Charles Curwen Walker (“C.C.”, as he came to be known in Christadelphian circles) was born in 1856 in Norfolk, England. When he was 13 he went with his father to Australia. In 1880 he returned to England to deal with the estate of a deceased relative. While he was in London, he was sent copies of the “Declaration” and the “Bible Companion” by a relative. He was also given a copy of Robert Roberts’ “Town Hall Lectures”. Before he left London to return to Australia, he bought various publications to read on his voyage.
While traveling back to Australia, he made a close study of Twelve Lectures (now known as Christendom Astray). All this led him to make a solemn declaration: “If it shall please God to bring me to Melbourne and allow me to be baptised into the name of Jesus Christ, I will thereafter devote myself entirely and exclusively to His service. Amen.” At this point in his life he had grasped the truth concerning the mortality of man and the relationship between God and His Son Jesus, before he ever met with any Australian Christadelphians. So he was baptized without delay in Melbourne in 1882, at the age of 25.
He proposed marriage to Sis. Edith Sutcliffe of England, and she sailed to Australia with her sister Ellen. When Bro. Roberts invited him to Birmingham to help with the production of the Christadelphian Magazine, he accepted.
Bro. Robert Roberts put C.C. Walker in charge of a section of the magazine called “The Jews and their Affairs”. In 1891 C.C. Walker become assistant editor of the Christadelphian Magazine. In 1897 he become joint editor with Bro. Frank Shuttleworth when the Roberts family sailed to Australia.
The following year Robert Roberts died in San Francisco. C.C. Walker left Frank Shuttleworth in charge while he went to New York to superintend the funeral and the settlement of the estate. On his return he took over as sole editor and publisher of the writings of Bre. Thomas and Roberts.
The publishing business was located in his own house at No. 21 Hendon Road, Sparkhill. He completed the writing of The Ministry of the Prophets: Isaiah, which had been begun by Bro. Roberts. He also produced a number of books and booklets, including:
- The Old Testament Doctrine of Eternal Life (1906)
- Theophany (1929)
- Jeremiah (1934)
- Rome and the Christadelphians (1923)
- Thoughts on Inspiration (1934)
- Job (1935)
- Christ and War (1939)
- Notes on the Apocalypse
C.C. Walker wrote three hymns that first appeared in the 1932 hymnbook. One is Hymn 228 in the current (2002) hymnbook entitled “Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness”. This hymn is based on some of the words written by Johann Frank, a German hymn writer, words that were subsequently translated into English by Catherine Winkworth. Following are the words of the first stanza of this hymn written by Johann Frank, of which some lines were used by C.C. Walker:
Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness, Leave the gloomy haunts of sadness, Come into the daylight’s splendour. There with joy thy praises render Unto Him whose grace unbounded Hath this wondrous banquet founded, High o’er all the heav’ns He reigneth, Yet to dwell with thee He deigneth.
Johann Cruger wrote the hymn music for “Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness” in 1649. This chorale was adopted by J.S. Bach and used in his cantata “Deck yourself, my soul, with gladness”.
C.C. Walker also wrote the words for Hymn 382 in our current hymnbook, “The evening and morning we see the Lord making”. This is set to music by his friend Bro. Harold M. Williams, using a tune from a Mendelssohn sonata.
A third hymn for which C.C. Walker wrote the words is Hymn 303, “See the Lamb upon Mount Zion”. These words are set to a Mendelssohn tune from the cantata “Lord, how long wilt Thou forget me?”
(Taken from Some Past Christadelphian Hymn Writers and Composers, pp. 26,27, Stuart Cowlishaw, with revisions by Joan and Ken Curry)
Our Purpose in Singing Hymns
Many hymns and religious songs are sung for commercial purposes, in ignorance of the one true God. To hear The Hallelujah Chorus played over the public address system in a shopping mall borders on blasphemy. Likewise, to hear it used in television to promote discovery of a new product is sacrilege.
As disciples of the Lord, we need to consider carefully why we sing our hymns — what is our purpose, what is the intent of the words we sing. Hymns are an opportunity for worship, praise and meditation. There is no room for carelessness.
In our hymns:
- It is the great God of heaven we are addressing;
- It is the Son of God we are remembering;
- It is our fellow disciples we are encouraging; and
- It is ourselves we are dedicating to the Lord.
May God be pleased with our meditations and our music.
The chart below gives an outline of the design and purpose of some of our hymns.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One