Thank you for your response and further links...
Yes, often there are very interesting stories behind the people who have written many of the hundreds, thousands of religious hymns that are in circulation...I always like to read the stories behind the music, as I am always interested in what motivates people, regarding the things that they do in life....
In the Methodist church, I remember that every so often, there would be a new hymnal that would be used..the old hymnals would be collected up, and new ones would be distributed....and very often certain popular old hymns would be taken out of the old hymnal, and replaced with newer or different hymns...I once asked the minister why this happened, and he remarked that often some of the older hymns were not in complete agreement with Biblical theology, and so even tho they were once popular, they were discarded from the hymnals...
One tune that I remembered at being disappointed over seeing its removal, was ‘In the Bleak MidWinter’....that has always been my favorite Christmas song of all time...and yet it was discarded, I think, in part, because it has been recognized that altho we celebrate Christmas during the winter, Christ was not born in the winter...so the basic premise of the song was really non-Christian doctrine, and that is probably why the song was eliminated from the hymnbook....
And then I noticed, it was quite difficult to even find a CD of Christmas songs, even religious Christmas songs, that even included ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’....the hubby and I used to scour all sorts of CD catalogs trying to find even one or two CD’s which included that song...however, in the past decade ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, has had some sort of a ressurance, and I have been able to purchase many CD’s that include that song...and as a sidenote, I watched one of the Mormon Christmas programs, just this past Christmas, and they had a guest soloist, who did sing ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, and did so in such a beautiful and haunting way, that it touched me in quite a wonderful way...
So many hymns, even old favorites from many different religions, do has aspects about them, that actually are on unsound Biblical doctrine, but because they are so well known, and so familiar, they are often still sung...on the other hand sometimes because they are on unsound Biblical doctrine, they are discarded...
Again, thank for your links...
If you try on ebay you might be able to get an older copy of the Methodist hymnal.
I had gotten one from the late 1800’s I bought from a used book store. and there were many hymns you don’t hear in the mainstream anymore.
I have a Casio key board and some of them you can down load song from the computer and even write music to be up load on the computer.
Another interesting site on the Computer is
http://www.byutv.org/streaming/
I use the Moved Network so I can select what I want to watch.
Enjoy your wonderful gift I am sure you might be able to find those hymns on the internet.
One of my favorite friends was Claude W. Brown of McCamey, Texas. CW was a grade school dropout from Beaumont who left home as a preteen to work as a hand in the oil fields. He eventually would up in West Texas as the owner of a pipe yard. After making a ton of money in that business, he reinvested his fortune in hydrocarbon exploration. In the process, he discovered eight major oil fields, made several more tons of money, and was eventually inducted into the Permian Basin Museum's Hall of Fame.
CW Brown was an intensely religious man who served on the national board of the Methodist Church, went on dozens of missions trips to Latin America, and gave virtually every cent he ever earned to Christ -- especially to McMurry University in Abilene, Texas. In turn, they awarded him an honorary doctorate, for which he was extremely proud. His list of other accomplishments would go on for several pages.
One day, while having breakfast with Dr. Brown, I asked him what he regarded as his greatest achievement.Dr. Brown went on to provide some additional details of his project. Apparently the Methodist Hymnal was so out of date at the time that, "Even I could tell it was bad." Using his position on the executive board and influence within the organization, Dr. Brown set up a committee, selected its members and went to work.Dr. Brown immediately said, "I rewrote the Methodist hymnbook."
I replied, "I didn't know you had musical training."
Dr. Brown said, "I don't. In fact, I can't read a single note. That's why it was such an accomplishment!"
I then asked Dr. Brown how he got suckered into that kind of an assignment.
Dr. Brown answered with, "I didn't. I volunteered. It was a job that needed to be done, so I did it.
I've thought about that incident many times over the years. And needless to say, Dr. Brown's statement has been one of my life's philosophies.
It appears from your recollection of your days in the Methodist Church, Brown's committee was never completely disbanded.