New Word Alive - the Welsh Connection 4

Here is the fourth and final entry in this series. The purpose as previously mentioned was to give people a glimpse of the history and heritage which the Welsh have. For a much better look at the story of Christianity in Wales see Gwyn Davies' book A Light in the Land published by Bryntiron press. Maybe next year there'll be another four glimpses.

The Welsh Connection
Whether you’re into Bryn Terfel and Katherine Jenkins, Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey, or Duffy, Wales has a reputation for being the land of song. Whilst there is a long tradition of poetry and singing in the country, it was really during the nineteenth century that the Welsh became a nation of singers. The revivals of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries had produced a multitude of hymns. William Williams, Pantycelyn, one of the founding fathers of the Welsh Methodists was the greatest hymn writer that Wales produced, writing about 1,500 hymns and other writings. (His best known English hymn is Guide me, o thou great Redeemer) In general these hymns were almost shouted out in the congregations. But early in the nineteenth century a plan was formed to change things. Young men visited congregations where they would teach the worshippers how to read music using the tonic sol-fa method (remember Doh – a deer in the Sound of Music?). The congregations learnt to sing in four part harmony, and this spread into the general culture so that the Welsh became one of the few nations with a polyphonic musical culture. And it was all because they wanted to sing well about their Saviour. Wherever you would go in the country you could find congregations who would lift up their voices to God in beautiful worship.
Today not so many are singing about Christ, and although the tradition of singing continues, the song has changed. But God still seeks worshippers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. And there are those today who continue the tradition of writing new hymns and spiritual songs for our contemporary age. Pray for them as they try to ensure that, whilst the best of the past is not lost, the tradition grows as a living expression of God’s work in our midst. Pray also for a new generation of preachers and evangelists who will be used by God to raise a people to worship their Saviour and Lord.