Abstract
Religious music in African American culture has always been an important entity. The various genres of this music consist of hymns, anthems, spirituals, traditional gospel, and contemporary gospel. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore and compile data on the use of traditional hymns currently in selected African American Baptist Churches in the state of Florida. Approximately 100 African American Baptist churches throughout the state were surveyed to compile this data. All of the aforementioned genres of music seem present in the African American worship experience of the African American Baptist Church in Florida. Additionally, this research determined what African American churches utilized the traditional hymn, or sang from printed hymnals in their worship services. The research not only compiled data on this information, but also on other forms of hymnody that are used. Because Florida is the fourth most populous state in the country and covers a large and varied geographical area, and because African American Baptist churches are found throughout the state, from rural settings to the most populous cities, it would be reasonable to conclude that the results of a survey of these churches would be representative of African American Baptist churches throughout the country.
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