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Hymn History | Mansion over the Hilltop

1/28/2018

This song was written in 1949 by Ira F. Stanphill. He was born on February 14, 1914. He was a very gifted musician. By the age of 10 he was playing the piano, organ, ukulele, and the accordion. He was singing and composing by the time he reached 17. He participated in revival crusades, prayer meetings, and tent campaigns. He graduated from the Junior College in Chillicothe, Missouri, and later was made an honorary Ph.D. from Hyles-Anderson College in Indiana. He preached and sung all over America and 40 other countries. He was inducted into the GMA Hall of Fame in 1981 and published his autobiography, This Side of Heaven, in 1983. He wrote over 550 gospel songs throughout his life. Rev. Stanphill departed this world on December 30, 1993 and is buried in Johnson County Chapel and Memorial Gardens in Overland Park, Johnson County, Kansas.

A story told by evangelist Bro. Gene Martin, who was preaching at Bethel Temple Assembly of God Church in Oak Cliff, Texas. Inspired the Pastor, Rev. Albert Ott to make the suggestion to Bro. Stanphill to write a song about the mansion that waits for us over there in heaven and he immediately wrote the lyrics and sang the song that very night. Unfortunately, Bro. Gene Martin was not present that night this favorite hymn was born.

This is the way his story was told. One day a wealthy man facing bankruptcy took a drive through the rural part of the country. As he passed one particular house it caught his attention. It was needing a paint job and repairs of all kinds. The broken window glasses were replaced with oil paper. Many shingles as well as part of the roof were missing which made him wonder how the house was even still standing. A young girl about the age of 8 or 9 and poorly dressed was playing in the front yard. The man was compelled to stop and talk to the young girl. In their conversation, he mentioned how sorry he was that she lived in such a poor surrounding. The little girl excitedly asked him, "Why haven't you heard? My daddy just inherited a fortune and he's building us a mansion just over that hill over there. Don't know when it will be done, but I won't have to live in this house forever.

Thank you to guest blogger, Sylvia Clemons for today's post.

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ANOTHER Study Demonstrates the Benefits of Joining a Choir

1/24/2018

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"Want to age better? Join a choir!" Thus begins the nextavenue article by Deborah Quilter reviewing yet another study that details the benefits of joining a choir. Praise Hymn Fashion is honored to work with choirs from all over the nation and sees first hand the vitality and encouragement participation in a choir can deliver.

The study of 390 participants from 12 senior centers measured:

Cognitive function Attention and executive function were tested.
Lower body strength Participants were given a timed sit-to-stand test to assess their ability.
Emotional well-being Participants were rated on the frequency of depressive symptoms including feeling down, having little interest in things, trouble sleeping, being tired, having poor appetite, feeling bad about themselves, having trouble concentrating or moving slowly.

One key finding from the study is that participants felt that choir participation gave them increased self-efficacy. This outcome is an important quality for many seniors to have to be able to make decisions as they age.

After reading the article, go join a choir, lift your voice, and live a life with better quality and longevity.

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Ensuring Proper Fit for Your Group

1/19/2018

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Once you have chosen your style, the next step is fittings. Praise Hymn Fashions will ship you one of every size, (XS to 5X) of your style. This will allow every member of your group to try on the garment so that they will know the size that will work best for them.

One of our customers was able to fit 90 ladies in about 30 minutes by getting organized. Here are a few tips that may work for your group as well:

Find a place to create “Dressing Rooms” where the ladies will feel comfortable trying on the garments. Privacy is very important.
It may work best to have each style in separate dressing rooms or specific sizes of all styles in each dressing room.
Suggest that they take several sizes into the dressing room. This will keep them from needing to redress to get another size. It may also help to have several “runners” to gather another size for members.
Have a record keeper to record the name and size of each style for all members of the group.
A great time saving tip would be to enter the information into an Excel spreadsheet. This will allow you to let the program do the calculating for you.

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Hymn History | Victory in Jesus

1/14/2018

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Eugene Monroe Bartlett, Sr. is considered one of the founding fathers of Southern Gospel Music. He was born on Christmas Eve in 1885 near Waynesville, Missouri. Bartlett relocated to Sebastian County, Arkansas with his parents. Bartlett dedicated his life to Jesus at an early age. Bartlett attended the Hall-Moody Institute in Martin, Tennessee, and William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri.   Bartlett lived in the south and enjoyed a reputation as a fine music teacher. Based in Arkansas, he traveled the entire southern portion of the country holding singing schools for anyone interested. These and similar schools trained aspiring musicians in vocal technique, sight reading, and conducting and were influential in the development of church music as a whole for much of the remainder of the century.

Eugene M. Bartlett, Sr. meet and married Joan Tatum in 1917. They were parents to two sons, Gene Bartlett, Jr., a nationally known writer of contemporary church music and Charles Bartlett Minister of Music in a large Texas church.

Eugene M. Bartlett, Sr. was a very successful business man, and decided to invest his money in which he founded the Hartford Music Company in Hartford, Arkansas sometime in 1918. Within the first year of business he sold more than 15, 000 copies of his hymnbook. Many writers, singers and musicians received their first opportunity in gospel music at Hartford Music Company including Albert E. Brumley who wrote "I'll Fly Away" and "Turn Your Radio On." Bartlett's mission was to publish hymns and teach singers to sight read. He hired instructors to teach voice, piano, piano tuning, rudiments, harmony and stringed instruments. He also was editor of the music magazine, Herald of Song. His son Eugene, Jr. was also a hymnist and composer. When he was not instructing, Bartlett was an avid composer of hymns and gospel songs.

Though almost all of his songs have sunk into oblivion among the Christian body today, "Victory In Jesus" remains one of the most popular and widely known songs of the church.   In 1939, a stroke rendered Bartlett partially paralyzed and unable to perform or travel. He spent the last two years of his life bedridden. Amid such bleak circumstances, he wrote his final and most beloved song, “Victory in Jesus,” an optimistic number that has been sung by millions in worship services and recorded by gospel’s biggest names. The three verses and refrain enthusiastically tell of one's own personal salvation experience from beginning to end. It's said that Bartlett missed traveling and teaching, but he could still study the Bible, a study from which he gave us this wonderful song during a time when much of the earth sat on the brink of World War II. The song first appeared that year in "Gospel Choruses," a paperback songbook published by James Vaughan in Lawrenceburg, Tenn.

Only two years after his stroke, Bartlett died January 25, 1941. He is buried at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Siloam Springs in Benton County. Throughout his 56 years of his life, Bartlett composed more than 800 songs. Since the early 1960s, "Victory in Jesus" has become popular among evangelical congregations, Quartets, and many hymnals have included it within their published pages.  Bartlett was inducted into the Gospel Music Association’s Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1973.

Praise Hymn Fashions thanks guest blogger Sylvia M. Clemons for today's post and encourages you to follow her blog.

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The Uniform Effect

1/12/2018

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With new uniforms, most groups will grow. This is called the “uniform effect” and numerous studies have indicated that groups who wear uniforms while performing attract new membership. This is the reason many volunteer events will offer T-shirts to attract followers.

As your group grows, you will need to order your apparel for the new members. It works well if members of your group can bring their outfits to let new members try them on for placing reorders. However, when reordering, you may see a slight variation in color. Praise Hymn Fashions works hard to keep the dye lots as close as possible.

This blog post is an excerpt from our "Building Your Look" eBook. If you have not downloaded your copy, you may do so for free on our eBook page.

"Building Your Look" eBook

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Hymn History | Mansion over the Hilltop

ANOTHER Study Demonstrates the Benefits of Joining a Choir

Ensuring Proper Fit for Your Group

Hymn History | Victory in Jesus

The Uniform Effect

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