NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — William Reynolds, long-time Southern Baptist musician and author of popular hymns including “Share His Love” and “People to People,” died March 28.
Reynolds, 88, worked 25 years in the church-music department of the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, today called LifeWay Christian Resources. He was editor of the 1975 Baptist Hymnal, which included several of his songs, among them his arrangement of “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.”
In 1980 he joined the faculty of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he was professor of church music until his retirement in 1998. After retiring he returned to Nashville, Tenn.
The composer of hundreds of hymns, Reynolds is regarded as one of Southern Baptists’ great songwriters. He led congregational singing in large venues including SBC annual meetings, Baptist World Alliance gatherings and musci conferences at the SBC conference centers at Ridgecrest, N.C. and and Glorieta, N.M.
Milburn Price, former dean of music schools at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Samford University, said Reynolds was the first Southern Baptist to become widely recognized in ecumenical circles as a distinguished hymnologist.
“I think it would be a fair statement to say that no other person had more influence upon the development of church music in Baptist churches in the 20th century than Bill Reynolds,” said Price, who co-authored A Survey of Christian Hymnody with Reynolds in 1991.
Reynolds’ funeral was held at First Baptist Church in Nashville on April 1.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.