This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series that showcases a 2009 YouTube video of the Detroit Mass Choir's gospelized* rendition of the 1905 hymn "The Storm Is Passing Over" by African American composer Rev. Dr. Charles Albert Tindley (July 7, 1851 – July 26, 1933).
This post presents information about Charles Albert Tindley is included in this post along with the original lyrics for "The Storm Is Passing Over" .
Donald Vail's contemporary lyrics for "The Storm Is Passing Over" are included in this post The Detroit Mass Choir uses Donald Vail's 1976 gospelized arrangement of that Charles Albert Tindley's 1905 hymn.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/01/detroit-mass-choir-storm-is-passing.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. presents selected comments from this video's discussion thread. I'm particularly interested in comments about the song, the choir compared to contemporary church praise groups". I'm also interested in comments about the choir director and other musicians/singers, and the commenters' use of African American Vernacular English.
The content of this post is presented for religious, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Dr. Charles Albert Tinley for composing numerous hymns including "The Storm Is Passing Over". Thanks also to Donald Vails for his 1976 arrangement of the hymn "The Storm Is Passing Over". Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks to the Detroit Mass Choir and to all those who were associated with that video. Also, thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.
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This is a complete reprint of a 2022 pancocojams post. That post and Part II of that pancocojams series are still found on this blog. As of July 15, 2026, Part I has no comments and Part I has one comment.
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* "Gospelized hymn" is a term I coined for hymns that are performed in a (usually) African American Gospel style.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
The choir in this embeded video was under the direction of Jimmy Dowell from St. James Missionary Baptist Church, Detroit, Michigan. The singers and musicians for this "mass choir" were from choirs belonging various Detroit Michigan Baptist churches. This is probably part of a concert and not at a Sunday morning church service.
Jimmy Dowell passed in December 2004. A commenter in this video's discussion thread wrote that this video was a "throw back to 1988". Another commenter wrote that ithis singing was "from the 1980s."
The hair styles and clothing styles lend evidence to this video being from the late 1980s or early 1990s. Note for example that at least one of the male singers has dread locks, but the women members in this mass choir don't wear their hair in any natural hair styles (including long extension braids/weaves)
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INFORMATION ABOUT CHARLES ALBERT TINDLEY
From https://anglicancompass.com/the-story-of-our-hymns-the-storm-is-passing-over/ Every Hymn Has a Story: The Story of Our Hymns: The Storm Is Passing Over
By Keisha Valentina|August 3rd, 2020
"Charles Albert Tindley was born in Berlin, Maryland, on July 7, 1851, to Charles and Hester Tindley. His father was enslaved, and his mother free. Hester died when Charles was very young and he was taken in by his aunt in order to keep his freedom. He worked as a hired hand wherever his father could place him to help the family. He received no formal schooling, but had such an interest in learning he taught himself to read by gathering scraps of newspaper he found alongside the road or in trash bins.
One Sunday he snuck into a nearby church to hear the preaching. When the minister invited all the children to sit up front, he bravely took his place among them despite the shock and discouragement of white parishioners. He was so compelled by the preaching and singing that he began to study even more.
When Charles was seventeen he married Daisy Henry. They had eight children, some of whom would later assist him with the publication of his hymns. In 1875 he and Daisy moved to Philadelphia where Charles’ continued love of learning and for the church led him to take correspondence courses toward becoming a Methodist minister. He began attending school at night and served as a janitor for the East Bainbridge Street Church where he and his wife were also faithful parishioners.
He was a hard worker and passionate about his studies asking friends to tutor him on various subjects. He studied Hebrew and Greek through a local correspondence course with high academic scores despite no college degree. He later said, “I made a rule to learn at least one new thing — a thing I did not know the day before — each day.” In taking his final exams to qualify for ordination, he was among the highest scores.
His first parish was in Cape May, New Jersey where he and his family arrived in the middle of a blizzard. They moved into their house with only a bit of bread to share between them for the evening meal. As they were praying, a knock came at the door and there stood a welcoming committee from the church with much-needed provisions. Charles was inspired to write the hymn “God Will Provide For Me” after this experience.
Methodist ministers who are newly ordained often get moved every few years. Charles presided over several churches before eventually moving back to Philadelphia in 1904 to pastor the very church where he started as a janitor. His return to the congregation as pastor was met with mixed emotions. Yet the 150th-anniversary journal of the congregation states that
“All were pleasantly surprised, for as Tindley mounted the rostrum, wearing a Prince Albert Coat—then the garb of many African American Protestant preachers—he had the dignified bearing acquired during his previous appointments. They were further surprised when Tindley delivered a masterful, soul gripping sermon that brought loud Amens and praise God exclamations from his listeners.”
Tindley often introduced original hymns alongside his sermons. His influence and passion drew people of multiple races and denominations. The congregation of about 130 members grew rapidly under his leadership to more than ten thousand attendees, the largest congregation in his region.
Alongside his preaching duties, Tindley was a community leader unafraid to take on the issues of the day. He led a protest against the silent film “Birth Of A Nation” which had caused racial unrest across the country. Tindley and other clergy marched through the city and were met with an angry white mob that violently attacked them. Charles knew that protest alone would not further his cause so he built good relationships with influential people among the white political and business hierarchy of Philadelphia. He raised money to help the needy, opening one of the city’s first soup kitchens giving away over 500 meals every evening allowing the homeless to get hot baths and clothes from the church basement. He and his parishioners also created a savings and loan to help African Americans buy their own homes.
The church continued to grow at such a rate that they outgrew their existing building and moved a few blocks away to a bigger sanctuary. His wife Daisy died the day they moved into the new church. He eventually remarried and the church continued to grow under his leadership until his death in 1933. The church was renamed Tindley Temple in his honor and is still active to this day.
He is buried in Philadelphia with a large memorial engraved with the words “Beams Of Heaven As I Go” from one of his most beloved hymns.
[...]
Often called the “Grandfather of black gospel music,” Tindley’s hymns focus on Christ’s saving promises amid life’s troubling storms. Two of his most well-known hymns are “We’ll Understand It Better By and By” and “Stand By Me.” His hymn “I’ll Overcome Someday” was the inspiration for the protest and Civil Rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.”"...
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ORIGINAL LYRICS FOR "THE STORM IS PASSING OVER"
1 Courage, my soul, and let us journey on,
Tho’ the night is dark it won’t be very long.
Thanks be to God, the morning light appears,
And the storm is passing over, Hallelujah!
Refrain:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
The storm is passing over,
Hallelujah!
2 Billows rolling high, and thunder shakes the ground,
Lightning's flash and tempest all around,
Jesus walks the sea and calms the angry waves,
And the storm is passing over, Hallelujah! [Refrain]
3 The stars have disappeared, and distant lights are dim,
My soul is filled with fears, the seas are breaking in.
I hear the Master cry, "Be not afraid, ’tis I,"
And the storm will soon be over, Hallelujah! [Refrain]
4 Soon we shall reach the distant shining shore,
Free from all the storms we’ll rest forevermore.
Safe within the veil, we’ll furl the riven sail,
And the storms will all be over, Hallelujah! [Refrain]
Source: Songs of Zion #58
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INFORMATION ABOUT "THE STORM IS PASSING OVER" INCLUDING INFORMATION ABOUT DONALD VAIL'S ARRANGEMENT OF THAT HYMN
From https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/storm-is-passing-over
..."Origins. This hymn by Charles Albert Tindley (1851–1933) was first published in his collection Soul Echoes (1905). Like many classic hymns, including Tindley’s “We’ll understand it better by and by” or Horatio Spafford’s “It is well with my soul,” this text draws on the imagery of storm and sea, especially the biblical account of Jesus calming the sea in Matthew 8:23-27. The musical arrangement in the original printing was by one of Tindley’s close collaborators, Francis A. Clark, otherwise known at the time as Professor F.A. Clark. The fourth stanza appeals to a heavenly rest from all storms.
Adaptation. This hymn is known to modern worshipers in a very different form, an adaptation by Donald Vails for the Donald Vails Choraleers, published on his album In Deep Water (Savoy Records SL-14421, 1976 ). The song was also included on his album Yesterday, Today, and Forever (Sound of Gospel, 1985). For his arrangement, Vails only used the words of the first stanza and the refrain, and he rewrote the melody. This is the version of the hymn which is most often performed by choirs and appears in modern hymnals, such as the African American Heritage Hymnal (2001). "
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CONTEMPORARY LYRICS FOR THE DONALD VAILS ARRANGEMENT OF "THE STORM IS PASSING OVER"
Encourage my soul
and let us jouney on.
For the night is dark,
and I am far from home.
Thanks be to God
The morning light appears.
The storm is passing over.
The storm is passing over.
The storm is passing over,
Hallelu….
Halelujah
Ha-le-lu-jah
The storm is passing over
Hallelu…
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The words "O courage my soul" or "Have courage my soul" are sometimes used instead of "Encourage my soul".
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This concludes Part I of this two part pancocojams series.
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