Moving toward “The Generic Harp”

Did the Sacred Harp Publishing Company and their 2025 Revision Committee move The Sacred Harp 2025 Revision towards words with less explicitly Christian meaning? I believe so (and, whether carelessly or deliberately is a question to consider).[i] I analyzed the texts/words of the new songs added to The Sacred Harp 2025 (as well as the old songs removed from The Sacred Harp 1991) and divided the texts of these songs into 3 categories: (1) texts that might be generally accepted in principle as true by singers with any religion or no religion; (2) texts that might be generally accepted in principle as true by singers who believe in some idea of “God” or a higher power, though not necessarily the Christian God; (3) texts that could not be generally or readily accepted in principle as true by those who are not Christians. Here are the specific songs categorized and the results/conclusions from that. (You should hopefully be able to select the images and enlarge them for reading.)

Old songs that were added to The Sacred Harp 2025 (32).

32 songs from older/other sources were added to the 2025 Edition of The Sacred Harp.

• 3 with “Category 1” lyrics; this is 9% of the old songs added.
• 14 with “Category 2” lyrics; this is 44% of the old songs added.
• 15 with “Category 3” lyrics; this is 46% of the old songs added.

53% of the older songs that were added have somewhat generic texts, that could be more acceptable to non-Christians.[ii]

New songs that were added to The Sacred Harp 2025 (81).

81 songs by 49 living composers were added to the 2025 Edition of The Sacred Harp.

• 12 with “Category 1” lyrics; 15% of the new songs added.
• 38 with “Category 2” lyrics; 47% of the new songs added.
• 31 with “Category 3” lyrics: 38% of the new songs added.

62% of the new songs have somewhat generic texts, that could be more acceptable to non-Christians.

Considered together, 59% of the total songs added to the 2025 Edition have somewhat generic texts, that could be more acceptable to non-Christians.

Songs that were removed from The Sacred Harp 1991 (77).

77 songs that were in the 1991 Edition of The Sacred Harp were removed in order to make way for 113 songs added to the 2025 Edition of The Sacred Harp.

• 9 removed songs with “Category 1” lyrics; this is 9% of the songs removed.
• 15 removed songs with “Category 2” lyrics; this is 19% of the songs removed.
• 53 removed songs with “Category 3” lyrics; this is 69% of the songs removed.

These actions show favoritism toward removing explicitly Christian words over more generic ones.

Conclusion.

Of 113 newly added songs in 2025, 15 have “Category 1” lyrics and 52 have “Category 2” lyrics (a total of 67). This is 59 % of the songs added, exhibiting a tendency toward favoring songs that can be considered less explicit in the Christian message they contain.[iii] When comparing added songs to removed songs, the choices exhibit removing more songs with more explicitly Christian texts, while adding more songs with more generic texts. 59% of the newly-added songs have somewhat generic texts. 69% of the removed songs have somewhat more explicit texts.

This analysis is enough to raise serious questions and heighten further concerns about the theological and cultural “drift” of The Sacred Harp, its songs, and its message. These concerns should not be dismissed with a hand wave, but considered and addressed by a community whose tradition is based in and fed by Christianity. Overall, the Sacred Harp Publishing Company failed its trust.

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[i] For example, was the committee (or some members of it) complicit in favoring song texts that would be less-offensive to non-Christian and anti-Christian singers? (If you do not believe there are anti-Christian singers, see footnote 3.) Was the committee careless in not articulating a committment to explictly Christian texts for an explicitly Christian songbook? How will these questions be answered?

[ii] As a plurality, the total old songs added slightly favor Category 3, but the total of Categories 1 and 2 favor generic readings. That fits well in the overall situation of past versus present, seeing that the older composers would have been less likely to specifically desire generic texts in the same way or for the same reason that modern non-Christian composers would choose them.

[iii] This is not to say they are not Christian hymns, but that the texts appear to have been picked in order to favor hymns or stanzas of hymns that are not as explicit in directly speaking of Jesus Christ, his atoning blood, his bodily resurrection, salvation through Christ alone, the exclusivity of the gospel, and so on. In past times, Christian singers would just understand all the songs from within their Christian worldview. The current participation of many non-Christians who like the music but not the theology turns that once-common understanding on its head. Shockingly (in his audacity), one composer who has a song in the 2025 Edition wrote on Bluesky that “Christianity isn’t morally acceptable.” (Perhaps it is not that audacious, since he hides cowardly behind a pseudonym.)