Making All Things New: Samuel Longfellow and the Transformation of American Hymnody

Samuel Longfellow, Henry's youngest brother, turned two hundred this year. In the latter decades of the 19th century, he helped transform worship practices and hymnody in America, especially in his career as a Unitarian minister. Graced with a poetic voice like Henry's, Sam employed this gift by writing hymns. With his friend Samuel Johnson, Sam published books that expressed a deep spiritual quality and evoked a new evolving, eclectic, universal faith. This talk will explore how he helped transform the worship experience, and will provide the opportunity to sing some of Sam's hymns, too.

Mark W. Harris is minister emeritus of the First Parish at Watertown, Massachusetts. For 23 years, he served in Watertown and was also an adjunct professor at Andover Newton Theological School, Boston University of Theology and Harvard Divinity School. He is author of Historical Dictionary of Unitarian Universalism (2nd ed.), Elite: Uncovering Classism in Unitarian Universalist History, and (with Andrea Greenwood) An Introduction to the Unitarian and Universalist Traditions. Harris is now retired and living in Owls Head, Maine.

Space is limited, so please call (617) 876-4491 or email long_reservations@nps.gov to reserve your spot! Part of the Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters NHS Fall Lecture Series.