Timothy Dudley-Smith

26 December 1926—12 August 2024

TIMOTHY DUDLEY-SMITH was born 26 December 1926 in Manchester, England, son of Arthur and Phyllis Dudley-Smith. He was raised in Buxton, Derbyshire, with his older sister. His father’s death in 1938 when he was eleven spurred him to consider a life in ministry:

He had been gravely ill for some time. I vividly remember my poor mother taking me quietly aside and telling me he was not going to get better. Of course I prayed; and you would imagine that on his death I would have abandoned my childish praying as useless. I can only think that, without my earthly father, I felt more keenly the need for a heavenly one.[1]

He was a graduate of Pembroke College (BA, 1947; MA, 1951), where he studied theology, with additional studies at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, to prepare for his ordination, first as a deacon (1950), then as an Anglican priest (1951). From 1950 to 1953, he was assistant curate at St. Paul’s Church, Erith, Kent, then became head of the Cambridge University Mission in Bermondsey, 1953 to 1955. From there, he became the first editor of the magazine Crusade and was simultaneously Editorial Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance, positions he held until 1959, when he was named Assistant Secretary of the Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS). Also that year, he married Arlette MacDonald, and three children followed: Caroline (1960), Sarah (1963) and James (1966).

In 1965, three of his hymns were included in the Anglican Hymn Book, which marked a turn from writing hymns as a private hobby to being a more formal public endeavor. The following year, together with his colleague Michael Baughen, he oversaw the publication of a collection called Youth Praise (1966), which sold quickly and led to Youth Praise 2 (1969) and Psalm Praise (1973), and along the way he was promoted to Secretary of CPAS (1965). In 1973, he was appointed Archdeacon of Norwich, which placed greater demands on his time, so he developed a routine of focused hymnwriting during his annual vacation at Ruan Minor in Cornwall in a house he owned called Seacroft.

In 1981, he was appointed Bishop of Thetford, through which he was involved in worship services at the University of East Anglia and three prisons. That year, he compiled and self-published his first collection of hymn texts, spanning twenty years of his work, then three years later his hymns were formally published in a collection called Lift Every Heart (1984), featuring detailed commentary. Other collections followed at regular intervals, sometimes with tunes. In the 1980s, he attained a status as a seasoned hymn writer and was sought after for interviews and articles on the subject by both the British and North American hymn societies. During this period he published a selection of Charles Wesley’s hymns (1987) and Praying with the English Hymn Writers (1989). He retired in 1992.

Post-retirement, he continued to write, eventually leading to another summative compilation, A House of Praise (2003), and additional small collections, gathered later into A House of Praise, Part 2 (2015) and Part 3 (2019). His wife of forty-eight years passed away on 14 December 2007. His mind being remarkably sharp into old age, at ninety he offered a career-defining opus on his craft, A Functional Art: Reflections of a Hymn Writer (2017). His hymns are now found in most major hymnals, and he stands to be remembered as one of the most notable hymn writers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
6 December 2021

A Functional Art: Reflections of a Hymn Writer (2017), xvii.

Featured Hymns:

Christ be my leader by night as by day
Name of all majesty
Not for tongues of heaven’s angels
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord

Official Site:

https://www.timothydudley-smith.com/

Collections of Hymns:

as committee member:

Youth Praise 1 (1966)

Youth Praise 2 (1969)

Psalm Praise (1973)

Common Praise (2000)

as author:

A Collection of Hymns 1961–1981 (1981)

A Song Was Heard at Christmas (1983) with tunes

Lift Every Heart (1984)

Songs of Deliverance (1988)

A Voice of Singing (1993)

Great is the Glory (1997)

Beneath a Travelling Star (2001) with tunes, ed. Lionel Dakers

A House of Praise (2003)

A Door for the Word (2006)

A Calendar of Praise (2006), with tunes, ed. William Llewellyn

High Days and Holy Days (2007), with tunes, ed. William Llewellyn

The Voice of Faith (2008), with tunes, ed. William Llewellyn

Above Every Name (2009), with tunes, ed. William Llewellyn

Praise to the Name (2009)

Draw Near to God (2010), with tunes, ed. William Llewellyn

Beyond our Dreaming (2012)

A Mirror to the Soul (2013), with tunes, ed. William Llewellyn

A House of Praise, Part 2 (2015)

A House of Praise, Part 3, (2019)

see also:

Anglican Hymn Book (1965)

The Hymnmakers (1996), with Noel Tredinnick & All Souls Church, Langham Place

Seasons and Reasons (2011), with tunes by Roger Jones

Related Resources:

Erik Routley, “A Collection of Hymns 1961–1981” [review], The Hymn, vol. 33, no. 4 (Oct. 1982), pp. 261–263: HathiTrust

Paul Westermeyer, “An interview with Timothy Dudley-Smith,” The Hymn, vol. 36, no. 1 (Jan. 1985), pp. 10–13: HathiTrust

Timothy Dudley-Smith, “What makes a good hymn text?” The Hymn, vol. 36, no. 1 (Jan. 1985), pp. 14–18: HathiTrust

Timothy Dudley-Smith, A Flame of Love: A Personal Choice of Charles Wesley’s Verse (London: SPCK, 1987).

Timothy Dudley-Smith, Praying with the English Hymn Writers (London: SPCK, 1989).

Paul Westermeyer, “Timothy Dudley-Smith,” With Tongues of Fire: Profiles in 20th-Century Hymn Writing (St. Louis: Concordia, 1995), pp. 37–50.

Timothy Dudley-Smith, “The Hymn Maker: Interview with David Waite,” Worship Together (Nov./Dec. 1996).

Timothy Dudley-Smith, Words for Worship: A Hymn Festival and Lecture, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY: 8 Oct. 2001).

Timothy Dudley-Smith, “Putting words into people’s mouths: Interview with Anne Harrison,” Church Music Quarterly (Sept. 2006).

Timothy Dudley-Smith, Snakes and Ladders—A Hymn Writer’s Reflections, HSGBI Occasional Paper, Third Series, No. 1 (2008).

Timothy Dudley-Smith, “Hymns and songs in Christian worship: Past, present—and future?” HSGBI Bulletin, vol. 19, no. 5 (Jan. 2010), pp. 167–184, 197–199.

Timothy Dudley-Smith, “A ministry for the word: Interview with Jeff Divine,” The Hymn, vol. 61, no. 3 (Summer 2010), pp. 27–35: HathiTrust

Timothy Dudley-Smith, “What can a hymn writer learn from a lyricist? A Review and Reflection on Sondheim's Finishing the Hat,” HSGBI Bulletin, vol. 19, no. 11 (July 2011), pp. 443–450.

Timothy Dudley-Smith, Faith, Hymns and Poetry, HSGBI Occasional Paper, Third Series, No. 8 (2013).

Timothy Dudley-Smith, “A mirror to the soul: Interview with Andrew Reid,” Church Music Quarterly (March 2014): PDF

Timothy Dudley-Smith, “A mirror to the soul: Interview with Alan Smith,” Music & Liturgy (June 2014).

Timothy Dudley-Smith, A Functional Art: Reflections of a Hymn Writer (Oxford: University Press, 2017): OUP

Scott R. Schilbe, “Timothy Dudley-Smith,” Lutheran Service Book Companion to the Hymns, vol. 2 (St. Louis: Concordia, 2019), pp. 305–306.

Scotty Gray & David W. Music, A Noble Theme, A Skillful Writer: Timothy Dudley-Smith and Christian Hymnody (Carol Stream, IL: Hope, 2022): Hope

Christopher Idle, “Obituary: The Rt Revd Timothy Dudley-Smith,” Church Times (16 Aug. 2024):
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/16-august/gazette/obituaries/obituary-the-rt-revd-timothy-dudley-smith

Christopher Idle, “Timothy Dudley-Smith,” Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology: http://www.hymnology.co.uk/t/timothy-dudley-smith

Timothy Dudley-Smith, Hymnary.org: https://hymnary.org/person/DudleySmith_T