Baptists, music, and World War II

Baptist History and Heritage, Summer-Fall, 2001 by William J. Reynolds

In 1946, W. Hines Sims became McKinney's associate and later succeeded him as head of the Church Music Department following McKinney's death in 1952.

In the 1940s, the demand for church staff personnel greatly increased for combination persons, qualified in both music and education. Southwestern Seminary developed a combination degree involving both music and religious education. Those pioneering in church staff positions were given a variety of titles. In the twenties, it was common for them to be labeled 'Assistant Pastor" even though they were not ordained ministers. Some with music responsibilities were simply called "Music Director," some "Director of Music and Education." Later, the title "Minister of Music and Education" was widely used. R. Paul Green, who, in the spring of 1945, came to Immanuel Baptist Church, Tulsa, from First Baptist Church, Ardmore, where he had dual responsibilities, was the first full-time minister of music in Oklahoma. (32)

The program design for Southern Baptist church music programs appeared in 1948 and was developed by W. Hines Sims. It was stated in four areas:

1. The Local Church Program

2. Associational Music Program

3. The State Music Program

4. The Role of the Sunday School Board

The delineation of the local church program emphasized:

1. Congregational singing

2. Graded choirs

3. Annual music emphasis week

4. Church music classes for training music leadership

5. Regularly scheduled music activities

6. Periodic hymn sings

7. Annual church music school

8. Church orchestras

9. Summer music schools

10. Adequate music budgets (33)

This program design for church music provided a strong structure on which to base our work.

From the standpoint of half a century, we look back with genuine pleasure at the wisdom and understanding of those who set in place the foundation on which church music in our churches was built. To those who have shared in places of leadership across these decades, we acknowledge our gratitude for their labors and faithfulness in churches, associations, state conventions, the seminaries, and in the Southern Baptist Convention. The sound of our music may have changed some, but it has never ceased. It has continued to "praise God from whom all blessings flow," and proclaim the good news of the gospel. Thanks be to God for our Southern Baptist music heritage and for all who contributed to it.

Notes

(1.) Carol Pemberton, Lowell Mason: His Life and Work (Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press, 1985), 114.

(2.) Ibid., 29.

(3.) Oscar Thompson, ed., The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians (New York: Dodd, Mead and Co.), 1949, 1:214.

(4.) Ibid., 1:232.

(5.) Music and Youth, 3 (December 1927): 80.

(6.) Thompson, 1:232.

(7.) Southwestern Journal of Theology (April 1924): 51.

(8.) I. E. Reynolds's handwritten log book, entitled "List of Calls for Singers, Pianists, Choir Directors, Etc.," listed these requests in five columns: Date received, pastor or evangelist, date of engagement, place of engagement, and the name of the person who filled the engagement. This log book is in the I. E. Reynolds material in the Archives, Roberts Library, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.