Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) - Kum Ba Yah

Topic: Kumbaya 1955-1961
The Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) was the second religious group to publish “Kumbaya” after it appeared in the American Camping Association’s Lets All Sing in 1958. [1]  As mentioned in several posts, the denomination broke from Presbyterians following the Cane Ridge Revival, and was distinguished by its refusal to use musical instruments. [2]

Its Chapbook was intended for youth group meetings, as well as summer camps.  As such, it contained more religious material than a typical Cooperative Recreation Service (CRS) publication or the Southern Baptist Convention collection mention in the post for 18 June 2023.  Just over a quarter of the songs in the ACA songbook were religious and nearly 44% in Songs for Fun and Fellowship.  More than 75% of the ones in the Christian Church book had sacred content.

The denomination’s musical aesthetic was formed in the 1800s when the two denominations, the Christian Church and the Disciples of Christ, were spreading.  More than 60% of the hymns are from that century, with less than a quarter from the 1900s.  The earlier ones were written by Martin Luther, [3] Isaac Watts, [4] and Charles [5] and Samuel Wesley. [6]

Almost none are popular religious songs from the late 1800s [7]  Instead, like CRS and the Baptists, the editorial committee used spirituals as a less solemn alternative to hymns.  They represented about 30% of the ACA songbook, and 18% of this one. [8]  The number in the Baptist book represented 16% of the total.

The editors obviously expected the songbook to be used in camps: it contained eleven graces while the Baptists only had one.  However, sung graces were not an indigenous traditions: six were in Let’s All Sing. [9]

The songbook wished to include “fun songs,” but again had no tradition to draw upon.  Of the 31 secular songs with no religious content, 22, or nearly 60%, were in the CRS songbook.  “Kumbaya” falls into the group of songs it considers secular, but, in fact, have religious content.

The editors took their version from the Song Sampler published by CRS in 1956. [10]  It not only had the same headnote on an Angolan origin and the same pronunciation footnote, but it italicized “Kum Ba Yah” that way Jane Keen had.  Let’s All Sing said it was a “Spiritual,” and had no footnote or special typography.

The song was accepted: it was one of the ones that was reprinted in Chapbook 2 in 1966.  That collection “picks up some of the best songs, hymns, and worship resources from The Chapbook.”

Performers
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
 
Credits
African (Angola)

Notes on Lyrics
Language: English

Pronunciation: koom-bah-yah, like that published by CRS Song Sampler

Verses: those published by Cooperative Recreation Service (CRS) in Song Sampler – kumbaya, praying, crying, singing

Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Basic Form: four-verse song

Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5; same melody as that published by CRS
Time Signature: 3/4
Tempo: slowly
Key Signature: no sharps or flats
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: one syllable to one note except for final “Lord”

Notes on Performance
Cover: 4.25" x 5.75" spiral bound; drawings of thee Gothic church windows enclosing music notes

Color Scheme: white with red print; windows and music notes in shades of black, white, and gray

Plate: exactly like that in CRS’s Song Sampler; this includes italicizing “Kum Ba Yah”

Audience Perceptions
The person who owned the copy I purchased online checked “Kumbaya” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain” in pencil; “Are You Sleeping” was checked in ink.  The C-F-G chords were written in; this is the only song so marked.

Notes on Performers
Guin Tuckett worked for the Christian Board of Education from 1953 until 1990.  Born Guinevere Ream in Indiana, [11] she was a descendant of Johann Eberhard Reihm who migrated to Conestoga, Pennsylvania, from the Palatine in 1717. [12]  Count Zinzendorf, leader of the Moravians in Germany, stayed with Eberhard in 1742. [13]  When her branch joined the Christian Church is unknown, but her father’s mother was a member when the family lived in Nebraska [14].

Besides the Martin Luther hymn, the Chapbook contains lyrics set to old German tunes.  The setting for Saint Francis of Asisi’s “All Creatures of Our God and King” is from Geistliche Kirchengesäng. [15]  The tune for “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” is in Straslund Gesanbuch. [16]  The melody for “Fairest Lord Jesus” is from Schlesische Volkslieder. [17]

Availability
Songbook: “Kum Ba Yah.”  150 in Christian Youth Chapbook: Hymns, Fun Songs, Worship Resources for Young People.  Saint Louis: Bethany Press, 1955.

Songbook: “Kum Ba Yah.”  151 in Chapbook 2, edited by a “joint youth committee from The American Baptist Board of Publication and Education and the publishing and program divisions of the Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) chaired by Guin Tuckett.  Saint Louis: The Bethany Press, 1966, and Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: The Judson Press, 1966.

End Notes
1.  Let’s All Sing is discussed in the post for 4 June 2023.

2.  The Christian Church and Disciples of Christ are mentioned in a number of posts, including one for 8 November 2020.  The Disciples of Christ in Pamlico County, North Carolina, were mentioned in posts about Minnie Lee, especially the one for 26 January 2020.

3.  “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”
4.  “Jesus Shall Reign.”
5.  “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” and “Love Divine, All Love Exceeding.”
6.  “The Church’s One Foundation.”

7.  The one possibility is “Take Time To Be Holy,” which was published by Ira Sankey. [18] Sankey is discussed in the post for 17 January 2021.

8.  The church segregated after the Civil War, but did not expel freed slaves as the Methodists and Baptists did.  Its attitudes toward Blacks are mentioned in the posts for 18 July 2021 and 30 October 2022.

9.  “Chimes Grace,” the Girl Scouts’ “God Has Created a New Day,” “Gratitude Grace,” “O Give Thanks,” “Praise for Bread,” and “Round of Thanks.”  The Baptists adopted the “Round of Thanks.”

10.  Song Sampler, number 1, is discussed in the posts for 31 July 2022 and 7 August 2022.

11.  Lynn.  “Guinivere (Tuckett) ‘Guin’ Ream Stemmler.”  Find a Grave website, 24 October 2009.

12.  John Ream. “Ream Family History: 9 Generations.”  His website.

13.  Norman Whisler Ream.  “Riehm-Ream Genealogy.”  1930.  248.  Reprinted by John Ream.

14.  “Mrs. J. S. Ream Funeral Held.”  The Minden Courier, Minden, Nebraska, 27 Mary 1948.  11.  Reprinted by Rose Marie Brown on “Maggie Mae Simon Ream.”  Find a Grave website, 7 August 2013.

15.  Friedrich Spee.  Geistliche Kirchengesäng.  Kohn: 1623.
16.  Ernewertes Gesangbuch.  Stralsund: 1665.

17.  August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben.  Schlesische Volkslieder mit Melodien.  Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1842.

18.  Laura Lee Leathers.  “Who Wrote the Hymn ‘Take Time to be Holy’?”  Christianity website, 5 December 2022.

Southern Baptist Convention - Kum Ba Yah (Come By Here)

Topic: Kumbaya 1955-1961
Membership in the American Camping Association (ACA) grew after World War II, with much of it coming from church groups. [1]  In Michigan, a third of the camps, which existed in 1974, that were accredited between 1947 and 1958 were religious. [2]  No doubt there were more that did not seek ACA approval. [3]

The Michigan camps represented a variety of sponsors from Detroit’s Roman Catholic Youth Organization [4] and Ann Arbors’s Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship [5] to Baptists, [6] Calvinists, [7] Methodists, [8] and Mennonites. [9] [10]  Presumable staff members of some of the camps purchased copies of the ACA’s 1958 songbook, Let’s All Sing that contained “Kum Ba Yah.” [11]  This allowed the song to spread beyond the confines of the Methodist church that originally sponsored the song and its publisher.

The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention included a version of “Kum Ba Yah” the next year, 1959, in its Songs for Fun and Fellowship.  They used the CRS text, but provided a four-part chord arrangement by William Reynolds. [12]  This made it one of the first versions to include a piano accompaniment.

David Music notes that the church was broadening its interest in music in the 1950s, but it had few available composers who could write hymns in contemporary styles.  Reynold filled the vacuum and became “the most influential Southern Baptist church musician in the second half of the twentieth century.” [13]

The church apparently also did not have many resources for children’s music.  Twenty-five of the thirty-one secular songs were published by CRS by this time; twelve of the twenty-five were in Let’s All Sing.  The others included a nineteenth century popular song with Irish themes, [14] and ones like “Michael Finnigan” and “Mistress Shady” that CRS did not encourage.

Nine of the twenty-four religious songs were spirituals, while “One More River” was a humorous description of Noah’s ark.  The book also may have introduced “I Have Decided To Follow Jesus,” which Music credited to Reynolds. [15]

Performers
Vocal Group: four part chords
Instrumental Accompaniment: piano arrangement

Credits
Arranged by Peter Gregory.  Arrangement © Copyright 1959, Broadman Press.

From Hymns of Universal Praise copyright Cooperative Recreation Service, Inc., 1956, Delaware, Ohio.  Used by permission.

[At this time, CRS was using the Hymns of Universal Praise copyright for the song.]

Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: no comment

Verses: those published by Cooperative Recreation Service (CRS) – kumbaya, crying, singing, praying

Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Basic Form: four-verse song
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Unique Features: none

Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5; same melody as that published by CRS
Time Signature: 3/4
Key Signature: three flats
Basic Structure: strophic repetition

Singing Style: one syllable to one note, except for final “Lord;” alto occasionally sings two notes

Vocal-Accompaniment Dynamics: four-part chords change on every syllable

Notes on Performance
Cover: none oval balloons with bows underneath to suggest heads with bow ties; ovals at different heights; title at top

Color Scheme: green and black ink on dark yellow paper

Notes on Audience
Two more volumes were published in 1961 [16] and 1969. [17]  They must have popular, because versions of all three are available on Abe Books, Amazon, and eBay.

Notes on Performers
William Jensen Reynolds edited Songs for Fun and Fellowship and arranged “Kum Ba Yah.”  He was the son and nephew of singers, and both his parents graduated from Moody Bible Institute. [18]  He earned degrees in church music from Southwestern Baptist Theological School and North Texas State College. [19]

After graduation in 1946, he spent nine years workings as a minister specializing in music and youth in Oklahoma and Texas.  During this period, he established a summer music camp for the First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City.  He also served on the committee that produced the 1956 Baptist Hymnal. [20] [21]

Reynolds went to work as music editor for the Sunday School Board in 1955, and remained there until the purges that followed the conservative takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1979. [22]  Music says: “the reasons for his mandatory retirement are not entirely clear, but were a result of internal issues at the Board.”  Reynolds returned to teach at Southwestern Seminary until he retired in 1998.  He died in 2009. [23]

Cecil McGee co-edited Songs for Fun and Fellowship.  He was raised in Oklahoma, and received a master’s degree from Southwestern Theological Seminary.  He was the man on the Sunday School Board who encouraged the group that produced the first Baptist musical, Good News. [24]  He later built a retreat in Titusville, Florida, and died in 2007. [25]

Availability
Songbook: “Kum Ba Yah (Come Ba Here).”  47 in Songs for Fun and Fellowship #1, edited by William J. Reynolds and Cecil McGee.  Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1959.

End Notes
1.  Item on Elmer Ott in “A History of ACA Presidents and Board Chairs.”  American Camp Association website; based on Eleanor Fell’s History of Organized Camping: The First 100 Years.  Martinsville, Indiana: American Camping Association, 1986.

2.  See the post for 28 Mary 2023 for more details on the sample of camps.

3.  A camp does not need accreditation from the ACA to operate.  Many 4-H and church camps I knew about in the 1950s and 1970s were not accredited, because the name of the sponsoring organization was sufficient for parents.

4.  CYO Camp for Boys.
5.  Cedar Campus.
6.  Michigan Baptist General Conference’s Center Lake Bible Camp.

7.  Church of Christ’s Michigan Christian Youth Camp; Maumee Valley, Ohio, Presbyterians’ Premauca Education Center.

8.  The Methodist Church’s Wesley Woods; Free Methodist’s Covenant Cove Camp.
9.  Friedenswald.
10.  I could not find the affiliation for Blair Lake Bible Camp, although it still exists.
11.  Let’s All Sing is discussed in the post for 4 June 2023.

12.  Reynolds used the name Peter Gregory. [26]

13.  David W. Music.  “William J. Reynolds: Extraordinary Church Musician.”  Artistic Theologian website, 15 November 2013.

14.  “Sweet Rosie O’Grady” was written for vaudeville by Maude Nugent in 1896.  In 1946, she unsuccessfully sued 20th Century Fox for misappropriating the title. [27]

15.  “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.”  53 in Songs for Fun and Fellowship.  Stanzas 1 and 2 as sung by the Garo Christians; stanza 3 by John Clark; folk song from India arranged by William J. Reynolds; copyrighted in 1959 by Broadman Press.

16.  Songs for Fun and Fellowship #2, edited by William Jensen Reynolds and Cecil McGee.  Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1961.

17.  Songs for Fun and Fellowship #3, edited by Cecil McGee and Bob Oldenburg.  Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1969.

18.  Moody Bible Institute was founded in Chicago in 1886 at the behest of Dwight Lyman Moody to train Christian teachers, ministers, missionaries, and musicians to work in cities. [28]  It has been mentioned as an alma mater or employer in posts for 27 September 2017, 19 December 2018, 2 August 2020, and 11 December 2022.

19.  Music.

20.  Southern Baptist Convention.  Baptist Hymnal, edited by W. Hines Sims.  Nashville, Tennessee: Convention Press, 1956.

21.  Music.
22.  “Southern Baptist Convention.”  Wikipedia website; accessed 7 June 2023.
23.  Music.
24.  Good News is discussed in the post for 13 December 2020.

25.  Obituary for Cecil L. McGee.  Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas, 11 April 2007; reprinted on Legacy website.  I assume he also was forced out in 1979, although that is not stated in the obituary.

26.  “Carols Sing.”  Copyright Encyclopedia website.

27.  James J.  Fuld.  The Book of World-Famous Music.  New York: Dover Publications, 2000 edition.  343-345.

28.  “Moody Bible Institute.”  Wikipedia website; accessed 8 June 2023.