"Billy" Sunday, the Man and His Message: With his own words which have won thousands for ChristEllis, William T. (William Thomas)
Religion
"Billy" Sunday, the Man and His Message: With his own words which have won thousands for Christ
Ellis, William T. (William Thomas)
Baseball players -- United States -- Biography; Evangelists -- United States -- Biography; Sunday, Billy, 1862-1935
There is more to the music of a campaign than the volume of singing
by the choir, with an occasional solo by the chorister or some chosen
person. A variety of ingenious devices are employed to heighten the
impression of the music. Thus a common antiphonal effect is obtained
by having the choir sing one line of a hymn and the last ten rows of
persons in the rear of the Tabernacle sing the answering line. The old
hymn "For You I am Praying" is used with electrical effect in this
fashion. Part singing is employed in ways that are possible only to
such a large chorus as the musical director of the Sunday campaigns has
at his command.
A genius for mutuality characterizes the Sunday song services. The
audiences are given a share in the music. Not only are they requested
to join in the singing, but they are permitted to choose their favorite
hymns, and frequently the choir is called upon to listen while the
audience sings.
Various delegations are permitted to sing hymns of their own choice.
Diversity, and variety and vim seem to be the objective of the musical
part of the program. From half an hour to an hour of this varied music
introduces each service. When the evangelist himself is ready to
preach, the crowd has been worked up into a glow and fervor that make
it receptive to his message.
If some stickler for ritual and stateliness objects that these services
are entirely too informal, and too much like a political campaign, the
partisan of Mr. Sunday will heartily assent. These are great American
crowds in their every-day humor. These evangelistic meetings are not
regular church services. It has already been made plain that there is
no "dim religious light" about the Sunday Tabernacle meetings.
It is a tribute to the comprehensiveness of the Sunday method that they
bring together the most representative gatherings imaginable every
day under the unadorned rafters of the big wooden shell called the
Tabernacle. Shrewdly, the evangelist has made sure of the democratic
quality of his congregation. He has succeeded in having the gospel sing
its way into the affection and interest of every-day folk.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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