Missing GPH songbook: Songs of Light and Life (1926)

You may remember that in January 2007 we discovered a new (old) Assemblies of God hymnal that we had not seen before. It was published by Gospel Publishing House in the 1940s, but somehow disappeared from sight and mind for decades before re-emerging. It is now safely stored in the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center vault! Click here for the announcement of that exciting find.

It happened again! At least, we hope it will. A search through old issues of the Pentecostal Evangel yielded yet another GPH songbook that we do not have in our collection. We have never seen a copy of it, and we do not know of any other person, archive or library that owns a copy.

The Pentecostal Evangel, from June 19, 1926 through Aug 13, 1927, advertised a new GPH songbook — Songs of Light and Life. One advertisement, published in the June 19, 1926 issue (page 15), stated that the songbook, which contained 165 songs, was well-suited for revival services and camp meetings. The ad warned readers that they should order quickly because of the limited quantities on hand. The price? It cost twelve cents per copy; fifteen cents postpaid.

If you have a copy of Songs of Light and Life or if you know where one is located, please contact the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center at archives@ag.org.

We discovered a new [old] hymnal!

Do you know the story behind the above hymnal, Glorious Gospel Hymns, published by Gospel Publishing House?

We at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center thought we had a complete collection of all Assemblies of God hymnals ever published, so when a donor gave us a copy of Glorious Gospel Hymns last year, we did a double take. Research into old issues of the Pentecostal Evangel yielded the above advertisement (published March 9, 1946, and Feb. 15 and Aug. 30, 1947), so it was likely published in 1946.

Since we had never seen Glorious Gospel Hymns, it must not have received wide circulation. The thick, 670-page hymnal contains The Apostles’ Creed, responsive readings, and other selections not found in the other gospel songbooks produced by GPH during that time period.

This edition of Glorious Gospel Hymns was compiled and edited by Haldor Lillenas, assisted by more than five hundred pastors, evangelists, and other church workers. According to the introduction, the book was prepared because of the “need among many denominations for a hymnal having a combination of the most famous and widely used hymns and the strongest and best loved gospel songs obtainable.” Haldor Lillenas produced a hymnal by the same title in 1931 for use by the Church of the Nazarene.

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