Lexicographer’s Final Notes

So our journey has now concluded. (OK my journey has concluded — I realize the PH has approximately two readers, one of them me.) This has by no means been a thorough or complete breakdown of the entire hymnal, but it is fairly exhaustive (also exhausting, but hopefully in a positive way).

The reason I have “left out” some of the hymns is because we never sang them. As in, we never ever sang them, or if we did, it was a brief experiment by an overly-ambitious song leader that never ended well.

The hymns I have reproduced and examined here are the ones that we sang, week to week, and depending how religious the household was, day to day. When I started this project, it was with a little bit of snarky “Kilroy was here!” and a touch of maybe, yes, that dreaded b-word. Better that it should be presented in the open, then left to fester. Yes? Yes.

So if I’ve left out your “favourite” hymn, or you think I’ve missed out on excoriating a particularly appropriate hymn, let me know, at purplehymnal@gmail.com.

It has been a long, strange, interesting, sometimes exhausting journey. But I would not have traded the past few months, for anything in the world. I may not have cleared every last one of the cobwebs of religion out, but I think I made an admirable effort towards getting most of them.

I hope that the information that I have presented here will be helpful to someone else, somewhere along the way, on their journey out of the church. When it is needed it will be here.

Now if you will excuse me, I am going to get out of the house, and enjoy the remainder of the day. And the rest of my life.

Alphabetical Hymn Index

ALPHABETICAL HYMN INDEX

The Closing Pages

The remaining three hymns in the purple hymnal are America the Beautiful (to this day, we are probably still the only Canadians who can sing all four verses of it), Onward Christian Soldiers, and Battle Hymn of the Republic. Standard Christian staples, the first one neatly slotted itself into the British-Israelite beliefs of the WCG, and the latter two fit quite contiguously with the apocalyptic theme the church’s entire theology was based on.

God Speaks To Us

Again, your humble administrator must accede, the clearly superior version of this hymn exists over at the Graveyard Church of God’s Seventh Trumpet site. 

Glorious Things Of Thee Are Spoken

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS HYMN IS INCLUDED HERE FOR PURELY HISTORICAL REFERENCE PURPOSES.

The PurpleHymnal site administrator does NOT endorse any of the sentiments expressed in this hymn, and actively condemns the negative effects, the racism and the prejudice that this hymn fomented amongst and by members of the Worldwide Church of God, between 1974 and 1996.

If I Have Not Charity

This was actually a popular hymn, even given its content, and the context it was drawn from. I suspect that the ministry used this hymn as a means of crowd-control, whenever the gossip started getting out of hand. 

Not Many Wise Men Now Are Called

I prefer the version of this hymn over at the Graveyard Church of God, “Not Many Live Men Now Are Called”. 

Go Ye Therefore Into All the World

There is an interesting story behind this hymn. For twenty years it languished, almost never sang, in the usual congregations. Even now, this is definitely not one of the stronger hymns, whose words and melody come back almost unbidden (and sometimes unwillingly).

This hymn provides a clear demarcation line of the church, pre- and post-changes.

Behold The Day Will Come

Having run out of Psalms, Dwight Armstrong decided to visit Zechariah 14 and provide the purple hymnal with a song inspired by that chapter. It was another Feast favourite, mentioning both the Feast of Tabernacles, and Armageddon.

Blow The Horn Let Zion Hear

This particular hymn is universally reviled by ex-Worldwiders. Given both the melody and the lyrics, it’s easy to understand why. A clearer picture of the apocalypse and armageddon that we expected in our lifetimes, is nowhere to be found.

Thee Will I Love O Lord

Xenophobia, elitism, and a judaic god returning to rescue its “chosen ones”: This hymn pictures a returning kingdom you definitely would not want to be on the wrong side of.

I Will Sing To The Eternal

In many Worldwide households the only time television was allowed, during the secular Easter and Christmas seasons, was when either The Ten Commandments or The Sound of Music was on. Above and beyond the broadcast of The World Tomorrow, and the nightly news, that is.

You can’t get much more old testament than this one.

Hallelujah Praise God

The lyrics sound spritely and uplifting. The melody itself is a ponderous dirge. 

Praise Ye The Lord

Another Feast double-pager. 

Lord Teach Me That I May Know

Double-pager Feast hymn. Usually reserved for the Feast of Trumpets or Pentecost.