The Methodist Hymnal

[gingeandhales]

We were cleaning out my grandmother's house and came across a well-worn copy of THE METHODIST HYMNAL. The first few pages are missing (including the copyright pages) and I am trying to date the book to the best of my ability. It has a green cover with THE METHODIST HYMNAL written in a 3" square in the top left corner. The psalter in the back of the book claims a copyright of 1905 but I that might have been taken from an older hymnal. Is anyone familiar with this hymnal? If so when was it first published and when was it in use?

I am pretty sure it belonged to my great grandmother as she is the only one we can recall who attended a Methodist Church. She passed away in 1985. My grandmother (her daughter) was a Lutheran from 1950 until she passed away two months ago and my grandfather's family were all Roman Catholic. I recently learned that my grandmother (and I'm assuming my great grandmother as well) attended a non-denominational protestant church in the small rural town where my grandmother grew up. Both my grandparents and great grandparents moved to this part of the state in 1950 which is when my grandmother joined the Lutheran Church and I am assuming my great grandmother would have started attending the Methodist Church around that time as well. However, my great grandparents might have attended Methodist churches in Ireland before moving to the states. I don't know. I have a feeling this isn't as old as I'd like to believe, but I am curious to find out whatever I can about this book.

Thank you.

 

[Historicus]

There was a Methodist Hymnal that was green with the title within the square published in 1905 by the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South as a joint hymnal for the two denominations. You can read more about it here. The Methodist Hymnal came out in 1935 (Methodist Episcopal Church), then the Book of Hymns in 1966 (The Methodist Church), then finally the United Methodist Hymnal in 1988 after the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church united in 1968 to form the UMC. Hope this helps.

Wesley

 

[gingeandhales]

Thank you so much! Using that as a starting point I am pretty sure it is a 1925 reprint of the 1905 hymnal.

I just love old books.

 

[GraceSeeker]

Does it have music printed with the words? The older hymnals did not; they just had the words. The song leader would then announce the name of the hymn and the name of a tune and the organist or pianist would place that tune while the congregation would look up the words in their hymnal and sing it to whatever was being played. Of course, many tunes became customary to be used with a particular hymn and thus they were eventually printed together.




Here are some links to lists of various hymnals in the "Methodist" family:


Methodist Hymnals | GCAH.org

Methodist Hymn Books

 

[gingeandhales]

It has the music printed as well as the text. It might be the 1935 edition. It was definitely published after 1924 because the ritual section has a 1924 copyright, but from the images I found online, it looks identical to the 1905 edition.

Thanks for all of your help.

 

[IowaPastor]

Does it have music printed with the words? The older hymnals did not; they just had the words. The song leader would then announce the name of the hymn and the name of a tune and the organist or pianist would place that tune while the congregation would look up the words in their hymnal and sing it to whatever was being played. Of course, many tunes became customary to be used with a particular hymn and thus they were eventually printed together.




Here are some links to lists of various hymnals in the "Methodist" family:


Methodist Hymnals | GCAH.org

Methodist Hymn Books

Thanks GraceSeeker for the clarification. I've found some very old Methodist hymnals with just the words. My curiosity is now satisfied. Sadly, most of what I found weren't stored well and therefore, likely not salvageable.

 

[Maid Marie]

Does it have music printed with the words? The older hymnals did not; they just had the words. The song leader would then announce the name of the hymn and the name of a tune and the organist or pianist would place that tune while the congregation would look up the words in their hymnal and sing it to whatever was being played. Of course, many tunes became customary to be used with a particular hymn and thus they were eventually printed together.




Here are some links to lists of various hymnals in the "Methodist" family:


Methodist Hymnals | GCAH.org

Methodist Hymn Books

I am not home to double check but I think my greatgrandmother's hymnal is one of these. It is a word only hymnal and I think she was United Brethren at the time.