music.

Though this expansion slowed, by 1984 eighteen full-time music

secretaries were employed whose sole responsibilities were programs of
music.
Today, the now well-established CMD is a program within the
Church and Staff Support Division of the BSSB. Its purpose is as
follows:

To develop services and materials acceptable for use by Southern

Baptist churches, associations, and state conventions in
establishing, conducting, enlarging, and improving experiences of
congregational services, church music and performance groups,
music activity groups and study groups.
This purpose includes serving children, youth, and adults in their
choirs by providing materials and music to enhance spiritual and
musical growth.

Promotion of Graded Choir Work

Southern Baptists did not invent the concept of graded choirs;
they only coined the term. Several precedents led to the formation of
graded choirs. Although such work began in churches, graded choirs
also had roots in 19th-century cultural and educational activities. The
introduction of public school music in Boston in 1838 and the
establishment of two national music organizations—the Music
Teacher's National Association in 1876 and the National Federation of
Music Clubs in 1893—indicated a strong national interest in developing

10Wesley L. Forbis, Baptist History and Heritage 19: 21.

music materials appropriate for the differing grade levels and musical
abilities of children.* *
Graded choir work began late in the 19th century. In 1895
Elizabeth Van Fleet Vosseller and Bessie Richardson Hopewell
organized a children's choir a t the First Presbyterian Church in
Remington, New Jersey. The choir eventually grew into the
Remington Children's Choir School with an enrollment of over two
hundred children. Since each participant sang in his or her own
individual church choir, the school was a training ground for the
Roman Catholic, Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Baptist
churches in Remington. *-
Early Baptist work was serendipitous. One of the earliest choir
programs graded by age started at the First Baptist Church of Bessemer,
Alabama in the 1930's. Dr. William J. Reynolds recalled this historic
event in a taped interview.*^ Reynolds is past chair of the CMD of the
BSSB and current professor of church music Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary, As explained by Reynolds, Dr. T. L. Holcomb,
president of the BSSB from 1935-1953, was invited by the First Baptist
Church, Bessemer, Alabama to preach one Sunday morning in 1936.
During the service, he observed five choirs sing. The choirs consisted of

“ William J. Reynolds "The Graded Choir Movement Among

Southern Baptists, " Baptist History and Heritage 19, no. 1 (January
1984): 55.
“ Ibid., 55-56.
“ William J. Reynolds. Interview by author. Tape recording.
Ft. Worth, 15 January 1996.
approximately twelve persons each. Mrs. Jessie Kaye-Smith was the
minister of music and directed each choir. Smith organized the
children, youth, and adults according to age-groupings defined by the
Sunday School organization model established by the Baptist Sunday
School Board Education Department. Delineated by age, the
departments were named The Primary Department (ages 6-8), the
Junior Department (ages 9-12), the Intermediate Departm ent (ages 13-
16), the Young People's Department (ages 17-25), and the A dult
Department (ages 26 and up.) Using these divisions. Smith nam ed her
choirs respectively The Angel Choir, The Melody Choir, The Harmony
Choir, The Choral Choir, and The Meister Choir. By placing children,
youth and adults in specific age groups, she unwittingly set the stage for
the "youth choir" movement and the growth of graded choirs in
Southern Baptists churches. Holcomb's account of Smith's graded
choir program, according to Reynolds, is recorded in the December 1937
issue of The Sunday School Builder

Predecessors of The Youth Musician

After 1950, the CMD published materials to serve the musical
needs of church choirs grouped by age. Part of the Church Music
Department's effort w as a new periodical devoted solely to music issues
in Southern Baptist churches.

‘^William J. Reynolds, Baptist History and Heritage 19; 57.

'^Reynolds, interview by author, 15 January 1996; The Sunday
School Builder 18, no. 12.