VI. THE USE OF HYMNS IN EMERGENCIES
There are occasional disturbing and disorganizing occurrences during services—a violent storm, a noisy epileptic, a fanatical intruder, a fire where a panic would be disastrous—when it is important to keep the disturbance down to a minimum, or even to control the congregation. The singing of an efficient hymn is often the solution of the problem when there is a leader of presence of mind (preferably the minister) who will promptly start it. It must be a hymn that everybody knows; it must not be a tender, experiential hymn, but one with a stirring spirit to a stimulating tune that everybody can sing, such as “Onward, Christian soldiers.”[2]
Such occasions sometimes suggest fitting hymns that turn what might have been disaster into a spiritual victory. In such a case there must be a peculiar fitness to the difficulty, an adaptation to the form it takes. In case of a death, or paralytic stroke, the hymn will not be loud, but tender like “Rock of Ages,” “He Leadeth Me,” or “The Sweet By and By.” Softly sung, the episode will be turned from a shock into a deep spiritual impression.