Roy Exum
Barry Norris plays the organ at Birmingham’s East Lake United Methodist Church and two days ago the church hosted what we used to call “A Singing on the Grounds.” Today it is called a “Hymnfest” and, believe it or not, it is has to be just as fun today as it was 100 years ago when our forefathers tied their horse and wagon to a tree.
It just so happens I know a little bit about that because about 25 years ago my grandfather decided to have one. And he did, oh did he ever. Roy McDonald must have been in his late ‘70s back then and, in the way older people long for one last glimpse at yesterday, he remembered back to afternoons in the summer when everybody would bring two or three different dishes with them to church.
This wasn’t regular fare, not by a long shot. This was favorite recipes, “Aunt Clara’s chicken salad,” and “Belle’s dinner rolls.” Right after the 11 a.m. service – the preacher would never dare go too long -- there would be a huge feast. Then, when everybody was fat and jolly, they would pull out the fiddles and the banjos under the shade trees. Two or three pianos would accompany the throng as they sang their favorite hymns, waving funeral home fans, and my grandfather wanted to hear that final verse of Amazing Grace lifted high in the sky.
My “Pappaw” always thought big and the next thing you know he had invited the entire church to our farm in Sale Creek. His orders to me were simple – “Go get more barbecue than they’ll ever eat, more Cokes than they could possibly drink, and enough ice cream sandwiches where everybody can have three or four!”
He then called Glenn Draper, the choir director whose genius extended to those great UT-Chattanooga singers. “I want to hear the songs that are the most loved hymns and – here – ” he handed Glenn a list, “See if you like any of these…”
Just as you would suspect, about 1,500 showed up and, for the record, a pound of Way-Crazy’s barbeque back then would make four sandwiches in a serve-yourself kind of way. It took three days just to gather up the Cokes, have huge freezers of ice delivered, and truck 3,000 buns to our farm in Sale Creek. About two weeks afterwards I asked him had he figured up the total cost and he laughed, saying it was between him and the Lord, “… but I would have paid a lot more.”
I am betting this past Sunday at the East Lake United Methodist Church in Birmingham was almost as fun. The organist, Barry Norris, got John Schwandt to bring his considerable skills from Oklahoma as the headline organist but it was Barry’s genius move when he met with his two “advisors.” Barry knew that hymns “are a common bond with just about every Southerner,” he told Greg Garrison, a reporter in Birmingham for the AL.com website.
So he got Mary Kay Jackson, who played the organ for years at East Lake United Methodist – and who is white – to sit with her longtime friend James Smith, whose skills as an organist delighted thousands down through the years at St. John AME Church in downtown Birmingham – who is black. The plea was simple: “What are the old gospel songs that you sing when you are praying and your heart is breaking?
“Pick the top 20 hymns that we should sing at our Hymnfest,” was Norris’ request and so the best two organists in Birmingham for the last generation were as masterful as gauging the public’s fancy as playing any song on the list by heart.
Why? “It just seemed like a good time to say this is what we have in common,” said Norris. “I want so badly for (black and white) people in our neighborhood to come together so we can worship God together … we have more in common than any of us realize.”
Oh my goodness! The East Lake United Methodist Hymnfest was a huge success. Here are the “Top 20” hymns, by category, that we in the South use to still our souls and stop a hand from its trembling:
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HYMNS SOUTHERNERS LOVE TO SING
As Selected by Mary Kay Jackson and James Smith of Birmingham, Ala.
PARDON:
Pass Me Not, Oh Gentle Savior
Precious Lord, Take My Hand
Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me
Rescue the Perishing
At the Cross (with chorus)
Amazing Grace
ASSURANCE:
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
Blessed Assurance (also an anthem)
Since Jesus Came into My Heart
His Eye Is on the Sparrow (solo)
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
COMMITMENT:
Nobody Knows / Steal Away to Jesus (anthem)
Just a Closer Walk with Thee
Lord, I Want to Be a Christian
Oh, How I Love Jesus
We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder
He Keeps Me Singing
NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH:
We'll Understand It Better By and By
We're Marching to Zion
When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder
The Sweet By and By (There's a Land That Is Fairer Than Day)
When We All Get to Heaven
Beulah Land / Dwelling in Beulah Land
Blessed Quietness (offertory anthem)
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