‘Tis the old time religion, and it’s good enough for me. —Gospel Hymn For more and more U.S. churchgoers, that oldtime religion is losing its appeal. A trend toward more ritual and formality in church ...

“Amazing Grace” as it appears in Ginny Hawker’s family heirloom songbook, Lloyd’s Primitive Baptist Hymns. You can see stains in the margins, left by the tobacco-covered hands of her aunt Annie Maud ...

Purchase this and other timeless New Criterion essays in our hard-copy reprint series. Titled “Campaigning to the Choir,” Ms Greene’s piece is by-lined “Russellville, Tennessee,” and is designed to ...