It’s hard to believe it is Robin Mann’s “50 years of songs”!

My husband and I were part of a “Sing Out” group back when his songs first started to filter into our church services. There were around 20 of us ranging in age from mid-teens to mid-twenties, who enthusiastically learned these “new” songs and took them to congregations across Adelaide. We even spent a weekend travelling to other parts of South Australia: the Barossa, Mid North and Eyre Peninsula.

This was the beginning of an alternative way of “doing worship” in our Lutheran services. With pianos, guitars and percussion, it gave a more free-flowing form of singing rather that the more formal style of our much-loved hymns, and this resonated with the younger generation of the time. Robin’s songs reflected a personal relationship with God and I’m sure this is what struck such a chord with those of us who identified with his faith shown though his innovative style. With my husband being a high school teacher in country areas of SA, we were able to continue to be part of sharing Robin’s songs wherever we happened to be. We have been privileged to do so.

This was all at the beginning of Robin’s “50 years of songs” and then, 20 years later, our eldest son was able attend the Kindekrist services on a Sunday evening at St Stephen’s Church in Wakefield Street, Adelaide, while he was a boarding student at Immanuel College. He loved these services and said they were always packed out with people standing in the aisles, which I pray may again be the case in our churches in the future. I thank God for meeting so many of us through the songs of Robin Mann.

Read about “Being ‘Mrs Father Welcomes’” by Dorothy Mann in a related article here: