Читать книгу Sisters In Song; Women Hymn Writers - Leslie Clay - Страница 3

This project began in 2008. The women of Broadway Christian Church held their annual women’s retreat on a snowy February weekend. The theme was music. I offered to look up the familiar hymns written by women and play them on the old piano at the retreat site as the women filtered in on opening day. While researching the subject, the whole thing grew beyond expectation and I decided to write about what I found. Other members of the retreat committee took some of that research and incorporated it into other retreat activities. Afterwards, as time permitted, I delved deeper. Women’s contributions to hymnody are vast and inspiring! Saints or sinners, their stories are humbling. So many women wrote when they were in poverty, isolation or pain. Their faith shone even in times of distress. But those who were blessed with good health and circumstance expressed their faith beautifully as well.

At the onset of my research, I came upon a book published in 1903, Songs from the Hearts of Women, that recited the stories of women-written hymns. It is impressive to learn how many long forgotten hymns inspired people over a century earlier. Many are still well known, from the first hymn children learn, “Jesus Loves Me,” to the patriotic “America the Beautiful,” to the timeless hymns of Fanny Crosby. But there are many wonderful hymns written since 1903. Though I found other books dealing with women hymn writing, they were either from an academic/feminist perspective with lengthy articles on a limited number of writers, or they didn’t deal with hymnists in the past century, or they concentrated on theological instruction. One recent book was mainly a study book with questions for group discussion, and the biographies took a secondary role. My book isn’t written for academia, deals with many women both long gone and current in a more abbreviated way, and expects the reader to form her own opinions, if any, on the theology. I don’t write so much from a feminist perspective as I do from a fondness for my personal favorite hymns.

I restricted myself to hymns found in current American hymn books or inspirational collections that appealed to me, and to those songs familiar to me. Many women in those books were noted translators, such as Catherine Winkworth and the Borthwick sisters, but they didn’t compose the original words, and so were omitted with the exception of Jean Janzen, who translated or adapted the writings of medieval women, such as Hildegard Von Bingen, Mechthild von Magdeburg and Julian of Norwich. Some women wrote both the words and music, more so today than in centuries past. Many hymns were co-written with a man. I include those hymns women co-wrote. Many fine current writers and composers have been omitted, some by time and space, some by my lack of acquaintance with their work. I am sorry. Maybe I can amend this at a later time. I welcome any suggestions.

For each woman featured, I cite at least one hymn, especially those with an interesting background story. For women who were unusuallyamazo prolific, I may cite more than one. Yes, many women wrote more than one hymn of note, but unless the hymn was particularly meaningful to me, they weren’t featured. If you want more information on any particular person or hymn, the internet is a great resource. There are several sites that have good information, and often, current hymnists have their own websites. Some who have long since joined the church eternal have managed to establish a Facebook page. My sources were those found on the internet, the books I could get from our local public library, and my own hymnbooks. I have a brief bibliography at the end. A more scholarly approach would go far beyond this, but I’m not aiming at a Ph.D. dissertation. I just want you to enjoy the contributions made by our sisters in song.

Thank you, women of Broadway Christian Church, for inspiring me. And thank you, my sister in life, Debra Sapp-Yarwood, for making this so much better than it would be otherwise.

Leslie Clay

Columbia, Missouri

2013