Songs I Love to Sing: The Billy Graham Crusades and the Shaping of Modern Worship (Edith Blumhofer) - A Review
SONGS I LOVE TO SING: The Billy Graham Crusades and the Shaping of Modern Worship. By Edith L. Blumhofer. Foreword by Fernando Ortega.
I will confess that I love singing
hymns. Whether the hymns are new or old, it doesn’t matter, I enjoy singing. Of
course, a good sermon is always welcome when it comes to worship, but congregational
singing is the key to worship for me. I know that I’m not alone in this. Successful
evangelists from Dwight L. Moody to Billy Graham have understood this to be
true also. Moody had Ira Sankey leading the singing, and Billy Graham had Cliff
Barrows and George Beverly Shea. What we might forget is that these evangelical
ministries not only engaged in evangelistic/revivalistic outreach, but they
also influenced hymnody and worship music. For example, if you enjoy singing
"How Great Thou Art" it's likely because the Billy Graham Crusades,
mainly George Beverly Shea, made it popular. Whether we ever attended or
watched a Billy Graham event, if we know and love this hymn somewhere along the
way someone experienced it and brought it into the churches. It was Bev Shea
who got the ball rolling.
Billy Graham and his two colleagues
have passed on, and many contemporary Christians may have heard of Graham but
not know much about the music that accompanied his preaching. The names of
Cliff Barrows and Bev Shea may no longer be well-known, but their influence
continues to this day through the music they created and introduced to the
larger Christian world. While they were evangelicals, the music they shared
made its way into more mainline circles. For example, “How Great Thou Art” can
be found in the most recent PCUSA hymnal [Glory to God] and the Chalice
Hymnal [Disciples of Christ]. I note these two because I have them close at hand. So, what’s the story behind the partnership
between Graham and the music that marked his ministry? The answer can be found
in Edith Blumhofer’s Songs I Love to Sing.
Edith Blumhoffer (1950-2020) was a
well-regarded historian of evangelicalism and American Christianity, as well as
serving as the director of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals
at Wheaton College, where she also taught. Blumhofer is the author of several
well-regarded biographies of leading figures in evangelical history, including
Fanny Crosby and Aimee Semple McPherson. She passed away before she could
complete Songs I Love to Sing, and therefore it was brought to
completion by Larry Eskridge, the former assistant director of the ISAE and historian
of American Christianity. While the book was essentially complete at the time of
Blumhofer’s death, as Eskridge notes in his preface, it lacked her final touch.
Nevertheless, Eskridge was able to bring together a very readable and important
look at the role music played in the Graham ministry and Christian life in
general. For that, we can be grateful.
While Billy Graham plays an
important role in this story because he was the face and primary voice of the Billy
Graham Crusades, he is not the focus of Songs I Love to Sing. It’s the
music and the primary creators of that music who stand at the center of the
story. While it was Graham who brought together the music team, he was not a
musician. Thus, it was Cliff Barrows, Graham's music director, and George
Beverly Shea, his long-time soloist, who stand at the center of the story. It’s
possible that Graham would have been successful in his ministry without the
music, but most assuredly, he would likely not have been as successful as he
proved to be. This is a word to preachers, even ones not as famous as Graham
(like me) just remember that your music minister(s) are important partners in
the ministry of the church.
Blumhofer notes in her introduction
that Christians in every generation "sing their faith in lyrics that
reflect their circumstances and music that mirrors their times." Some
hymns and songs transcend time and others are for the moment. Therefore, she
writes that "Billy Graham and his associates George Beverly Shea and Cliff
Barrows recognized the universal appeal and usefulness of music wedded to
preaching and made it an anchor of a new and global burst of evangelical
endeavor" (p. 1). Graham's final crusade may have taken place in 2005, but
his influence and the music connected to his ministry continue to this day. That
is true even if new music has taken center stage. One thing we learn as we read
this book is that Graham and his team adapted to new musical styles and tastes
as time passed, even if the new music didn’t appeal to them. They understood
that even if they were not the biggest fans of Christian rock, they recognized
its value to the success of their ministry.
Blumhofer begins her story by
introducing us to the three primary figures in this story: Graham, Shea, and
Barrows. She begins with Bev Shea. the eldest of the three. She was already a well-known
singer when the team began to form. He was a Canadian who early in life got
involved in the music and radio industries. It was while he was involved in
radio ministry in Chicago that he became acquainted with Torrey Johnson, the
founder of Youth for Christ. It was through YFC and Johnson that he got
connected to Billy Graham. The next person we meet is the evangelist himself, Billy
Graham, who was a few years younger than Shea. Unlike Shea, Graham had no
musical talent but like D. L. Moody before him, he understood the importance of
music to the success of a ministry. Thus, he created the setting in which Shea
and Cliff Barrow could work. While we might think we know Graham’s story, Blumhoffer
nonetheless gives us a brief biography of Graham. What we learn is that Graham
was preaching at the Village Church in Chicago when he met Shea who was a
featured soloist on a Christian radio program. Graham brought Shea into his
work, and a partnership was born. The final member of this trio, Cliff Barrows,
was several years younger than Graham. A Californian, he had developed his
musical talents, which were put to use in his church. Originally, he planned to
study to be a physician, but his life took a different turn in 1937 while attending
a Bible conference. It was at this conference that he felt a call to the
ministry. This sense of call led to his enrollment at Bob Jones College, where
he pursued a degree in music and radio work, skills that would come in handy as
the years passed. After graduation, he was ordained as a Baptist minister. Then
in 1945 he met Graham and quickly became part of Graham's team as he had now become
an evangelist for YFC.
The team that included Shea,
Barrows, and Graham began coming together in 1946, with Barrow joining the team
first. Then in 1947, Graham prevailed on Shea to join the team. This
partnership would last until the very end of Graham's ministry. We learn how
Graham and Barrows began studying earlier revivals, including those of Moody
and Billy Sunday, as to how music factored into these ministries. After the
team was formed each member brought their own experiences to the partnership.
Shea was a well-known soloist. Barrow was the song leader and choir director.
Together the two guided the musical part of the ministry, working in tandem
with Graham who guided the overall effort.
Once Blumhofer has introduced us to
the team, detailing the gifts each brought to the partnership, she introduces
us to the sources and influences on their music. She begins with the influence
of religious radio on the partners. At the time Mainline Protestants owned the
primary airwaves by taking advantage of free airtime. Since Mainliners controlled
the free airtime offered by the major outlets, evangelicals such as Charles
Fuller and others purchased airtime. The choice of music included in these broadcasts
served to influence evangelical musical tastes. Among the music creators who
proved influential was Herman Rodeheaver, who had worked with Billy Sunday before
going on to become a major religious music publisher. Then there were the hymn
writers they drew from, including Fanny
Crosby, whose hymns were well known and widely appreciated, especially
"Blessed Assurance." Another hymn of note that became connected to
the ministry was "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name." The music
chosen by the team provided a foundation for the developing ministry.
When we turn to Chapter 5,
Blumhofer discusses the ministry’s theme music. That is, the songs that became
especially connected to the ministry. Even people who didn’t follow Graham too
closely knew the connection to Graham’s ministry of the gospel song "Just
as I Am," which provided the background for the altar calls. While many
will know of that connection, we might not know how the song "How Great
Thou Art," a song beloved in many mainline churches, was introduced to the
world through the ministry. The form that most of us know, the form present in
many Mainline hymnals, was introduced in 1955 by George Beverly Shea in 1955
(an earlier version was introduced in 1954). I expect many will be as
interested as I was to read Blumhofer’s brief history of the song that has
Swedish origins in the 1880s and that found its central place in Graham’s
ministry at the 1957 crusade at Madison Square Garden.
After introducing us to the members
of the team, along with the influences and music sources, including the theme
music such as “Just as I Am” and “How Great Thou Art,” Blumhofer introduces us
to the guest voices in Chapter 6. While Barrows was the song leader and choir
director (mass choirs were an important part of the events), and Shea offered
his solos, they were not the only musical elements of the events. The team
chose to include a variety of musical talent that not only graced the event
with their music but served as witnesses to the work of God in their lives.
These folks were often local figures. But they also drew on nationally known
talent such as Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Johnny Cash. They also tried to
bring diversity to the stage in the form of guest voices. Thus, the crusades
would feature African American singers such as Mahalia Jackson and Ethel Waters,
and many others. They also introduced younger performers such as Michael W. Smith
and Amy Grant to a wider audience, even if Barrows and Shea weren’t big fans of
more contemporary Christian music.
We see this movement into more
contemporary Christian music in Chapter 7, which is titled "Translation."
Blumhofer discusses here Graham's realization that musical tastes had begun
changing in the 1960s. While rock music might not be the kind of music that the
trio embraced, they began to understand that they needed to find ways of
including it in their services. Thus, it is in this chapter that we learn of
the various ways in which Graham either partnered with others or created places
within his evangelistic ministry for newer forms of music from Amy Grant to DC
Talk. By the late 80s and into the 90s, they began to look for ways of creating
different forms of events, where concerts took center stage, while Graham's
messages became shorter, taking on the guise of advice from a grandfather.
Overall, these seemed successful.
Using an appropriate music term— "Coda"
—Blumhofer brings Songs I Love to Sing to a conclusion by focusing on
the final Billy Graham Crusade in 2005, which was held in Flushing Meadows, not
far from Madison Square Garden where his 1957 Crusade "cemented Graham's
position as the nation's preeminent evangelical voice and introduced the nation—and
the world—to Bev Shea's iconic rendition of ‘How Great Thou Art’” (p. 149).
While Graham has come under criticism in recent years for his ministry, some of
which has been well-deserved, he was also attentive to the changing times. That
is reflected in the music and the performers of the Crusade. Once again, it’s
important to remember that this is not a book about Graham's evangelistic work,
but rather the role music played in his ministry, as well as the influence of
that music on the larger Christian community.
I expect that this study of the role
of music in Graham’s ministry will be of interest to many in the church whether
they are music professionals or lay persons. Church choir directors might find
this quite interesting, as they discover how certain songs made their way into
the mainstream. When it comes to clergy, this serves as a reminder that our
sermons will reach more ears and hearts if partnered with the music of the
church. The person who provides this introduction to the role of music in this
ministry and beyond, Edith Blumhofer, before her death possessed both the scholarly and
story-telling ability to make Songs I Love to Sing a compelling resource.
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