Eric Routley (golfer)
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Erik Reginald Routley ( ; 31 October 1917, Brighton, UK – 8 October 1982, Nashville TN) was an English
Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...
churchman, theologian, musician, and prominent hymnologist.


Career

His nearly 40 books on theological thought and music of the Christian church are renowned. Raised in Brighton in a Congregational family, he spent his formative years at
Lancing College Lancing College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18 in southern England, UK. The school is located in West S ...
in West Sussex. In 1936, he received an exhibition to
Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...
, Oxford, and afterward ministerial training at Mansfield College, Oxford. Ordained in 1943, Routley held pastorates in Wednesbury and Dartford before returning to Mansfield in 1948 as Chaplain, Lecturer, Librarian, and Director of Music. In 1953, he was named to the Mackennal Chair of History. It was during these years that he became visible as an historian and hymn expert. He was also Chaplain of the Oxford Congregationalist Society and left a significant positive imprint on those he worked with. He joined the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 1943 and became Editor of the ''Bulletin'', their quarterly newsletter, for 27 years. He also wrote regularly for ''The British Weekly'' and the ''Congregational Monthly''. His Oxford DPhil thesis (1951), ''The Church and Music: An enquiry into the history, the nature and scope of Christian judgement on music'' became the source for much of his writing for the rest of his life. In 1945, Routley was placed on the committee for producing a new hymnal, ''Congregational Praise'' and eventually wrote its musical companion. The hymnal was launched in 1951 and was the first of over 15 hymnals and supplements that he either edited, co-edited, or consulted over the next thirty years. His first book, ''I'll Praise My Maker'' (1951) was quickly followed by ''Hymns and Human Life'', and ''Hymns and the Faith''. These became classics almost immediately amongst clergy and church musicians. Because of this, he was in strong demand as a lecturer at universities, seminaries, and music societies in the US and Great Britain. In 1959, Routley returned to congregational ministry in Edinburgh at Augustine-Bristo Congregational Church, where he remained until 1967. While in Scotland, he and Ian Fraser organized the Dunblane Music Consultations out of which sprung the seminal methods and possibilities for structuring hymnody in the US and UK until the present. In 1965, Routley was named a Fellow of The Royal School of Church Music, the first non-Anglican to receive this honor. In 1967, Routley became the minister at St. James's Congregational Church in Newcastle, continuing his prolific writing and speaking output, and was elected President of the
Congregational Union of England and Wales The Congregational Union of England and Wales brought together churches in England and Wales in the Congregational tradition between 1831 and 1966. Background The Congregational churches emerged from the Puritan movement, each church operating ...
in 1970. That same year, Routley was made a Fellow of
Westminster Choir College Westminster Choir College (WCC) is a historic conservatory of music, currently operating on the campus of Rider University, in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Rider's College of Arts and Sciences (the college under which the historic institution has ...
in Princeton, NJ. The Princeton Theological Seminary brought Routley to the US in 1975 as a lecturer and Director of Chapel. In September of that year, Routley became a Professor of Church Music and Director of Chapel at Westminster Choir College. In September 1982, Routley completed his last editorial project, the hymnal ''Rejoice in the Lord'' commissioned by the
Reformed Church in America The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 82,865 members. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed ...
. After giving an introductory lecture on the hymnal, he flew to Nashville on 7 October to address a church music conference. He died in his sleep that same night. Routley was posthumously named a Fellow of the
Hymn Society in the United States and Canada The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada – founded in 1922 as The Hymn Society of America and renamed in 1991 – is a not-for-profit organization for those people who: * believe that congregational song is an integral component of worsh ...
, in 1985


Personal

In 1944, he married Margaret Scott in the Chapel at Mansfield College. They had three children.


Works

Routley wrote compositions for piano, violin, and organ; over 120 hymn tunes and 40 texts. For comprehensive lists of Routley's works see: ''Duty and Delight: Routley Remembered''. Robin Leaver and James Litton, eds. Carlton Young, Executive Editor. Hope Publishing/Canterbury Press. 1985. ''Our Lives Be Praise: The Hymn Tunes, Carols and Texts of Erik Routley''. Carlton Y. Young, ed. Hope Publishing: Carol Stream IL 1990.


References

*Obituary, ''The Times'' Wednesday, 20 October 1982, p. 16.
David Scott. "Erik Routley"
''
Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...
'', ed. L. Macy. *Graham, Nancy L. The Unfractured Faith of Erik Routley: From Brighton to Princeton. Lexington Fortress/Rowman & Littlefield. 2024


External links


Erik Routley (1917–1982)
* The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland
www.hymnsocietygbi.org.uk
* The Hymn Society of the United States and Canada
www.thehymnsociety.org
* Hymnary.org https://hymnary.org/search?qu=Erik+Routley * ''
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology ''A Dictionary of Hymnology'' (or, more completely, ''A Dictionary of Hymnology: Origin and History of Christian Hymns and Hymnwriters of All Ages and Nations, Together with Biographical and Critical Notices of Their Authors and Translators'') by ...
'' https://hymnology.hymnsam.co.uk/


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Routley, Erik 1917 births 1982 deaths Alumni of Mansfield College, Oxford People educated at Lancing College Hymnologists 20th-century English classical musicians 20th-century English composers 20th-century English musicologists