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Thursday, April 16, 2009

French word of the day

dernier resort -- last, or final resort; a means of last resort after all other avenues have been exhausted

In a sentence:
"This instrument, which from time immemorial has been associated with cathedral pomp and prelatical power, and has always been the peculiar favorite of great national churches, at length found its way into Baptist sanctuaries, and the first one ever employed by the denomination in this country, and probably in any other, might have been seen standing in the singing gallery of the old Baptist meeting house in Pawtucket, about forty years ago, where I then officiated as pastor; and in process of time, this dernier resort in church music was adopted by many of our societies which had formerly been distinguished for their primitive and conventicle plainness."
-- From Fifty Years among the Baptists, by David Benedict, pp. 282-83

10 comments:

Jokers55 said...

Sounds like a good reason to get rid of musical instruments in Baptist meeting houses.Never liked them myself anyway.

I found when I went to (so-called) Church of Christ groups in the past they sang so much better than the Baptists.They are wrong on so many doctrines but they can really sing!

I have been to Baptist meetings when they were singing and it was so overshadowed by the piano and/or organ that I wasn't sure if the congregation was supposed to be singing.I actually had to look around to see if other people's lips were moving.Too many Baptists seem to be lazy singers.

R. L. Vaughn said...

To that I say amen. Click the "Fifty Years among the Baptists" link and read the whole story of the introduction of the organ among Baptists. It is interesting reading.

A minority of Baptists -- Primitive, Old Regular, et al. -- have remained aloof from this dernier resort.

Jokers55 said...

Oh yeah, the Plymouth Brethren don't use musical instruments during worship either. At least most don't.Their hymns are just that: Theirs. They generally sing only songs their folks have written so all songs reflect their doctrines.Interesting idea, n'est-ce pas?

If I ever am part of a new work there will be no musical instruments at all if I can so arrange it.It seems the most Scriptural to me.

R. L. Vaughn said...

I agree. While I have trouble seeing that worship with instruments is evil or sinful (since God obviously has accepted such worship), I nevertheless think it best if possible to follow the simple path that we all can agree on -- it is definitely scriptural to sing without instruments.

Perhaps the "new work" is a key. It is hard to change things that people have gotten used to.

Jokers55 said...

You are right about that. It would have to be started. Maybe when the wife and I move to Georgia.....

Jokers55 said...

Whether you use instruments or not what would be a sound hymnal to use?

R. L. Vaughn said...

Best wishes on your move to Georgia. What part?

As far as a hymnal -- I think if a church was singing acapella and knew tunes by meter, the Gadsby hymn book is full of old hymns from an era of strong doctrinal-biblical style of writing. But there is no music/tunes, so it might be hard for a church that doesn't have a memorized tune repertoire.

As far as a book with tunes, I really like The Harp of Ages by A.N. Whitten and later the Harp of Ages Publishing Company. We used it some in Nacogdoches. But it is no longer in print and hard to find. We also used Favorite Songs and Hymns by Zondervan. It is originally a Stamps-Baxter book. It has some songs I wouldn't recommend in general has a fair mix of old and new songs. The Hymn and tune Book by Durand & Lester looks very good, though I have never used it in church context.

R. L. Vaughn said...

Should be "It has some songs I wouldn't recommend, BUT in general has a fair mix of sound old and new songs."

Jokers55 said...

We may be moving to south-central Georgia, in or near Wilcox county. This is some 60 miles or so south of Macon.

I have seen some American Baptist Association hymnals (1960) for sale. Do you know anything about them?

R. L. Vaughn said...

I would like to go Macon some day. I would like to visit the historical archives at Mercer U.

I am somewhat familiar with the American Baptist Hymnal, and I think it would probably be a pretty decent choice. It has a lot of the old standard church hymns -- O Worship the King, Amazing Grace, The Solid Rock, Firm Foundation, and so on. I think that the majority of the songs tend to be that type. There would probably be some songs you might not prefer, but overall I think it is pretty good.