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'Beams of Heaven' - Mission Board Celebrates Hymn Writer Charles Albert Tindley |
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New York, NY - The life and work of Charles Albert Tindley, the great hymn writer who died in 1933, are being honored by the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries as part of Black History Month this year. The mission agency will issue "Beams of Heaven," a 75 minute CD and a songbook including all of Tindley's published hymns. It is also sponsoring a memorial concert on February 5 at the Tindley Temple Memorial United Methodist Church in Philadelphia. Black Methodists for Church Renewal (BMCR), a denominational caucus, has endorsed the Tindley celebration. Charles Albert Tindley was a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a founding figure in American gospel music. Born in Berlin, Maryland, in 1851, he died as pastor of a 12,500 member congregation in Philadelphia. He also wrote the words and music to dozens of gospel hymns, including five published in the current United Methodist Hymnal and others found in the Songs of Zion songbook. In welcoming the celebration, Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, executive director of BMCR, noted that Tindley was "one of the greatest preachers of his day." Tindley's work is highly relevant to the contemporary church, according to the Rev. Dr. ST Kimbrough, who heads both the Mission Evangelism Office and the Global Praise Program of the General Board of Global Ministries, and is organizing the Tindley celebration. "His imagery, biblical allusions, and folk expressions are those with which African Americans may readily identify; and yet, his hymns have reached far beyond one group of people to the larger Christian community," Kimbrough said in announcing the CD, songbook, and concert. "Beams of Heaven as I Go" and "We'll Understand it Better By and By" are two of the hymns by Tindley in the United Methodist Hymnal. The CD will feature 75 minutes of Tindley hymns in diverse styles. The songbook will be the first major collection of his words and music in 60 years. Download the printable flyer (PDF/227K) describing the CD. "As one who superbly articulated the plight of the downtrodden," Kimbrough explained, "Tindley was a man both of his time and before his time. In this eloquent poet-pastor-musician one experiences a theology that holds in tension the anxieties of oppression with the vision of a better world, both here and now and beyond." One Tindley stanza declares:
The February 5 concert in Philadelphia at the church that bears Tindley's name is scheduled near the opening of the annual Black History Month (February). Tindley Temple and its current pastor, the Rev. Thomas Jackmon, are hosting the event. The concert will include the hymns and poetry of Dr. Tindley presented by Theodore Thomas, organist and music director of Tindley Temple UMC; the Mainline Interdenominational Choir, directed by Harold Thompson; the Choral Ensemble of Vandeveer United Methodist Church, directed by Raymond Trapp, and soloists Carolyn Disnew, Bessie Williams, and Robin Wilson. The Rev. Dr. Carlton R. Young, music consultant to the Global Praise Program of the mission board, GBGM, will conduct his own arrangement of a "Suite of Tindley Hymns," composed and dedicated to The Rev. Dr. Randolph Nugent, former general secretary of the General Board of Global Ministries. There will also be congregational singing. In addition to Kimbrough, participants from the mission board on February 5 include the Rev. R. Randy Day, general secretary, Deborah Bass, deputy general secretary for administration, Jerald Scott-McKie, associate general secretary of community and institutional ministries, and Jorge Lockward of the Global Praise staff. Day said that the General Board of Global Ministries is sponsoring the Tindley celebration to encourage United Methodists and other Christians to sing his hymns and read his poems "because they challenge us to be faithful mediators of Christ's love in the church's mission today." Order These New Resources Now:
"Beams of Heaven" CD, $12.95
Date posted: Jan 03, 2006 |
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