / Protestantism; Christianity - Protestanism; Christianity - Protestant; History; History and criticism; Protestant churches
Description: Music and song are important parts of worship, and hymns have long played a central role in Protestant cultural history. This book explores the ways in which Protestants have used and continue to use hymns to clarify their identy and define their relationships with America and to Christianity. Representing seven groups -- Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Mennonites, Holiness, Hispanics, and Evangelicals -- the nine essays reveal how hymns have helped immigrants to establish new identities, contributed to the body of worship resources, and sustained ethnic identity. Individual essays address the music of the Old-Fashioned Revival Hour, America's longest running and most successful independent radio program; singing among Swedish evangelicals in America; the German hymn tradition as transformed by Mennonite immigrants; the ways hymnody reinforces themes of the Wesleyan holiness movement; the history of Mercer's Cluster (1810), a southern hymnal that gave voice to slaves, women, and native Americans; and the Presbyterian hymnal tradition in Canada formed by Scottish immigrants.