Topic: Religious Uses - Hymnals
Presbyterians added "Kumbaya" to their hymnal in 1990. Unlike other denominations that needed to revise their song collections to reflect the diversification that came with mergers, they were responding more directly to challenges raised by changing attitudes, especially towards gender. [1]
The National Council of Churches’ New Revised Standard Version of the Bible had been published in 1989. Its primary purpose had been the elimination of inherited patriarchal language. That review provided its editors an opportunity to incorporate information from the Dead Sea Scrolls. [2]
Presbyterians had the same dual purpose. The committee eliminated what sexist pronouns they could, kept some for musical or copyright reasons, and simply dropped other hymns. They argued by eliminating the more offensive hymns, they were able to add many new ones that reflected the results of a church that had sent missionaries to many parts of the world. [3]
The denomination revised the hymnal again in 2013, but this time for more pragmatic reasons. Congregations were using large screens in place of church bulletins. [4] The year after it published the pew edition, the church released a PowerPoint edition. It cost $499, or the price of the 28 hymnals that would not be sold at $18 a piece. [5]
Since the editor was focused on presentation, David Eicher also removed the accompaniments from the pew edition. If a song was intended to be sung in unison, only one stave was published. If it used four-part harmony, then both clefs were included. That allowed room for more hymns, especially the older psalms and native songs that were always a capella. [6]
"Kumbaya" appeared with four-part harmony in both editions. The upper two parts used strict parallel thirds, with nothing in unison. The lower parts used diverging harmony at the beginning of each phrase, moving from a third, to a fifth, to octaves. Each phrase ended with two fifths on "kum ba" and an octave for "ya." No indication of tempo was included, although the 1990 "Introduction" indicated such guidance was given for tunes "new to the Presbyterian tradition." [7]
Like the Methodist hymnal mentioned in the post 14 February 2019, LindaJo McKim relegated the usual metrical information to a footnote: she called the tune KUM BA YAH and identified it as 8-8-8-5. Information on interpretation was implied in the organization: it was not a psalm and not related to the liturgical year. Instead, it was a Topical Hymn related to Life In Christ.
Glory to God dispensed with many hymnal traditions, including the generic The Presbyterian Hymnal title of the 1990 edition. The credits were moved to the bottom of the page. To make it easier to reproduce on large monitors, the two lines of music were changed to three.
The biggest change was organization. Instead of classifying texts by type, Eicher grouped them by subject and interspersed psalms, hymns, and songs. Within the three large divisions, God’s Mighty Acts, The Church at Worship, and Our Response to God, "Kumbaya" was placed in the second as a Prayer.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: four parts
Instrumental Accompaniment: implied with four-parts
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
1990
African-American spiritual
African Melody
2013
The African-American spiritual, first recorded in the 1920s, seems to have originated somewhere in the southern United States. It enjoyed renewed popularity during the folk revival of the 1960s, and became a standard campfire song, eventually traveling throughout the world.
TEXT and MUSIC: African American spiritual
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: not given
Verses: kumbaya, crying, singing, praying
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: four-verse song
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 3/4
Tempo: not given
Key Signature: two sharps
Guitar Chords: not provided
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: one note to one syllable except for final "Lord"
Harmonic Style: sung chords
Notes on Performers
LindaJo Horton was raised in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and earned a degree in applied voice from West Virginia University. She later earned theology degrees from Presbyterian seminaries at Pittsburgh and the University of Dubuque. [8] At the time she was selected from a pool of 200 applications to edit the 1990 edition, [9] she had experience as both a pastor and a singer. When her husband was a visiting professor in Orlando, Florida, [10] she sang with the Florida International Opera Company. [11]
Eicher was raised in a Brethren family [12] in Springfield, Ohio. [13] He earned music degrees from the Brethren’s Manchester College and the Lutherans Valparaiso University, then worked as an organist for Lutheran and Presbyterian denominations. [14] He said his most important musical experiences as a child occurred in the car.
"My parents both sang. And my sister and I, when we got old enough — the great excitement was when finally my voice changed and I could sing tenor, and then we had a soprano, alto, tenor and bass. The whole family would sing. One of our games in the car when we were traveling was to see how many stanzas of hymns we could sing through, without any books." [15]
Availability
Book: The Presbyterian Hymnal. Edited by LindaJo H. McKim. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990. 338.
Book: Glory to God. Edited by David Eicher. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013. 472.
End Notes
1. The 1990 hymnal committee said one of its guidelines was to assure the hymnal "is inclusive of all God’s people—sensitive to age, race, gender, physical limitations, and language" (page 9).
2. Wikipedia. "New Revised Standard Version."
3. "Presbyterians Omit ‘Warlike’ Hymns Other Lyrics Revised for New Songbook." Washington Post 15 July 1989. Melva Costen was the reporter’s source. Mary Louise Bringle mentioned the copyrights were still an impediment with the 2012 edition (See #6).
4. David Eicher. Interviewed by Leslie Scanlon. "20 Minutes with David Eicher." Presbyterian Outlook website. 17 March 2008. He said:
"(From talking with friends involved in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America hymnal that came out a year and a half ago,) they were surprised at the number of congregations who were purchasing both forms of the hymnal. They were still purchasing the hardbound copies in the pews. They were also purchasing the electronic, CD-Rom format, either for projection or for dropping into a bulletin. So we’re in this transitional period."
5. Prices were found on church’s website, 3 October 2018.
6. Mary Louise Bringle. "Debating Hymns." Christian Century, April 2013.
7. "Introduction." 1990. 10.
8. "LindaJo McKim." LinkedIn.
9. Eleanor J. Stebner. "McKim, LindaJo Horton." 146 in The Westminster Handbook to Women in American Religious History. Edited by Susan Hill Lindley and Eleanor J. Stebner. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008.
10. "The Rev. Dr. Donald K. McKim – Guest Lecturer." Announcement for "129th Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee." Its website. 6 May 2017.
11. Peggy Egertson. "New Presbyterian Hymnal." Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society, Berwyn, Pennsylvania. History Quarterly 28:120:July 1990. She may have been referring to the opera company of Florida International University in Miami.
12. Eicher. Quoted by Scanlon.
13. "About David Eicher." Facebook.
14. Eicher. Quoted by Scanlon.
15. Eicher. Quoted by Scanlon.
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