FLASHBACK: One—Two—Three—Four

A hundred students crowd a lecture room in the 153 Building, each holding their own copy of the official Moody hymnal. A student takes his turn, leading a song while the famously intimidating Talmadge Bittikofer watches closely.

“Mr. Bittikofer has been severe in his fervor to help students become conquerors over self, mediocrity, and defeat,” the Moody student paper said in 1944.

When Bittikofer was a student on campus in 1916, he studied with the man who invented revival songleading, Daniel Towner himself. Every Moody student was trained to lead congregational singing using Towner’s methods, and on this day, the students were singing one of his songs, “Nor Silver nor Gold.”

At first glance, the photo looks like a quaint memory of a bygone era. On closer inspection, the big idea hasn’t changed. The songs may be different now, but congregational singing is still a memorable aspect of the Moody experience.