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One of the more amusing things I have only observed in German Baptist meeting houses is little love notes scrawled in the front or back of the little hymnbooks. (GB Brethren do lined singing, where there are no notes - just the words to sing. The booklets are a little bigger than a deck of cards.) Usually just of the nature of "So-and-so ❤ so-and-so" and then sometimes a date written next to it.

Is this a common thing elsewhere?

Josh wrote:Is this a common thing elsewhere?

No, our hymnals come with the notes already in them. Other than occasional graffiti supplied by the 2-year-olds, they normally don't get written in.

I could see someone inventing a new system of shaped notes, though, with the ❤ and some smilies.

sounds very middle-school-ish.

temporal1 wrote:sounds very middle-school-ish.

High school (or later-ish).

Lined singing is an older tradition and slower than shaped-note singing. Other groups which use hymnbooks without notes are: Gaelic-speaking "old order" Scottish Reformed churches, Old Regular Baptists, United Baptists and similar "old order" Baptist fellowships, OO River Brethren, OO Mennonites. I suspect that the traditionalist Hutterites do also. Most churches that use hymnbooks without notes also line their hymns.

Well, in the Baptist church I grew up in, the hymnal covers were all marked up with pen/ marker. The kids would always use the hardback books as trays to rest their bulletins on and draw. Naturally, the pens managed to slip right off the paper and onto the covers quite frequently. I remember one even had gold glitter glue.

Who's idea was it to make a white hymnal anyway?

KingdomBuilder wrote:Well, in the Baptist church I grew up in, the hymnal covers were all marked up with pen/ marker. The kids would always use the hardback books as trays to rest their bulletins on and draw. Naturally, the pens managed to slip right off the paper and onto the covers quite frequently. I remember one even had gold glitter glue.

Who's idea was it to make a white hymnal anyway?

Is that why a "Purple Martin" is purple?

J.M.

Personally I found the choice of lavender / purple to be a rather bold choice, given the allergy some folks have to red, lavender, pink, purple, magenta, and other such hues.

In my experience, German Baptist hymnbooks are privately owned and are carried to Meeting each time. I have never observed any "love notes" in hymnbooks but, if found, they would be in books owned by individuals ( think).

Bill Rushby wrote:In my experience, German Baptist hymnbooks are privately owned and are carried to Meeting each time. I have never observed any "love notes" in hymnbooks but, if found, they would be in books owned by individuals ( think).

This doesn't seem to be the custom in New Conference, at least around Dayton.