Found a PDF, a study of early apostolic hymnody. The conclusions reached by the author were striking:
"APOSTOLIC WORSHIP TODAY: IMPLICATIONS FOR ABANDONING AN APOSTOLIC HYMNODY The collective identity of Apostolic Pentecostals discussed in this study was predicated on their shared revelation of Jesus Christ. This shared revelation led to doctrinal claims and performance rituals that classified the movement as distinctly other. The first generation of Apostolic Pentecostals, like Azusa revivalists before them, wore their otherness as a badge of honor. Undoubtedly this community believed their otherness identified them as a people of the Name, endowed with the power of Jesus Christ, and commissioned to preach the full “apostolic gospel.” Today, however, the PAW is seemingly more lax about being distinctly other. While Apostolic doctrine and performance rituals remain, the hymnody of the first generation has long passed away.56 According to PAW bishop, Leonard Scott, attempts to revise standards like ‘Holy, Holy, Holy,’57 most of what is sung in PAW worship services is doctrinally generic. Furthermore, he concedes that although what is being sung has not moved away from exalting the deity of Jesus Christ, there is a noticeable shift towards songs whose lyrics stress unity within the entire Body of Christ and the simple [non-divisive] message of Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and second coming.58 Bishop Scott’s observations spark a series of questions relating to continuity and identity: If a faith community significantly amends its musical repertoire to exclude its shared God-narrative how is faith being preserved, perpetuated, and reinforced? What songs have replaced the older Apostolic hymns? Are these new songs in sync with the apostolic gospel, or are they challenging it to near extinction? Is it fair to infer that the noticeable absence of an Apostolic musical catalogue means that popular agreement with Apostolic doctrine is waning? Even though the above questions are rhetorical, they convey the seriousness of one generation’s failure to successfully transfer to the next those resources required to develop a strong sense of collective identity. Moreover, while the emphasis on Christian unity is promising, it is also threatening to the life and longevity of the PAW as an Apostolic Pentecostal organization. Without a solid body of Apostolic songs to preserve “the language with which [the PAW] worships,”59 one can only presume that the current generation has lost--for better or for worse-both its sense of religious ancestral connectivity60 and collective otherness."
Original can be found by going here:
https://journal.twu.ca/index.php/CJPC/article/view/73
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