Feb. 13 hymns

We have "Brethren, we have met" in our hymnal because the Church of the Brethren share our blue hymnal. It was published first in 1825. The "trembling mourners" of stanza 2 refers to those people under conviction during revival meetings. They sat in a special section, waiting for the spirit to fall on them. We also sang "Will you let me be your servant." Richard Gillard was born in England and made his home in New Zealand. Describing his style as folk, he wrote this in 1976 as part of what then was known as scripture songs. If you look up Romans 12 and Colossians you can easily see why. One hymnal I consult has altered this first line to "won't you let me...."

Remember scripture songs? (See random image to illustrate the 1970s era above.) Well, they are alive and well, even though contemporary has taken center stage. People from Australia, too, pushed the idea of singing actual words from the Bible. Of course, Protestant hymns used to focus on the Psalms exclusively. The 1970 scripture song influence, which first sounded folk-ish and was supported only with an acoustic guitar, went on to be accepted well in the charismatic circles.