By Brother Stephen Rankin

When I was a kid in the 1960s, the Methodist churches that my father served as pastor were still having Sunday evening worship. The churches were small, and especially on Sunday evenings, a relative few of the regular congregation—maybe ten or fifteen—came back for the evening service.

These times were always a little more relaxed and informal than the morning services. We actually sat up in the choir seats, which put people close together.  And we sang. A lot. People could pick their favorite hymns and we’d sing a verse or two of each one, so that we could get in as many as possible. And people sang parts.

One hymn often picked was The Church in the Wildwood. Dad always served rural churches, in tiny towns and out in the country, so the song fit. Here’s the first verse: “There’s a church in the valley by the wildwood, no lovelier place in the dale. No spot is so dear to my childhood as the little brown church in the vale.”

And then the chorus, with the men singing the base, “Oh come, come, come come…” on a single note, while the women carried the melody, “Come to the church in the wildwood, O come to the church in the vale….” The bass line marches and the melody line dances. Even as a kid, I got a kick out of singing that song.

If you look at the lyrics, there’s not a lot of substance, just the feeling of joy that goes with being in a beloved place with beloved people, which is value enough. I pray that each of us enjoys the blessing of being in a place where you meet God, with people you know who love God and you.

Honestly, The Church in the Wildwood is not my favorite hymn now. I’d have to give that honor to And Can It Be by Charles Wesley. But it holds a spot in my heart that no other hymn can hold. And I’m so grateful for the saints who sang that song with me.