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John Barnard

b. 1948 Person Name: John Barnard (born 1948) Arranger of "BROTHER JAMES' AIR" in Hymns for Today's Church (2nd ed.)

1918 - 2000 Person Name: Compiler Alterer of "The Lord's My Shepherd" in The Christian Hymnary. Bks. 1-4 John J. Overholt was born to an Amish family of limited means in the state of Ohio in 1918. As a child he was soon introduced to his father's personal collection of gospel songs and hymns, which was to have a marked influence on his later life. With his twin brother Joe, he early was exposed to the Amish-Mennonite tradition hymn-singing and praising worship. An early career in Christian service led to a two-year period of relief work in the country of Poland following World War II. During that interim he began to gather many European songs and hymns as a personal hobby, not realizing that these selections would become invaluable to The Christian Hymnary which was begun in 1960 and completed twelve years later in 1972, with a compilation of 1000 songs, hymns and chorales. (The largest Menn. hymnal). A second hymnal was begun simultaneously in the German language entitled Erweckungs Lieder Nr.1 which was brought to completion in 1986. This hymnal has a total of 200 selections with a small addendum of English hymns. Mr. Overholt married in 1965 to an accomplished soprano Vera Marie Sommers, who was not to be outdone by her husband's creativity and compiled a hymnal of 156 selections entitled Be Glad and Sing, directed to children and youth and first printed in 1986. During this later career of hymn publishing, Mr. Overholt also found time for Gospel team work throughout Europe. At this writing he is preparing for a 5th consecutive tour which he arranges and guides. The countries visited will be Belgium, Switzerland, France, Germany, Poland, USSR and Romania. Mr. Overholt was called to the Christian ministry in 1957 and resides at Sarasota, Florida where he is co-minister of a Beachy Amish-Mennonite Church. Five children were born to this family and all enjoy worship in song. --Letter from Hannah Joanna Overholt to Mary Louise VanDyke, 10 October 1990, DNAH Archives. Photo enclosed.

Francis Rous

1579 - 1659 Author of "The Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want" in Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) Rous, Francis (Rouse), was born at Halton, Cornwall, in 1579, and educated at Oxford. He adopted the legal profession, and way M.P. for Truro during the reigns of James and of Charles I. He also represented Truro in the Long Parliament, and took part against the King and the Bishops. He was appointed a member of the Westminster Assembly; of the High Commission; and of the Triers for examining and licensing candidates for the ministry. He also held other appointments under Cromwell, including that of Provost of Eton College. He died at Acton, Jan. 7, 1659, and was buried in the Chapel of Eton College. Wood, in his Athenae Oxmienses, gives a list of his numerous works. --Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ==================== Rous, Francis, pp. 918, ii.; 927, ii.; 979, i., 1023, i. The.history of the Rous version of the Psalms is still rather obscure. At p. 918, ii., it is said to have been first published 1641, and reprinted with "further changes" in 1643. The present writer has been allowed to compare the— Booke of Psalmes in English Meeter. Printed for Henry Tutill, Bookseller at Rotterdam, 1638, with the Psalmes of David in English Meeter, set forth by Francis Rous . . . London, Printed by James Young, for Philip Nevill, at the signe of the Gun in Ivie-lane, 1643. The preface is the same in both, and a careful collation of a considerable number of the versions showed no variations except in spelling, the only variation observed being that the ed. of 1643 adds, after Ps. 150, a supplement of— Psalmes of harder and lesse usuall Tunes corrected, and the Tunes not altered; with versions of Pss. 51, 111, 112, 113, 120, 121, 122, 124, 125, 126, 127, 130, and 148. The Psalter of 1647, said to be in the B. M. by Mr. Glass, p. 85 (see p. 926, ii.), is not by Rous, but is a reprint of the Bay Psalm Book noted by Glass at p. 82. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

James Leith Macbeth Bain

1840 - 1925 Person Name: James Leith Macbeth Bain, 184?-1925 Composer of "MAROSA" in A Hymnal for Friends James Leith Macbeth Bain (b. Scotland, c. 1840; d. Liverpool, England, 1925), was a healer, mystic, and poet known simply as Brother James. The tune BROTHER JAMES AIR was first published in his volume The great peace: being a New Year's greeting ... (1915). Born in a devout Christian home, Bain came to doubt the faith but later regained a mystical belief with the aid of the Christo Theosophic Society. He founded the Brotherhood of Healers, and he and his fellow healers often sang to their patients during healing sessions. In the latter years of his life he worked among the poor in the slums of Liverpool. He published a book on healing entitled The Brotherhood of Healers ... (1906). Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1988

Federico J. Pagura

1923 - 2016 Translator (into Spanish) of "The Lord's My Shepherd" in Psalms for All Seasons Federico José Pagura was an Argentine Methodist bishop and author and translator of hymns. Leland Bryant Ross

John L. Bell

b. 1949 Person Name: John L. Bell (b. 1949) Harmonizer of "BROTHER JAMES'S AIR" in Church Hymnary (4th ed.) John Bell (b. 1949) was born in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, intending to be a music teacher when he felt the call to the ministry. But in frustration with his classes, he did volunteer work in a deprived neighborhood in London for a time and also served for two years as an associate pastor at the English Reformed Church in Amsterdam. After graduating he worked for five years as a youth pastor for the Church of Scotland, serving a large region that included about 500 churches. He then took a similar position with the Iona Community, and with his colleague Graham Maule, began to broaden the youth ministry to focus on renewal of the church’s worship. His approach soon turned to composing songs within the identifiable traditions of hymnody that began to address concerns missing from the current Scottish hymnal: "I discovered that seldom did our hymns represent the plight of poor people to God. There was nothing that dealt with unemployment, nothing that dealt with living in a multicultural society and feeling disenfranchised. There was nothing about child abuse…,that reflected concern for the developing world, nothing that helped see ourselves as brothers and sisters to those who are suffering from poverty or persecution." [from an interview in Reformed Worship (March 1993)] That concern not only led to writing many songs, but increasingly to introducing them internationally in many conferences, while also gathering songs from around the world. He was convener for the fourth edition of the Church of Scotland’s Church Hymnary (2005), a very different collection from the previous 1973 edition. His books, The Singing Thing and The Singing Thing Too, as well as the many collections of songs and worship resources produced by John Bell—some together with other members of the Iona Community’s “Wild Goose Resource Group,” —are available in North America from GIA Publications. Emily Brink

Carl P. Daw Jr.

b. 1944 Person Name: Carl P. Daw, Jr., 1944- Paraphraser (sts. 3-4) of "How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place" in Common Praise (1998) Carl P. Daw, Jr. (b. Louisville, KY, 1944) is the son of a Baptist minister. He holds a PhD degree in English (University of Virginia) and taught English from 1970-1979 at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. As an Episcopal priest (MDiv, 1981, University of the South, Sewanee, Tennesee) he served several congregations in Virginia, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. From 1996-2009 he served as the Executive Director of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. Carl Daw began to write hymns as a consultant member of the Text committee for The Hymnal 1982, and his many texts often appeared first in several small collections, including A Year of Grace: Hymns for the Church Year (1990); To Sing God’s Praise (1992), New Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1996), Gathered for Worship (2006). Other publications include A Hymntune Psalter (2 volumes, 1988-1989) and Breaking the Word: Essays on the Liturgical Dimensions of Preaching (1994, for which he served as editor and contributed two essays. In 2002 a collection of 25 of his hymns in Japanese was published by the United Church of Christ in Japan. He wrote Glory to God: A Companion (2016) for the 2013 hymnal of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Emily Brink

William Whittingham

1524 - 1579 Person Name: W. Whittingham (c. 1524-1579) Author of "The Lord’s my shepherd: I’ll not want" in Hymns for Today's Church (2nd ed.)

Mary Baker Eddy

1821 - 1910 Author of "Brood O'er Us" in Christian Science Hymnal Mary Baker Eddy (born Mary Morse Baker, July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) is the discoverer and founder of Christian Science, a religious movement that emerged in New England in the late 19th century. Eddy is the author of the movement’s textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (first published in 1875), and founder of The First Church of Christ, Scientist (1892). She also founded The Christian Science Publishing Society (1898). Mary Morse Baker was born in Bow, New Hampshire, the youngest of six children of Abigail and Mark Baker. Raised a Congregationalist, she came to reject teachings such as predestination and original sin, but she loved the biblical accounts of early Christian healing. Mark Baker, Eddy’s father, firmly believed in the Congregational church’s doctrine of predestination, but Eddy couldn’t accept the idea that the loving God she knew could condemn people to eternal damnation. Eddy eventually joined the Congregational church at Sanbornton Bridge (present-day Tilton), New Hampshire, when she was seventeen. A fragile child, Eddy suffered from a number of physical complaints. Her letters from this time, now at The Mary Baker Eddy Library in Boston, Massachusetts, portray her sufferings and search for relief. In an effort to find health in her early adulthood, she tried homeopathy, dietary cures, mesmerism, hydropathy, and other popular treatments of the day. None of those methods brought lasting health. On December 10, 1843, Eddy married George Washington Glover. He died of yellow fever on June 27, 1844, a little over three months before the birth of their only child, George Washington Glover. As a single mother in poor health, Eddy wrote some political pieces for the New Hampshire Patriot, as writing was one of the few ways a woman in her position could make money. Eddy continued to struggle with poor health, and her son was put into the care of neighbors by her father and stepmother. She married Dr. Daniel Patterson, a dentist, in 1853, hoping he would adopt the young boy. Patterson signed papers to that effect on their wedding day, but failed to follow through on his promise. In 1873, Eddy divorced Daniel Patterson on the grounds of desertion. In October 1862, Eddy became a patient of Phineas Quimby, a magnetic healer from Maine. She benefited temporarily from his treatment. From 1862 to 1865 Quimby and Eddy engaged in lengthy discussions about healing methods practiced by Quimby and others. Eddy’s conclusions from her own scriptural study and healing practice differed from Quimby’s teachings. In 1866, Eddy had a substantial physical healing while reading about Jesus’ healings in the Bible, without employing any medical forms of treatment. This pivotal event showed her that Jesus’ teachings were practical throughout all time. She devoted the next three years of her life to biblical study and called her discovery Christian Science. In her autobiography, Retrospection and Introspection, Eddy writes, “I then withdrew from society about three years,—to ponder my mission, to search the Scriptures, to find the Science of Mind that should take the things of God and show them to the creature, and reveal the great curative Principle,—Deity” (pp. 24–25). Eddy became well known as a healer, and first-hand accounts state that she performed miracles similar to miracles performed by Jesus. In 1875, Eddy published her discovery in a book titled Science and Health (later retitled Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures), which she called the textbook of Christian Science. As worded in the final edition, she wrote, “In the year 1866, I discovered the Christ Science or divine laws of Life, Truth, and Love, and named my discovery Christian Science” (p. 107). During these years she taught her new ideas to hundreds of people. Many of her students became healers themselves. The final chapter of Science and Health, titled “Fruitage,” contains testimonies of people who were healed by studying her book. In 1877 she married Asa Gilbert Eddy, a student of Christian Science and an active worker in the movement. Eddy founded The Christian Science Journal in 1883, a monthly magazine “designed to put on record the divine Science of Truth” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 353). Eddy founded The Christian Science Publishing Society in 1898, which became the publishing home for numerous publications launched by her and her followers. The Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly religious periodical written for a more general audience, and The Herald of Christian Science, a religious magazine with editions in many languages, were established in 1898. In 1908, at the age of 87, Eddy founded The Christian Science Monitor, a daily newspaper. These periodicals continue to be published today. Five of Eddy’s poems were set to music and included in the Christian Science Hymnal during her lifetime: “Christmas Morn,” “Mother’s Evening Prayer,” “Christ my Refuge,” “Communion Hymn,” and “Feed My Sheep.” When the hymnal was revised in 1932, two more of her poems were added: “Love” and “Satisfied.” More information about these particular poems, their original publication and inclusion in the hymnal, is available from The Mary Baker Eddy Library. Eddy died on the evening of December 3, 1910, at her home in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Hundreds of tributes appeared in newspapers around the world, including The Boston Globe, which wrote, “She did a wonderful—an extraordinary— work in the world and there is no doubt that she was a powerful influence for good.” Today, there are Christian Science churches in 76 countries. This biography was written in collaboration with The Mary Baker Eddy Library and the staff of “Hymns 2016” on JSH-Online. More information about Mary Baker Eddy is available at MBELibrary.org. Submitted 8 August 2016.

Sir William Mure

1594 - 1657 Person Name: William Mure Author (and others) of "The Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want" in Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) Mure, Sir William, eldest son of Sir William Mure of Rowallan Castle, Ayrshire, was born at Rowallan in 1594. In the Civil War he sided against the king; and in 1644, accompanying: those sent under the Solemn League and Covenant to the help of the Parliament, was wounded at the battle of Marston Moor. He died at Rowallan in 1657. In 1628 he published a translation of Robert Boyd's Hecatombe Christiana, at Edinburgh, in a volume con¬taining also an original poem entitled Doomesday, and three sonnets entitled Fancies Farewel. His manuscript Version of the Psalms, which seems to have been begun in 1629 and completed in 1639, was recommended to the use of the committee who compiled the Scottish Psalter of 1650. A complete manuscript of this version was found about 1825, with various other poetical manuscripts by him, among the old family papers in Bowallan Castle. These manuscripts were kindly searched for by Lord Donington in 1884, but could not be discovered among the family papers now in Loudoun Castle, Ayrshire. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)