HYMN SPOTLIGHT
Come, Christians Join to Sing (1843)
Christian Henry Bateman, 1813-1889
This hymn was originally written as a children’s hymn with the first line being “Come, children, join to sing.” It was later changed to “Christians” to make it more universally useful. The tune is of unknown origin. For some reason, it was described as an “ancient Spanish melody” when it was first published, but no one has been able to find an instance of it in traditional Spanish folk music.