‘Christian Soldiers’ May Still March to the ‘Battle Hymn’
“Onward Christian Soldiers” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic” will remain in the United Methodist hymnal, the church decided today, after the panel that found the songs too militaristic was denounced as anti-American and “soft-headed.”
The response to plans to drop the hymns was so great that protest telephone calls kept officials at the church’s headquarters here from making outgoing calls for 10 days, said Carlton Young, the book’s editor.
“Our purpose is to discern where God is leading us. An integral part of seeking the mind of Christ is listening to the mind of the church,” said the Rev. Reuben Job, an Iowa bishop and chairman of the hymnal committee who called the panel’s special meeting to halt the backlash.
The committee cited the songs’ military references and recommended on May 17 that they be deleted from the songbook of the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination, which has 9.4 million members.
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