Wanamaker's Hymnal

One of the untold stories of church history is that of philanthropy. A great introduction to this topic is the figure of department store magnate and philanthropist John Wanamaker.

Wanamaker was born in Philadelphia in 1838. He built what may very well have been the first department store in America. He opened this first store in Philadelphia, and before long he opened a second store in New York City. Soon, he opened stores across the country and then went overseas and opened a store in London and Paris.

He was considered a pioneer in advertising. He was the first retailer to buy a full-page newspaper ad; it was in 1879, and he wrote the advertising copy for that first ad himself. When Wanamaker died, Thomas Edison was a pallbearer at his funeral. This was a man of remarkable influence.

But there is another side to the Wanamaker story. In fact, as crucial as his accomplishments were in and of themselves—the contributions that he made to culture and to his community—those contributions enabled him to do something else: to give. And Wanamaker did in fact give. Among the philanthropic causes to which he contributed were the YMCA, which was then the Young Men’s Christian Association, and Anna Jarvis’ campaign that resulted in the establishing of Mother’s Day.

He was also a lifelong Presbyterian and founded several Presbyterian churches. He also founded something called the Bethany Brotherhood, which was a group of businessmen who joined together to encourage one another to live out their faith in the workplace.

But Wanamaker’s true love was probably music. In fact, the Wanamaker Organ, the largest operational pipe organ in the world, is named after him. It was built for the World’s Fair in St. Louis in 1904. When the organ was moved into his department store, the pipes took up seven stories.

He also helped to provide music for that organ and so he funded and edited a number of hymnals. One of those hymnals was called Living Hymns. As you open this hymnal, you find the very first hymn, titled "Father All Holy":

Father all holy, bend we so lowly, Glowing with love’s tender flame; Father in Heaven, praises be given, Hallowed forever Thy name. Telling the story, spreading Thy glory, Send forth Thy people, we pray, Till every nation know Thy salvation, Under Thy kingdom’s full sway.

These hymnals were distributed very cheaply, and many were just simply given away. Wanamaker believed that music is important—not only for the church, but also for the culture. So he was happy to see his hymnals distributed as far and as wide as could be, so that the church’s songs about the Lord and His Word could go out around the world.