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Hymns & Prayerful Poems by Great Women of the Church: A compilation including works by Anna Letitia Waring, Fanny Crosby, and Christina Georgina Rossetti

compiled by Kerry van der Vinne

This lovingly curated collection of hymns, written by women over the past few centuries, includes works by: Anna Letitia Waring, Christina Georgina Rossetti, Fanny Crosby, Frances Ridley Havergal, Charlotte Elliott, Anne Steele, Caroline Maria Noel, Sarah Williams, Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane, Catharina von Schlegel (translated by Jane Borthwick), Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Anne Ross Cousin, Maria Straub, Elizabeth Singer Rowe, Harriet Parr, Ada Ruth Habershon, Isabel Stevenson, Emily Huntington Miller, Katherine Hankey, Annie Sherwood Hawks, Susan Warner, Anna Bartlett Warner, Mary Ann Maitland, Elizabeth Codner, Elizabeth Prentiss, Cecil Frances Alexander, Elizabeth Scott, Cora Berford Evans, Amelia Alderson Opie, Priscilla Jane Owens, and Mary Ann Kidder.

From the introduction:

Hymns today are experiencing a resurgence. Whatever church you attend, you probably still sing – at least occasionally – hymns that were penned many generations ago. Like the perennials in our gardens, these beautiful gifts return year after year to remind us of the goodness of our God and the hope that we have.

When I read through old hymnbooks or stumble across a new-to-me prayerful poem from a bygone era, what strikes me most is a sense of spiritual kinship. The person who wrote these words belongs to my family, the family of faith in Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter where they lived or how long they have been dead. We are siblings in the household of God, and one glorious day we will worship him side by side.

The voices of women are unique and of particular value to those of us who share many of the same life experiences as these, our spiritual mothers. The beauty of the body of Christ is the fact that all of these voices – people from every tribe and nation, men and women, children and grandparents – come together in praising one common Lord. And yet there is a sense in which, when I read the hymns contained in this book, I feel that older and wiser women of the church are taking me under their wing, and imparting to me some small taste of the richness and maturity that their walks have taught to them. That is the blessing that I hope to share with you in these pages.

Available in paperback and kindle formats.