(RNS) — James Walvin, a former Church of England choirboy and professor of history at the University of York, doesn’t remember encountering “Amazing Grace,” in song or in his hymnal. It wasn’t until ...

What do Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday, Woodstock, a Barack Obama speech, Coal Miner’s Daughter, Fannie Lou Hamer’s civil rights marches, The Grand Ole Opry, and American churches have in common? All ...

Many Americans were surprised and deeply moved last month when President Obama concluded his eulogy for slain Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney by singing the hymn "Amazing Grace." It is fair to say, however, ...

Amazing Grace. By James Walvin. University of California Press; 216 pages; $19.95 and £16.99 A short but fascinating book by James Walvin, a professor at the University of York and an expert on ...

Many people think they know the story of the hymn,"Amazing Grace." The commonly accepted narrative presents its composer, John Newton, a young English captain of a late 18th-century slave ship, as a ...

PostClassical Ensemble (PCE) rings in 2023 with a new stirring program for chorus and orchestra that celebrates the universal expression of the human spirit through music. "Amazing Grace," perhaps the ...