Songs That Reach The Heart
It has long been recognized among religious circles that the churches of Christ are probably the most "song-minded" people in the land. When the tragic division came over the introduction of instrumental music into the worship, it brought sadness and grief to thousands of churches — but among those who determined to remain with "the old paths" it brought a new emphasis on singing. And now after more than half a century of such underlining of this great act of worship and adoration, there is probably not a denomination in the land which, taken church by church, can come anywhere near to simple New 'Testament churches in the beauty, riches, and soul-stirring fervor of their congregational singing. Paid choirs, artistic soloists, and impressive pipe organs have all but destroyed congregational singing in most denominational churches.
Song books compiled and edited by simple Christians come to an impressive total. And we are happy to announce yet another soon to be added to the list — a truly remarkable and rich collection of the finest songs, both old and new, now being prepared by brother Robert C. Welch of Springfield, Missouri. There will be more than 400 songs in this book, and both printing and binding are to be of the very highest quality obtainable. Both in content and in makeup this will be a "quality" book, equal to anything now in use among the churches, and in a good number of particulars markedly superior to all other books now on the market.
Brother Welch has long been recognized as one of the truly gifted ones among us in the realm of music — particularly "church" music. His taste in selection of songs that will reach the heart is superb; he has an understanding of the qualities that make a song great, and his choice of songs for this new book (to be called most appropriately "Abiding Hymns") we believe will meet with instant and enthusiastic approval.
Just to give you a brief glimpse into the quality of "songs, hymns, and spiritual songs" that will go into "Abiding Hymns," here is the first page of the index of Titles and First Lines:
A Beautiful Life A Blessing in Prayer
A Charge to Keep I Have A Mighty Fortress
A New Creature A Shelter in the Time of Storm
A Soul Winner for Jesus A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord
Abide with Me Above the Bright Blue
After the life-paths we're treading Again the Lord of Light and Life
Alas! and did my Savior bleed All along on the road to the soul's
All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name All People That on Earth do Dwell
All Praise to Him Who reigns above All things are ready
All to Jesus I surrender Almost Persuaded
Alone at Eve Am I a Soldier of the Cross
Amazing Grace Amid the trials which I meet
An Empty Mansion An Evening Prayer
There they are — songs that reach the heart! These are the great hymns which have lifted up the hearts of weary pilgrims in many a dark and lonely hour; these are the songs of exultation and gladness and thanksgiving which have overflowed the lips of grateful and happy people in days of brightness and joy.
There are stirring songs that set the heart aflame with a passion to be "up and doing" for Jesus' sake; there are songs that calm the troubled spirit when sorrow and failure beset one's pathway. There are songs of triumphant faith and songs of deep devotion and meditation. There are old songs and new songs; slow and solemn hymns, and pulsating, throbbing melodies that fill one with tremendous enthusiasm and spirit for the tasks of the day.
In short, this hymnal by brother Welch is destined to take its place among the great contributions to truly joyful and worshipful singing by God's people. There will be several new songs in this book which have never been published before. While the final selection has been made on all songs to go into the book, there is still much to be done in carefully supervising every smallest detail of printing and binding. The most careful and meticulous attention is being given to even the smallest details to make this the very finest book obtainable from any publisher at any price! If all goes well, the book will be ready for distribution by the end of this year — and the price (we hope!) will not exceed $1.50 per copy.
If the books you are using are getting old and worn, if you have been thinking of trying a new hymnal, if you are about ready to buy new books — wait for Abiding Hymns!! You will never be sorry you did! and if you don't, once you see it, you will always be sorry you didn't. It's that kind of book. Within a few weeks we hope to have even more particulars of it, with further listings of the songs and details as to mechanical makeup. But we wanted to share this much of the "good news" with you now.
— F. Y. T.