4 March 2008
Doctrinal Music for Children
Posted by Michelle under: Communication and Meaning; Salvation; .
When I asked about hymns to teach salvation truths, I had forgotten about a few places who have the same idea I do.
Sovereign Grace produced a children’s CD designed to teach doctrine in simple words. The doctrine is sound, although the poetry is not excellent, and the music style is contemporary. Personally, I believe children’s music for this purpose should have a simple accompaniment, regardless of one’s views on music styles (they do state that the CD is for children ages 7 and up). I appreciate that they make the lyrics available for evaluation: click here for the words to each song for free. You can also preview the music by clicking on the first link.
Kids4Truth asked Dan Forrest and Eileen Berry to team up to write doctrinally rich music in a traditional style. I hope I’m not merely biased, but I think the poetry and music is excellent. The accompaniment is piano, which I think makes the words easier to understand, especially for very young children. You can download six of the twelve songs . The other six have not been produced yet, although you can purchase a song book with all twelve songs in it).
You can purchase the lyrics as Powerpoint slides (a dollar for each song) or in the songbook (18.95).
The AWANA music that Shelley and Gina mentioned is here, but I could not find words or music samples. I love the concept of Scripture songs, so it might be worth investigating.
I’m still looking for hymns. One of the challenges in presenting salvation through song is the absence of hymns addressing sin. Another challenge is the presence of confusing metaphors (such as “ask Jesus into my heart”) or syntax. The question format in “Alas and Did My Savior Bleed” keeps it from being my favorite for instructional purposes (although the poetry is very fine and I still haven’t decided). I’ve been reading all the cross songs, and I think “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” is the best. The syntax and vocabulary is surprisingly understandable for so old a song. I suspect that’s why it has endured through the centuries. It will still need some teaching, but I think it will work. I think we’ll start with “Holy, Holy, Holy.” My children know the first verse only, so learning the rest of the verses will be fun for them. After that, we’ll work on the “O Sacred Head.” Ask me in a few months how we are doing. 
On a personal note, I’ll be traveling to see my mom and dad this week and next. Lee has a conference in Hawaii, and it was too expensive for us all to go. Some of you might not know that my dad has idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, so I want to take the time to visit when I can. I’ve been trying to work ahead, but my posting might be less frequent. We’ll see.
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2 Comments so far...
Addy Says:
5 March 2008 at 12:55 pm.
Oh boy! If you’re biased toward the K4T songs, then I’m REALLY biased! I truly do love the Kids4Truth songbook. And the songs aren’t so “kiddie” that they aren’t appropriate for adults. In fact, I think some of them would make great congregational hymns! (And, actually, I’ve sung one of the songs as a solo in a worship service…) I don’t think this songbook has caught on well yet, but I think it’s a must-have!
There! Commercial done!
Michelle Says:
6 March 2008 at 10:15 am.
Addy, you’re allowed to be biased. Do you know when they’ll be recording the last six songs?
