Methodists embody and experience their theology through singing the faith.

The Wesleyan tradition was born in song and early Methodist people found their true identity as the children of God through singing. From the beginning, the hymns of Charles Wesley, in particular, shaped their self-understanding and faith practice. This lyrical heritage was not rooted in the simple joy of song; rather, the leaders of the nascent revival recognized the potency of congregational singing as a legitimate medium of theology. The Wesleys understood, as an ancient writer once observed, that to sing is to pray twice; and as an African proverb maintains: "If you can talk you can sing." The singing of Christians is both prayer to God and speech about God. Hymns function both as a communal confession of faith and a common catechism for the faith. This book explores the role of sacred song in the development of the Methodist doctrinal heritage from the hymnody of the Wesleys to the sung theology of contemporary global Methodists. It shows primary axial themes of Methodist hymn writers who created a substantial corpus of lyrical material; and offers an historical approach, which includes global voices. Chilcote offers readers a path to better understand the deep connections between theology and what they sing, as they learn about the wide range of hymn and sacred song traditions within the Methodist family.

This volume also expands recent pioneering work in the sub-discipline of "lyrical theology" by exploring the role of sacred song in the development of the Methodist doctrinal heritage. Beginning with the hymns of Charles and John Wesley, each chapter explores the primary themes of Methodist hymn writers, who created a substantial corpus of lyrical material in the Wesleyan spirit in their own right. Topics include the gospel hymn tradition of Fanny Crosby and her other Methodist contemporaries; Charles A. Tindley and the black music heritage; as well as the more contemporary expressions of sung theology in the work of Fred Pratt Green, Natalie Allyn Sleeth, and Dan Damon. Given the fact that individual hymns have shaped generations of Methodist singers, attention is paid to how the singular hymns of Mary Lathbury, Frank Mason North, and Georgia Harkness, effectively communicated a concern for biblical Christianity, the Social Gospel, and evangelical liberalism, respectively, at the beginning of the twentieth century. Likewise, new global voices, namely, those of song writers such as Federico Pagura, I-to Lo, Patrick Matsikenyiri, and Simei Monteiro reflect the current emphasis on justice, joy, and journey among Methodists today.

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