Women have made an amazing, creative, and prolific contribution to hymnody through the centuries of Christian worship. Excluded from liturgical commissions and denied other opportunities for involvement in the worship of the churches, women were able to express and influence spirituality in the writing of hymns. This influence spreads across the whole range of hymn-writing, including writing for children, which was at one time seen as women's natural place, but also the introduction of new voices through translations; engagement in social campaigns such as temperance and the abolition of slavery; mission and evangelism; and the general development of worshipping life. However, with the exception of the nineteenth century, the voices of women have been largely silenced or marginalized. The Hymn Explosion of the 1960s onward almost completely ignored women's writing, and there has only recently been something of a recovery. There is much more to Our Song than people think! This book opens up women's writing from the beginnings of Christianity, through the Middle Ages, the development of printing and the rise of popular hymnody to the present day. Living hymn-writers add their voices in a series of biographical stories, which complete the overarching story of Our Song.

The 309 letters in this volume, more than half never before published, capture the events in Mark Twain's life in 1872 and 1873 with detailed intimacy. Thoroughly annotated and indexed, they include genealogical charts, transcription of journals, book contracts, photographs, and, of course, all known letters written between 1865 and 1871. This volume is fifth in a series about the renowned author/humorist. 80 illus.

Hymns and the music the church sings in worship are tangible means of expressing worship. And while worship is one of, if not the central functions of the church along with mission, service, education, justice, and compassion, and occupies a prime focus of our churches, a renewed sense of awareness to our theological presuppositions and cultural cues must be maintained to ensure a proper focus in worship. Hymns and Hymnody: Historical and Theological Introductions is a sixty-chapter, three-volume introductory textbook describing the most influential hymnists, liturgists, and musical movements of the church. This academically grounded resource evaluates both the historical and theological perspectives of the major hymnists and composers who have impacted the church over the course of twenty centuries. Volume 1 explores the early church and concludes with the Renaissance era hymnists. Volume 2 begins with the Reformation and extends to the eighteenth-century hymnists and liturgists. Volume 3 engages nineteenth century hymnists to the contemporary movements of the twenty-first century. Each chapter contains these five elements: historical background, theological perspectives communicated in their hymns/compositions, contribution to liturgy and worship, notable hymns, and bibliography. The mission of Hymns and Hymnody is (1) to provide biographical data on influential hymn writers for students and interested laypeople, and (2) to provide a theological analysis of what these composers have communicated in the theology of their hymns. We believe it is vital for those involved in leading the worship of the church to recognize that what they communicate is in fact theology. This latter aspect, we contend, is missing—yet important—in accessible formats for the current literature.