Blumhofer, Edith L. Songs I Love to Sing: The Billy Graham Crusades and the Shaping of Modern Worship. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2023. 187 pp. $22.99.
Many of today’s most familiar hymns carry rich historical and theological stories that may be traced back to the Billy Graham evangelical crusades. In Songs I Love to Sing: The Billy Graham Crusades and the Shaping of Modern Worship, Edith L. Blumhofer (1950–2020), former professor of history at Wheaton College, examines how the music used by Billy Graham, Cliff Barrows, and George Beverly Shea in the crusades shaped the development and content of twentieth-century Protestant song and worship. Drawing on her expertise in Protestant hymnody and American revivals—along with her skills as a Harvard-trained historian—Blumhofer offers readers a richly informed narrative that intertwines scholarship with storytelling about America’s beloved hymns and songs.
This book, divided into seven chapters, begins with the personal stories of the three members of the Graham team, focusing on their respective journeys into ministry. In particular, it explains how men from different denominational and regional backgrounds came to share a common purpose, as suggested by the first chapter’s title, “A Shared Purpose.” All three men experienced conversion through Scripture in their youth, and hymns played a formative role in shaping their faith. Shea, in particular, composed his own tune for the hymn “I’d Rather Have Jesus,” which became his lifelong testimony (12). Barrows, following his own conversion, began leading music for Sunday night service and playing the trombone, learning how to motivate others through song (27). Graham, though tone-deaf, recalled the profound influence of “Just as I Am” on his own conversion experience and later provided the platform for Barrows and Shea to carry out their music ministry (20).
Building on the personal narratives of chapter 1, chapter 2 provides the background of how the individual callings of three men converged into a unified ministry team. Graham and Barrows first worked together in the Youth for Christ rallies, where they continued to study earlier revival movements and consciously modeled their approach after Moody and Sankey (33–35). During this period, Barrows deepened his philosophy of music in evangelism by studying the hymns and ministry principles of earlier gospel musicians such as Ira Sankey, Charles Alexander, and Homer Rodeheaver (44).
Chapter 3 traces the beginning of the three men’s ministry as the Graham team and offers a vivid description of the early crusade scenes, detailing the music used and its role in shaping the atmosphere of the meetings. Among the many hymns featured in this chapter, Blumhofer highlights Fanny Crosby’s “To God Be the Glory” and “Blessed Assurance,” observing their remarkable popularity in the crusades. She recounts, for instance, how, at the 1959 Melbourne crusade, the arrival of the team was greeted by hundreds of people singing those hymns in the airport (55). In explaining such incidents, Blumhofer ultimately argues that the hymns used by Graham team were not only God-centered—thereby aligning seamlessly with their message—but also musically accessible. They were easy to sing, repeated frequently, and thus became deeply familiar to their audiences (60).
Chapters 4 and 5, positioned at the heart of the book, depart from the chronological narrative to focus more closely on the sources and themes of the music employed by the Graham team. First, Blumhofer notes the rise of religious radio up to the 1940s, and how Shea incorporated the popular songs from the radio into his own repertoire (62–67). Yet above all, the Graham team built this repertoire of new songs upon the enduring heritage of traditional hymnody. Both Barrows and Shea were deeply intentional in selecting songs that conveyed a message of commitment to the Christian life and invited listeners to make a personal response of faith (80). Among many hymns and gospel songs, Blumhofer highlights “Just as I Am” and “How Great Thou Art” as representative pieces that embody the themes of redemption and invitation (83).
Chapter 6 shifts the focus to the guest musicians. It explains how popular musicians of the time played a significant role in popularizing the crusades, as Graham often featured their conversion stories to demonstrate the transforming power of the gospel and to connect more effectively with broader audiences (107).
Chapter 7 describes how the Graham team adapted to cultural change in order to reach younger generations, recognizing that a new musical idiom would be essential to appeal to youth (132). For example, they adopted a new format for crusade youth nights in Cleveland in 1994, inviting the most popular Christian band at the time—DC Talk—along with another well-known crossover artist, Michael W. Smith (138). Despite these cultural shifts, however, the ministry of the Graham team remained steadfastly devoted to the proclamation of the gospel. Although new sounds emerged through contemporary guest artists in later years, Blumhofer concludes that Shea’s solos, Barrows’s song leading, the mass choirs, and congregational singing remained the irreplaceable core elements of the Graham crusades (148).
As a leading scholar of American religious history, Blumhofer offers a deeply informed account of the origins and development of the Billy Graham crusades. By combining biographical narrative and hymnological analysis, she succeeds in situating the music of the Graham crusades within the broader evolution of American Protestant worship.
Building on this methodological framework, Blumhofer’s interpretive approach becomes most evident in her treatment of the hymns themselves. She frames the hymns as the biographies of the crusades, demonstrating how songs such as “Just as I Am,” “I’d Rather Have Jesus,” and “How Great Thou Art” embody the central themes of invitation and redemption that defined Graham’s message.
This book is highly valuable for readers interested in the stories behind the songs sung in evangelical worship. More specifically, students of church music and worship pastors will greatly benefit from Blumhofer’s careful historical and theological insights.
