Last Saturday, March 28, William J. Reynolds died. He was a church musician, composer, arranger, editor, hymnologist and distinguished professor emeritus of church music at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.As a theology student at Southwestern, I was required to take one class in the music school. It was titled, "Introduction to Church Music." Students registered for classes each semester according to how close they were to graduation. I waited until my last semester of my four years in seminary to take the music class because I finally had enough seniority to get into Dr. Reynolds' classroom.
I remember well the first day of class. Dr. Reynolds walked in after we had all arrived. Most of us were theology students who were preparing to be pastors and we were all taking our one required music class. Dr. Reynolds made his way to a piano in the back of the rooom and told us to turn around and stand up. He said, "Boys, we're gonna' sing." We moved gracefully from one great hymn of the faith to another, telling the story of hymns as he went. I was blessed by William J. Reynolds.
Among Reynolds' hundreds of compositions and arrangements, most Southern Baptists would be familiar with "Share His Love" and "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus." He wrote "Share His Love" with these simple, powerful words:
Share His love by telling what the Lord has done for you
Share His love by sharing of your faith
and show the world that Jesus Christ is real to you
every moment, every day!
I love that song, Chad. Thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDelete"I Have Decided To Follow Jesus" was was being sung when I decided to become a Christian. It will always hold a special place in my heart. I never knew who wrote it. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteStacie Smith