THE HYMN BOOK OF ZION CHAPEL, MORLEY
To write a review of the hymn book of a now-defunct chapel in a small West Yorkshire town called Morley must seem rather strange.
I am someone who collects hymn books for my itinerant ministry. One of the churches I went to at one time was Zion Independent Chapel in Morley.
This church was Independent in the sense that Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s father & grandfather and John Owen were Independents, i.e. congregational in worship and church government. I was always grateful for the opportunity to lead the worship and preach to the small ageing congregation even though we differed on baptism and church government.
They very kindly loaned me a copy of their hymn book for service preparation and personal devotional use. I have found it ideal for both purposes. Through one of the darkest periods of my life it was a great help to me. How I had wished it was more widely available. And now it is, but more about that later.
Some hymn books can be very general and run-of-the-mill in their organisation and selection of the hymns. Some are quite limited in the number of hymns included. Others can be quite restricted by the theology of the hymn writers used. There can be quite a difference as well between the doctrinal and experiential content; some being more doctrinal than experiential. A good hymn book needs a good balance between the two, otherwise the danger is that we will have much head knowledge but little awareness of heart knowledge in our worship.
Grace Hymns was the hymn book of the church which I pastored for three and a half years. In the preface are these words: ‘It has been said that the theology of a church is shaped by the hymns it sings.’ I agree with this statement. That is also true of the hymn book that Zion Chapel used which was unique to them. The impossibility of getting something called the Leeds Selection and dissatisfaction with the layout of Dr Watt’s Psalms and Hymns led them to produce a book which I think most believers would gain some spiritual advantage from using devotionally and I think most competent musicians would be able to find suitable tunes for the hymns. It was designed for both public worship and private devotional use. Among those who helped in some way to produce it were C.H. Spurgeon, Mrs Pennefather, E.R. Conder, and the representatives of Horatius Bonar.
A hymn book with 1,445 hymns and doxologies is somewhat rare these days. But what a range of hymns and their authors. I particularly liked the closing paragraph of it’s Preface : ‘The heartfelt prayer of all who have been interested in the production of this collection of Psalms and Hymns is, and has been, that the blessing of a Triune Jehovah – Father, Son, and Holy Ghost – may attend its use; so that the perusal or singing of the precious lines may prove instructive, edifying, and profitable to the reader or worshipper, and redound to the honour and glory of the God of all Grace.’ In this book you will find hymns that you have never come across before. That was certainly my own experience. Wonderful hymns that encourage, challenge and humble the soul!
Before the last few members of Zion Chapel went to be with the Lord a large batch of newly printed hymn books was produced. These are now in the possession of Pastor Chuck Pietrowski, who is a member of The Yorkshire Reformed Ministers Fellowship. If you would like one or more then please contact him :
7 Harlow Terrace, Harrogate, HG2 0PN
Email : chuck@bereanbaptistmission.net
Mobile: 07788241588
Can I suggest a donation of £10 per copy to further the work of his church would be a good idea? I suggest you read it devotionally and it will be a great blessing to you in your daily life. I have my copy ready for use in 2022.
