Philip Bliss’ take on Children Singing in Church

Philip Bliss (1838-1876) wrote the music to the hymn, It is Well with My Soul. He also wrote on the subject of teaching children to sing in church. In summary, he says that children need sheet music to look at in church and they need careful choir teaching that does not force the voices to sing loudly and hurt the vocal chords. He writes, “All music is sound; but all sounds are not music.”

Bliss states that children should sing with understanding. He even lists a few funny examples from his own childhood when the words to a hymn made no sense to him at all. He reminds us that milk is for babes and meat is for adults so not to expect children to appreciate the best kind of music. Instead he suggests this:

Make the difference apparent; strive to lead them to a higher musical taste and nobler spiritual enjoyments, but do let the children sing of birds as well as of burdens; of beauty as well as of duty; of earth pleasures as well as of heavenly treasures; of temporal employments as well as of spiritual enjoyments. Let song develop feeling, while it never fails to direct and purify the affections.”

Bliss explains that even everyday songs even like the ABC’s can be turned into a spiritual lesson for children. He also says that singing is not to be interrupted with talking and other disturbances anymore more than one would interrupt a brother in prayer. Bliss cautions vocal directors to ask for children to sing loudly because “noise is not always power.” He elaborates on this point:

Besides, more voices are injured by forced, screamy sounds than, perhaps, by all other evil means combined. “Like pastor, like people;” so, like chorister, like choir. If the leader be careless in style, intonation pronunciation, etc., those led will very likely be even more so. “Good singing” means, first, sweet, pleasant tones, true intonation, distinct articulation, etc. Earnestness, vigor, life, spirit, etc., come afterwards, and depend upon the first.

Bliss says that like with morals, imitating correct singing is the best way to learn correct singing. Bliss suggests that a Sunday School meet once a week say on a Thursday or Friday evening to practice their songs. About this suggestion he says,

Usually young people are glad enough to be called together; and cannot a “singing meeting” be made interesting and profitable? Engage some earnest lady or gentleman leader at a fair salary; if convenient, have a piano or organ to accompany; invite the choir of the church to assist, and singing meetings will “pay.”

Lastly, Bliss discusses the need for carefulness in song selection to match the message being taught, and emphasizes the great need for sincerity in our singing. He states,

What else can we expect when children see the church members turning leaves or idly gazing about the room while singing “Nearer, my God, to Thee,” or witness a solo or quartet display the words, “Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” to the tune “When the Swallows Homeward Fly?”

Apparently, these many concerns which Philip Bliss addressed way back in 1877 are not new to the 21st century! Today, we still lack sheet music for our congregation and children to learn from, we fail to teach the meaning of the prose we sing (no wonder hymns are meaningless to many today), and we ask children to shout loudly their songs as if that is more meaningful, impressive or powerful. Furthermore, many churches are careless in matching the songs sung with the message delivered. Many fail to meet the temporal needs of qualified musicians who are willing to give of their time and expertise to pass on years of professional training. And, many churches today sing praise words to God with music that the unchurched world would identify as a self-indulging party rather than paying respects to the God of the Universe. 

So, what will the 21st century churches do about it? Will we teach and encourage ”God’s own bright birds of paradise” (as Philip Bliss puts it) to sing in church and Sunday School in a beautiful way, and not in a shouting way which will do more harm than good? Will we hire a qualified staff member for this professional responsibility of teaching children music? Will qualified music directors teach meaning in the prose? Will they instead resort to songs that say things in the most plain, unbeautiful way possible, or will they slowly elevate the congregation’s musical expectations who are still babes feeding on milk?

(All quotes are from: Memoirs of Philip P. Bliss edited by D.W. Whittle. New York: A.S. Barnes & Company, c1877. p. 221-224. You can read the entire article by Philip Bliss online here.)