The Secretary’s Newsletter

No.102: Autumn 2024
From the Interim Secretary:  
Revd Robert A. Canham  
Windrush  
Braithwaite 
KESWICK  
CA12 5SZ 
Phone: 017687 78054

Email: Please see our Contact page

My concluding Newsletter
After 21 years, during which time I will have written eighty-five quarterly Secretary’s Newsletters, (the first I wrote was number 18 in October 2003), this one is likely to be my last, as personal circumstances necessitate that I now relinquish this task, along with my various other Hymn Society responsibilities. For the most part this ‘duty’ has also been ‘delight’. I am most grateful to all those who, over the years, have provided information about forthcoming events, reports on those which have taken place, news, and a variety of other hymn-related pieces, including (perhaps especially) those which are light-hearted; all of which have helped to sustain the Newsletter in the form in which it has developed. I am not at present quite sure what will happen next, but I hope you will give those who will now be responsible the same support which you have given me. 

Bulletin Editor – all change too!
Our Bulletin Editor, Revd Dr Andrew Pratt, has now also ‘retired’ after being, for the past twenty years, responsible for compiling and producing the Bulletin, for which we are immensely grateful. Our former Executive President, Revd Dr Janet Wootton, has now under-taken this task in which we wish her every Blessing and satisfaction. Her first Bulletin comprises part of this mailing.

New members of the Executive
At our July AGM, Nicholas Markwell necessarily stood down from the Executive, as he had completed his second consecutive term of service. We are grateful to Nicholas for his various contributions, not least for his travelling advice, invaluable to those attending Conferences. We welcome Andrew Pratt, Gillian Warson and Philip Price. Phil, a fluent German speaker, is also representing us on IAH (our sister Society in Europe) at their invitation as Michael Garland has now relinquished that role.

Whilst reflecting on IAH
Phil Price (see bottom of previous page), having attended his first two IAH meetings, reports that Professor Martin Hoondert has been elected as Vice President of IAH (Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Hymnologie). Congratulations Martin! Also (this far-sighted planning ahead), the next Hymn Societies’ International Conference, for which IAH is responsible, will take place in Graz, Austria in July/August 2028. Graz is a delightful and welcoming city.

2025 Subscription Rate increase
Subscription rates were last increased in 2021. You may recall from the AGM agenda that a modest increase in rates was proposed, prompted largely by the substantial and escalating increases in printing and, particularly, postal charges. This was endorsed at our July 2024 AGM (see the enclosed AGM Minutes). However, it has become apparent that the timing of the increase is far too tight to enable members to adjust their Banker’s Standing Orders before January, the majority of which are due then. The Officers have therefore decided to defer the increase until further notice.

Can you support The Hymn Society in other ways?
The Hymn Society has been blessed this past couple of years. Last year, in response to our appeal for contributions to our Conference Bursary Fund, around six thousand pounds was generously donated, this enables some, who would be unable otherwise, to come to Conference. Then, earlier this year, we received a bequest from our former Executive President and hymn writer, Elizabeth Cosnett which has arrived at an apposite time given our present financial strains.

Many subscriptions are renewable in January. At present, any donations some might wish to make in addition to their normal subscriptions would really be hugely appreciated. Do contact our Treasurer, Michael Garland: michaelgarland368@btinternet.com

In the longer term, if you are able, do please give consideration to remembering The Hymn Society of Gt Britain & Ireland in your Will.

Bulletin and Newsletter Online only mailings A New Year may also give some of you the opportunity to consider your preferred way of receiving Hymn Society mailings. Members still appear to like paper mailings by post, however, some now prefer to receive our Quarterly mailings via the Members’ Area of the website only. Eleven members (5 in the UK and 6 Overseas) have opted to receive their mailings in this way. It seems to be working well. If you would like to join them, please contact the Interim Secretary.

2025 Conference
Following our successful and well-received Conference this year at High Leigh Christian Conference Centre, our 2025 Conference will be taking place at the recently opened Highgate House Christian Conference Centre, Northampton, run by the same group. The dates will be Tuesday 22^nd – Friday 25^th July 2025, the cost is likely to be £395 for a three-day Conference with 7 speakers and much more besides. Fuller information should be available in the next mailing, together with the Conference Booking Form. Please reserve the date now. If the cost appears prohibitive to you, please get in touch about a Bursary Fund Grant (see above); that is what it is there for!

Congratulations to our member Malcolm Sturgess
Malcolm Sturgess, who has been a member of The Hymn Society for 22 years and until recently a familiar ‘regular’ at Conference, celebrated 80 unbroken years in church music at the beginning of October. It was in 1944 that his mother took him along to their village church to join the choir. Since then he has sung in cathedral and church choirs, conducted, played the organ, keyboard or whatever and, for the present, he is still playing the organ and accompanying worship. At the beginning of December was delivering a talk on the history of carols. Congratulations Malcolm!

We welcome new members who recently joined the Society:
Revd Dr Mina Choi (Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA)
Mr Stephen Hadley (London, UK)
Mr Stephen Short (Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, UK)

We regret having to report the deaths of members:
Revd John E. C. Bown (Canterbury, Kent)
Mr Philip Carter (Knowle, Bristol)
Mr David Iliff (Malvern, Worcestershire)
Revd Canon John W. McKegney (Portrush, County Antrim)   
Colonel Kevin Williams (St Albans, formerly Gauteng, S. AFRICA)

John Bown joined in 2007 and was most helpful ‘on the ground’ with our 2019 Canterbury Conference. Philip Carter died on 21^st September; a staunch and valued member since before 1978 and along with Pam, was well-known to Conference attendees; for many years they assiduously recorded sessions and made them available on CDs to members. David Iliff who joined in 1998, was a significant presence in Jubilate Hymns. Canon John McKegney, a former rector of St Mark’s parish church, Armagh, was also an ex-Chair of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland. Col. Kevin Williams, formerly in S. Africa, was Chancellor of the Order of St John in South Africa.

Just before Advent
Thinking of Advent reading, my eyes alighted on an unread book which had been on my shelves for ten years: The First Christmas by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan. An interesting book that takes a counter-intuitive perspective on the Christmas stories which might be unsettling to some. The reason for mentioning it here is that the last chapter is entitled Joy to the World. Several additional Christmas hymns/carols are mentioned, including: O come, all ye faithful, It came upon the midnight clear, and Hark! The herald angels sing. The concluding words, bringing the book to a close are:

Joy to the world, the Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the world – for God so loved the world.

Whatever the rest of the content of the book, few can argue with those sentiments and, it seems, Isaac Watts gets everywhere!

Interestingly
The Advent book provided for the Parish by our Vicar is Sing in Exultation: A Christmas Devotional Exploring our Favourite Carols by Jonathan Landry Cruse. A very different book, it contains reflections on 25 Carols, one for each day of December quoting a verse of each – not necessarily the first verse! But the first (for December 1^st) is: No more let sins and sorrows grow / nor thorns infest the ground… from Joy to the world!

See also the current Bulletin
containing Phil Price’s article on none other than: Joy to the world!

A postscript from Chris Idle: to whom I am indebted for many delightful ‘postscript snippets’ over the years:
‘Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water’ may not quite reach the higher categories of classic hymnody. But it features in three books noted in HymnQuest, and we were singing it happily some sixty years ago. That is, until one small girl, now in her seventies, enquired: ‘Why did the man steal the water?’ What an exemplary worshipper and a model for the whole congregation! That is, if you don’t understand what you are being required to sing, ask someone!