HIMknowledgey Ministry - Revive Us Again

History of American Hymns A Labor of Love
Johnson City Man's 888-page Book Sets Music's Story Against the Nation's
by Valerie Zehl, Press & Sun-Bulletin

Some people search all their days to discover their life's work. Douglas Alvin Snow of Johnson City has spent 25 years researching American gospel hymnody. He has compiled it into a book, Revive Us Again.

Douglas Alvin Snow of Johnson City not only found his, but in a mighty task that took him the better part of three decades, he accomplished it. It's a massive volume called Revive Us Again. As researcher and compiler for the "chronological anthology of American gospel hymnody," Snow, who is 64 and retired, has every fact and number memorized and is only too glad to share them. Revive Us Again presents 366 hymns created by 350 individuals in the years between 1150 and 1927. Its 888 pages offer pictures of 548 of the hymns' writers, composers, translators and arrangers. All that, he states a bit breathlessly, has never been delivered in one book before.

At 5-plus pounds, Revive Us Again isn't a likely songbook for the average choir member. But it's far more than a hymnal. Every song has a story, and indexes cross-reference every which way, making every hymn and every individual in the book easily accessible. A 38-page outline juxtaposes the history of American hymnody against the sequence of people and events important to the founding and growth of the country.

Snow gives more than a passing nod to the local connection, which he came to appreciate fully in a 1979 meeting with Al Smith, a revered hymn writer, at Smith's "Melody Manor" home in Montrose, Pa. At that time, Snow intended to write a biography of Smith. But Smith pointed him instead toward seven famous regional hymn writers, opening the door to what would become Revive Us Again.

Snow had been noticing that rock music, which he hated, was bumping old-fashioned gospel songs out of many churches. He wanted to help reverse that trend and renew interest in yesteryear's hymns. Over and over, the hymns' histories demonstrate an uncanny synchronicity in bringing together poets and composers who created America's best-loved hymns, Snow says, and no less synchronicity was at work in the creation of this book.

Snow and his wife, Eileen, are members of Johnson City's Open Bible Baptist Church, and the Rev. Ben Graham is their pastor. Graham's father, the Rev. Ken Graham, visited his son's congregation one day in 2002, and so began the elder Graham's friendship with Snow. Snow shared his already-encyclopedic knowledge of hymn history at that time.

As president of Blessed Hope Publications of Benton, Ark., the elder Graham ultimately published Revive Us Again. "At a time when too many churches are neglecting the use of hymns, Doug has poured years of research into this tremendous work covering so many great hymns," Ken Graham writes in the book's foreword. His son echoes his enthusiasm. "As you study American history, you see the great heritage we have," Ben Graham says. "A lot of hymns represent (times) when folks went through great tragedies but kept their faith."

That's one reason Barbara Scott of Apalachin loves the old hymns. As soon as she received her copy of the book, Scott, 79, started plinking her way through it on her piano. The first day, she made it to page 106. "Now I'm almost done," she says.

Snow was long on research but short on the technological skills that would bring his manuscript into publication. Enter his fortuitous friendship with Dave Bilcik of Endicott. As Snow's "computer guru," Bilcik set up his computer system and showed him how to use it. Then Bilcik laid out and modified the pages for printing. His mother, Betty Bilcik, was among the proofreaders lending their talents to the book. "Her red pencil was flying," Dave Bilcik remembers.

Revive Us Again was a labor of love by all concerned. Now it's finding its way into hundreds of appreciative hands as case after case of the first run of books is emptied.

Snow could now be breathing a deep sigh of relief and satisfaction in a life's work well done. But no. He's already taking notes for The Making of Revive Us Again, he says. It's another story he needs to tell.