Back in 1987, a hymn book supplement brought a breath of fresh air into church music. This new book introduced songs from around the world in a range of musical styles, beyond anything seen in The Hymn Book, ©1971 (a joint publication of the Anglican and United Churches of Canada, aka The Red Book). It included hymns set to folk and contemporary tunes, familiar traditional hymns with reworked texts that still honoured the intent and language of the original author, and used more inclusive language. That book was “Songs for a Gospel People,” and it would not have been possible if it had not been for one man who agreed to take on the role of editor. That man was Gerald Hobbs. Many of you will be familiar with this name, while others will be surprised to learn that he lives in Kelowna and is married to our bishop, Lynne McNaughton.
R. (Robert) Gerald Hobbs was born into a clergy family in Dundalk, Ontario in 1941 and was raised listening to and playing hymns in the American gospel tradition by the tender age of twelve. In his late teens, he fell in love with classical music, leading him to study the organ. As he continued with his musical pursuits Hobbs went on to become a United Church minister in 1966, earned his PhD in History at the University of Strasbourg, France in 1971, and became an internationally acclaimed specialist on the Bible in the Reformation Era. He has written many scholarly publications, has taught courses all over the world, has been a lecturer at Huntingdon College in Sudbury and the University of Geneva in Switzerland, and guest faculty member at the University of Strasbourg. However, it wasn’t until Hobbs came to BC, where he accepted a teaching position at the Vancouver School of Theology and took on the position of organist/Minister of Music of University Hill United Church that his career took him on an unexpected journey of a lifetime. During his 31 years at VST (1977-2008), Hobbs taught courses in psalms, hymnody, church history, history of spirituality, and music; but in 1981 when he wrote a working paper pointing out the serious flaws of the 1971 Red Book, he could not have imagined it would resurface three years later to become the catalyst that led to the creation of “Songs for a Gospel People.”
Fast forward to 1983 when the 6th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) was held in Vancouver: Hobbs had not intended to be involved due to other commitments, but on opening day the already overstretched worship committee sent representatives to his house to enlist his help. As per the request of then Primate, Archbishop Ted Scott and WCC General Secretary, Philip Potte, Hobbs was given the responsibility of accompanying hymns on a daily basis for delegates to sing as they made their way from the 1000+ person worship tent to the large campus hall for afternoon sessions. It was because of this that he came to be acquainted with or friends of many of the well-known writers whose hymns are found in “Songs for a Gospel People.” However, his most cherished memory was when he played the organ for a special WCC service and Bishop Desmond Tutu came all the way from South Africa to make a surprise appearance. Apparently, the congregation erupted and burst into the singing of Jester Hairston’s famous song, “Amen” (as featured in the film “Lilies of the Field”). Hobbs quickly jumped in to accompany it, thankful for his gospel roots, which allowed him to find the right key quickly and give it the flavour befitting its style.
Following the WCC Assembly, Hobbs took a sabbatical in France, returning to Canada a year later to learn that his 1981 paper on the Red Book had been sent to United Church of Canada’s National Worship Committee in the hopes of persuading them to produce a new hymn book. The proposal was rejected for the reason of being too costly and saying that the church was not ready for a new one since The Red Book was only 10 years old. Instead, they suggested that the BC Conference put together a supplementary hymn book. Ralph Milton, co-founder of Wood Lake Books had previously approached Hobbs at the WCC Assembly because he believed Hobbs was the only person able to create such a book due to his many musical connections, but Hobbs did not take him seriously at the time. One year later, however, Milton approached him again on behalf of the BC Conference, suggesting that Hobbs be the book’s editor, that Darryl Nixon (whom Hobbs knew from his days in Geneva) be the music editor, and that Wood Lake Books publish it. The only hitch was that Wood Lake Books was in financial straits and needed money to get the project going, so Milton came up with the idea to offer the book to congregations at 1/3 off the retail price if they were willing to pay in advance. This reduced the cost to only $3.35 per copy. The sales pitch worked so well that by the time “Songs for a Gospel People” was ready to print, Wood Lake Books had cash in hand for 85,000 copies. Then, by the time it was published another 100,000 copies were sold. Following that, the top sales recorded were around 350,000 copies. Although it is no longer in print the book is still widely available for resale via online.
Some fun facts about SGP: It was the first hymn book ever to be created on a computer and it was only supposed to have 133 hymns, but one more was added at the last minute. It was Gordon Light’s popular “She Flies On,” which is now sung all over the world and has been translated into French, German, Spanish, and Swedish.
Since the creation of “Songs for a Gospel People” Hobbs has served as a member of the hymnal committee for Voices United (1996), a consultant to the committee for the Presbyterian Book of Praise (1997), and he continues to be encouraged by the new hymnbooks that draw upon many traditions. With his countless achievements and connections to the Who’s Who of church music Gerald Hobbs remains a humble man, and when reflecting on his career he said this:
“It has been my great fortune to have met so many influential people that have shaped the music of the church and to have lived in this era in which we have become so much broader in our understanding of what the church needs.”
