Today is the first day when members of our church tell us about their favorite hymns — or one of their favorite hymns…. Everyone keeps telling me they are having trouble only identifying one hymn because there are so many we love.
I apparently chose a hymn that Denni says no one at Trinity has sung before.
When I was a little girl, my family was the only “young family” at our church. My parents joined the church when they were pregnant with me, so they were in their late 20s or 30s – all the other adults at the church were in their 50s and 60s (or older). My brother, sister and I were the only children – so we had lots of honorary grandparents at church – everyone was always happy to see us.
Whenever we had hymn sings, or special musical Sundays, the older members wanted to brush off the old Sunday School hymnals that were kept in the church’s narthex. They wanted to sing songs they fondly remembered from their youth fellowship days. Most of the dusty hymnals were worn out and their covers were tearing off…I think they were published in 1921 and were the “Elmhurst Hymnal for the Sunday School, Young People’s Meetings, and Church Services.” They were published by Eden Publishing House, the publishers run by the German Evangelical Church of America – a predecessor of the Evangelical and Reformed Church that became part of the United Church of Christ in the 1950s.
The older members of our church always wanted to sing “There is Sunshine In My Soul Today.” Everyone was so peppy and happy when we sang this beloved song – and I always think of how the voices were bright and cheerful when we sang it together. It was their favorite hymn, and it became one of my favorite hymns.
So, even though it is new to many of us, please join me as we turn to hymn number 499 and sing “Sunshine in MY Soul” together.
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