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INTRODUCTION The following sketches were written in the fall of 2000 and spring of 2001 for the Redeemer Lutheran Church Ladies’ Group, Sister Lakes, Michigan. They are compiled here in one booklet for ease of reading and study. Thanks be to God for the poetry brought to our worship through the hymn-writers presented here! Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:16 WOMEN IN HYMNODY ANNE ST EELE (1717-1778) the w hol e Chr i s t i an Church. Although she seemed to show an interest in literature at a v er y early age, up to this point Anne had not written anything beyond s imple Introduction poems for her friends. At the l oss of her beloved, however, it seems as though her heart opened up and she began pouring out her sorrows, prayers, praises, and thanksgivings to God on paper. After Elscourt S ome forty years prior to the American Revolution, the died, she w r ot e t he f ollowing ver s es : hymns of Anne S teel e were being written. S he r epr es ent s one of the first women to compose original hymn texts in W Father, whate’er of earthly bliss Give me a cal m and t hank f ul heart, the E nglish language. T hy sovereign will denies, From every murmur free; O Accept ed at T hy throne, let this T he bl essing of T hy grace i mpar t , Biographical Highlights My humble pr ay er , arise: And mak e me live t o T hee. M Anne S t eel e w as born in Broughton, Hampshire, England Let the s w eet hope t hat T hou art mine E in the year 1717. Her father, William S teel e, worked i n My life and deat h attend, the timber industry but was also a par t time l ay minister N T hy presence t hr ough my journey shine, in the B apt i s t Church (where he s er ved w i t hout pay). And cr ow n my journey’s end. From early on, the L or d s aw fit to send t r i al s into Anne’s I As the years went on the out put of hymns and poet r y continued t o life. In 1720, her mother passed aw ay at the age of 36. N grow. Finally in 1757, twenty years after the deat h of Elscourt, From that time on, Anne was raised by her stepmother. preparations were made to have her work published. Her father had T welve years later (1732) she was baptized, but shortly been encouraging her for a long time to publish her writing and he thereafter in 1736 more tragedy struck. She f ell off a H noted happily in his diary dated November 29, 1757 that “T his day horse and badly injured her hip, making her an invalid the Nanny sent a part of her composition to London to be printed. I entrust Y rest of her life. a gracious God, who enabled and s t i rred her up t o s uch a w or k , to M direct in it, and bl ess it for the good and comf or t of many!” T he final blow, however, came i n 1737. She w as engaged to be married to a man named Elscourt. The N Her work indeed s er ved f or the good and comf or t of many. In 1760, preparations were made for the weddi ng. T he gues t s had Poems on S ubjects Chiefly Devotional was made available under the begun to arrive and al l were aw ai t i ng the arrival of the O pen name T heodosia. By the t i me of its third pr i nt i ng i t contained 144 groom. Instead, a messenger came and i nf or med hymns, 34 metrical Psalms, and 30 short poems. Not surprisingly, everyone that Elscourt had drowned that morning w hile D much of her poetry dealt with the topics of death, earthly suffering, swimming in the Avon River. S he had l os t her fiancé j us t and et er nal life i n Chris t. Y hours before they were to be married. Anne w as never engaged agai n. In 1769 William S teel e passed aw ay. T hat same year , the B r i s t ol Hymn-book of Ash and Evans (an early Baptist hymnal) included some of Anne’s hymns for the first time. Following that publication, her T he H y mns Begin work became w ell known throughout England. S ome have been in Anne’s situation and become angr y with God for allowing s uch things to happen. Yet the Lord was using these trials to strengthen her trust in Him and t o prepare her for the gr eat service s he w oul d do f or In 1808 her hymns were published in the United S tates for the first (or in what form) Christ’s body and blood i s together with the br ead time and have enjoyed popularity to this day. In 1908 one cr i t i c s ai d, and wine in communion, but that is what God’s Word s ays we ar e “Among Baptist hymn-writers Miss S teele s t ands at the head, if we receiving. regard either the number of her hymns which have found a place in the hymnals of the last 120 years, or the frequency with which they have Although the Baptists have these difficulties, they do confess and trust been sung . they are al mos t uniformly simple i n language, natural in Christ as their S avior from sin. T hey are a Chr i s t i an church and and pl eas i ng i n imagery, and f ull of general Christian feeling.” there is every indication that Anne S t eel e t oo believed on the L or d Jesus Christ and w as saved! Anne S teel e died on November 11, 1778 (age 61) and w as buried i n the same village where she had been born. It is reported t hat her last T o our Redeemer ’s glorious name Aw ak e t he s acr ed s ong. words were “I know that my Redeemer lives.” On her tombstone are Oh, may His love i mmortal flame, T une ev’r y heart and t ongue! these w or ds : Dear Lord, while w e ador i ng pay Our humble t hank s to T hee, “S ilent the l yr e, and dumb t he t unef ul tongue, May every heart with rapture s ay, “T he S avi or died f or me!” T hat sung on earth her great Redeemer ’s praise; But now in heaven s he j oi ns the angelic s ong, In more har moni ous , more ex al t ed l ays . ” In the Lutheran Hymnal Anne S teel e’s work is represented by the following: 141. Enslaved by S in and B ound i n Chains 281. T he S avi or Calls; Let Every Ear 284. Father of Mercies, in T hy Word 363. T o Our Redeemer ’s Glorious Name 579. Almighty Lord, Before T hy T hrone Religious Views Miss S teel e was born and raised Baptist. In general, this church does For Further T hought not follow S criptural teaching on Baptism and the Lord’s S upper . You may have not i ced t hat Anne w as not baptized until she was 15. T he Read Deuteronomy 8:11-20. What does v16 say about the reason church holds that children must reach a certain age before they are to God allowed har ds hi p t o come t o the I s r aelites? be baptized. T his reflects a mi s under s t andi ng of what baptism really is. T he B i bl e calls it a “ w as hi ng of regeneration and r enew i ng of the What tests does the L or d allow into your own life? How have Holy Ghost” (T it 3:5). T hrough baptis m, God gi ves forgiveness of sins they made you stronger? Have t hey driven you toward H i s Word? which is for everyone. T hat is why Jesus told H i s disciples to baptiz e “all nations.” Baptism is something that God gi ves to us , not a l aw What do Acts 2:38-39 and 1 Peter 3:21 say about the power of that we must fulfill for God. With the L or d’s Supper , the B apt i s t s Baptism? generally understand the bread and wine to be only symbols of Christ’s body and blood. Yet Jesus said ver y clearly, “T ake eat . this is my body . T ake drink . this is my blood. ” We don’t understand how was the fact that she might not be able to get an education like FRANCES JANE other children.