Musical Memories

I have been teaching my granddaughters, as we listen to their scripture songs in the car, that Jesus is the one and only door which God made into heaven. They sing John 14 verse 6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” I want them to know what they are singing.

Listening to their CD, I am reminded of the changes in church music I have witnessed over the several decades of my life. I recognize that some of those changes have to do with the particular type of church I was a part of, but still if there are “popular styles” in Christian music, I think I have been blessed to observe several of them.

I grew up in a small, no, tiny protestant church in rural America. We sang from old hymnals and had our favorites which could be distinguished by the tattered pages. Some pages in the hymnals were clean and held hymns untouched by our congregation. Our custom was to sing the first, second, and last verses of almost every song we sang; and since everyone knew the last verse of each song, our tradition was to close the hymnal early and put it away in the holder. I liked it!

The rural setting probably accounted for the “country” influence of our music. We had a quartet that sang frequently, and so southern gospel became a staple. Also, the regular practice of having the young people as a group do “specials” would explain why “church camp” songs were so popular like “Do Lord” and “Hallelu…Praise ye the Lord” and “I’m in the Lord’s Ar-mee.” I liked it!

Although we went to some different churches in college, I don’t remember the music at all. We were never a part of those churches because there was an enormous invisible wall between the real church people and college students. Is that true? I don’t know; that’s just the way I remember it.

Later, as we entered real life following college, at church we heard beautiful choir music, traditional hymns, handbells, and the beginnings of a different kind of music. I liked all of them. We began attending a home bible study with people from various churches singing songs directly from the scriptures. I liked it!

Somehow, I became the pianist for that group (funny because I don’t play written music) but I could play scripture choruses. As the years passed, more and more choruses were added to our memories. I have to say, those were the most valuable songs I have ever learned. I know many bible verses because I sang them, and song lyrics burrow into our minds much deeper than written words.

However, Christian music evolved into a different style. We became fans of the Bill Gaither Trio and later the Vocal Band. I liked it. Contemporary Christian music made its way into our home, and I liked it. Much of that music in recent years went toward worship and seeks to take the listeners into the throne room of God. I love it!

Back to the little girls’ scripture music CD; I’m so thrilled that they now are learning scriptures from the words they sing over and over (and over and over and over and over). I love it!