___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___If Albert Venting’s predictions had been accurate 74 years ago, Texas Baptist churches would be singing “Jesus, Lover of My Soul” and “Nearer, My God, to Thee” on a regular basis.
___Venting, a respected professor of church music at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in the early 20th century, published his list of “the worldâ best hymns” on the front page of the Baptist Standard May 5, 1927.
___After a lengthy discourse on what makes a good hymn, Venting offered his suggestion for the top 10 hymns that, “by universal appeal and use, may well claim to have found a fixed place in the hearts and minds of all Christians.”
___Two modern authorities on Christian hymnody gave a mixed assessment of Venting’s list in light of 75 years of dramatic changes in musical tastes and worship styles.
___William Reynolds and Terry York both agreed that all the hymns on the Standard’s 1927 list still are sung somewhere at some time. But few of the hymns retain the kind of universal appeal Venting predicted.
___Reynolds is a distinguished professor of church music at Southwestern Seminary and was general editor of the 1975 Baptist Hymnal. York is a professor of Christian ministry at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary and was project coordinator for the 1991 Baptist Hymnal.
___The 10 hymns on Venting’s list were:
___ “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”
___ “Rock of Ages.”
___ “Nearer, My God, to Thee.”
___ “Abide with Me.”
___ “Lead, Kindly Light.”
___ “Holy, Holy, Holy.”
___ “All Hail the Power.”
___ “How Firm a Foundation.”
___ “Onward, Christian Soldiers.”
___ “My Faith Looks Up to Thee.”
___”Probably all those are still known to one degree or another, but I doubt they would make that same list now,” York said. “I daresay that a similar question or attempt today would not produce the exact list. Maybe five of these hymns are sung in Texas Baptist churches today.”
___Reynolds said he’s not sure Venting’s list reflects the actual practice of Texas Baptist churches even in 1927. It may have reflected the higher standard of hymnody Venting sought to teach, he suggested.
___”It would have been typical of the ’20s, but not so much typical of Southern Baptists,” Reynolds said. “We were singing out of the Coleman book, and they were largely gospel songbooks. ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus’ would have been in there.”
___Baptist churches embraced a more diverse set of commonly sung hymns than the Standard’s 1927 list might indicate, agreed York. And that diversity has only grown in the succeeding years, he added.
___Modern churches are more diverse in their hymnody because of the way they use hymns, because of their theology, politics and style, because of special concerns such as desiring inclusive language and because of ethnic diversity, he explained.
___Not all the hymns on Venting’s list should be dismissed as out of style, however, Reynolds said.
___”The Methodists had a big donneybrook in 1998 when their hymnal committee voted to leave out ‘Onward Christian Soldiers.’ There was a groundswell of concern. The people rose up by mail and phone calls and insisted it go back in, and it did.”
___Only one of Venting’s top 10 hymns made it to a list of the 10 best worship songs published by Christian Reader magazine this month. The magazine, a subsidiary publication of Christianity Today, asked readers to vote for their favorite worship songs.
___Out of 500 responses, the top 10 nationwide were:
___ “Amazing Grace.”
___ “How Great Thou Art.”
___ “Because He Lives.”
___ “Great is Thy Faithfulness.”
___ “The Old Rugged Cross.”
___ “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”
___ “To God Be the Glory.”
___ “Majesty.”
___ “Shout to the Lord.”
___ “Holy, Holy, Holy.”
___Even if he wasn’t a perfect predictor of congregational song through the ages, Venting himself is an interesting historical figure, Reynolds explained.
___Hailing from England, he came to teach at Southwestern and was embraced by the community as an “elegant gentleman,” Reynolds said. He often was called upon to deliver invocations at civic events in Fort Worth.
___Venting later became pastor of First Baptist Church of Cleburne. After retiring from Southwestern’s faculty, he went to Baylor and taught church music in the school of religion, Reynolds said.
___At Southwestern, Venting also was responsible for choosing the names of historical church musicians engraved around the top of Cowden Hall, home to the seminary’s School of Church Music.
________________________________________ Tell us your favorite songs
___The Baptist Standard invites readers to vote for their favorite congregational songs. Use the form below to submit your list of 10 favorite songs sung by congregations.
___We’ll report the results in a future issue of the Standard.
___My favorite congregational songs are: ___1. ___2. ___3. ___4. ___5. ___6. ___7. ___8. ___9. __10. _____Or, print out and mail this form to Song Survey, Baptist Standard, P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266. This form may be copied for submissions by others in your church, but please limit yourself to one ballot per person.