The Christian Science Hymnal:
History, Heritage, Healing
By Robert J. Rockabrand
in collaboration with Sara Rockabrand
Contents:
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Chapter 1
The evolution of Christian Science hymnody before 1892
Chapter 2
The Chicago hymnals and the 1892 Hymnal
Chapter 3
The Hymnal takes hold, 1892
Chapter 4
The work of Lyman Brackett
Chapter 5
The 1898 and 1910 Hymnal editions
Chapter 6
The 1932 Hymnal, part 1
Chapter 7
The 1932 Hymnal, part 2
Chapter 8
The evolution of some significant hymns
Chapter 9
The 1980s Hymnal revision project
Chapter 10
The 2008 Christian Science Hymnal Supplement
Chapter 11
The 2017 Hymnal
Chapter 12
Mary Baker Eddy’s hymns, part 1
NEXT UP
Chapter 13
Mary Baker Eddy’s hymns, part 2
Special feature:
Podcast: Spiritual and musical evolutions in the Christian Science Hymnal
Duration: 37:00 | Recorded on November 26, 2024
From a live Seekers and Scholars event held on October 29, 2024. Panelists explore how hymns are birthed into being and talk about the impact of hymns in individual lives and congregational singing. At the core of the discussion is an examination of what makes Christian Science hymns distinctive and how they connect to a broader history of Christian spiritual song.
Dr. Robert J. “Rocky” Rockabrand (1931–2020) earned degrees from Stanford University in California (DMA), Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey (BMus, MM), and Principia College in Elsah, Illinois (BA). He taught for several years at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, before launching a decades-long career at Principia. Dr. Rockabrand taught and composed choral music and conducted choirs for undergraduate and continuing education students. He loved sacred music, especially hymnody. With his wife, Sara T. Rockabrand, he researched and wrote on music in the Christian Science faith—especially its hymnals.
Sara Rockabrand earned degrees in music performance and music education from Westminster Choir College. She served as a voice teacher and vocal coach at Ball State University from 1969 to 1974, and at Principia College from 1975 to 2010. She is currently a voice instructor at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.
“The Christian Science Hymnal: History, Heritage, Healing” distills what the Rockabrands explored and shared through numerous lectures and presentations.
About the project
Hymns have animated Christian Science church services ever since their beginnings in the nineteenth century. These sacred songs also touch the day-to-day lives of adults and children alike, inspiring, comforting, and healing. We sing, hum, read, remember, and pray with hymns. They may well up unexpectedly in us when joy promises or fear threatens.
But where did these hymns come from? Who wrote the words? The music? When did Christian Scientists first make hymnals, and how did they do it? Why did they select the tunes they did?
Mary Baker Eddy loved hymns, and we know she sang them in a sweet soprano voice. Throughout her life—and certainly as the discoverer and founder of Christian Science—she found inspiration in these anthems. And she wanted her church to sing!
This series tells about some of those hymns and hymnals, composers and compilers. It includes audio of selected songs, historic photos, and links to testimonies of healing from the Christian Science magazines, offering firsthand accounts of how sacred songs impact the lives of those who sing them. Based on years of research and heartfelt commitment, “The Christian Science Hymnal: History, Heritage, Healing” reflects a profound love for God’s power and grace—expressed in song.
—The Mary Baker Eddy Library
© ℗ 2024 The Mary Baker Eddy Library. All rights reserved.