None whatsoever.  I have no memory of singing it unitl I was an adult offering funeral leadership

 No childhood memories.  If they sang it in the Catholic church my mind would have been elsewhere. (I remember as a youth picking a wart on my finger in church and suddenly it came off and started bleeding. Oops.)

I like the lyrics though.

I went to a Baptist church until I was 12 and this was a major Easter Hymn. When I look at the words now, I can see how far I have changed in what I believe and I would not sing this hymn  or put it as a hymn in a service.

I sang it when I went to Church with my mother as a little boy.  So yes, it brings me memory of those times.

"The Old Rubber Cross"

That's what I thought people were singing when I first heard it as a little kid"

It was sung/played at my grandmother's Salvation Army funeral service back in the 60's.  It brings up the memory of me being a little girl and having a nose bleed at the service.

For me it is a wonderful hymn that I have enjoyed many, many times from childhood onward to the present day.  I will likely enjoy it again, sooner rather than later I hope.

God bless,

I love that ninjafaery...The Old Rubber Cross!  Until I listened to Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap I didn't know that was called a mondegreen.  We all do it.  One young rocker translated "Smoke on the water, fire in the sky " to  Slow smokin' Walter, fire engine guy."

God bless,

I love this hymn. We sing it sometimes at my current church. It's so beautiful ... :)

SPAM!!!

For me, it's always been one of those hymns that you hear deep voiced gospel singers singing, so I tend to associate it with TV commercials for "America's most loved gospel songs" and such like. We didn't sing it much, if at all, in my UCC days so I don't really have any personal memories associated with it. Now, "Fairest Lord Jesus" was a favorite of my mother and we sang it at her funeral, so that has some memories.

Mendalla

 Makes me think of hillbillies ... 

That hymn and the hymn "Lord of the Dance" sure do bring up memories.

Yes, it's one we'd do in church fairly often, an old standby. Also my long-term college girlfriend put it on a cassette for me. There was some confusion over the words and so she really emphasized one part of it. I think it was maybe me thinking it was "troubles" instead of "trophies". Honestly laying down our troubles before the LORD makes more sense, but oh well.

I don't think that we sang it much in the UCC - was it in The Hymnary? The red Hymn Book? Voices United?   But I do remember singing it at hymn-sings before the service or evenings of gospel music.  I rather liked it (words and music) without considering the theology.  Now I can't imagine singing it at a worship service. 

Lord of the Dance - certainly.  (words, music, theology)   I love it.

My favourite hymn is Here I Am Lord.

When this is sang at our church, the joy and enthusism expressed is a delight.

Here I Am Lord is one of my favourites too, as well as Spirit of Gentleness.

The Old Rugged Cross isn't a hymn our church sings much anymore but I do remember it from earlier years.

I remember a family requesting it at a funeral. The Minister would not use it and it caused many hard feelings. It begs the question who should pick the music for funeral services. Do the family take precedent?

I remember being about 14 years old & my mom whispering to me in church that she wanted this played at her funeral.  Freaked me out, thinking about my mom dying.  But I remembered it.  We did have the organist play it as the recessional music - no singing of the words. 

No, it's not in Voices United - for whoever asked.

Should the minister have the right to veto music at a funeral (or wedding for that matter?)  I don't really think so ... but I'm not a minister.   There might be need of some discussion re a selection, but to veto what a family, or possibly the person themselves, wanted?  Doesn't  sound right to me.

I don't see why a minister would refuse to use this fairly traditional hymn if requested at a funeral service. However, I do think the minister has a responsibility to reject songs that are unsuitable for church worship, including funeral services. Otherwise how can the minister lead worship with integrity? In the case of a funeral service, I think there would have to be a very pressing reason, and of course it needs to be handled very sensitively.

There seems to be plenty of room for compromise (if considered necessary), e.g. sing only those verses that are appropriate, or just play the music but don't sing any words.

At my father's funeral we sang Charles Wesley's hymn "And Can it Be ..." Although some thought my father might have preferred a different hymn, furtunately there was no suggestion that the hymn was unsuitable for church worship. If that had happened, it might have become very awkward, although even then I believe that that particular minister would have handled it gently and well.

BTW, wikipedia gives a brief history of the Old Rugged Cross - authorship and popular usage.

It was, and is, the response that hymns like this evoked in the people I grew up with -  to reach out in charity and love, to reach beyond themselves, to expect more of themselves, to embrace the outcast, comfort the afflicted, that made me look deeper into Christianity.

I knew that their literal meaning did not ring true for me the way they did for those people, but the metaphor, the symbolism, the reaching beyond oneself to the oneness of Creation, that did, and still does, move me to tears.

Many here have stated how these words don't move them, or how they're negatively affected because they bring to mind the primitive "blood atonement" element that once so permeated our faith,

I would suggest that it's worth hearing this hymn in the contex of someone like John Wesley (yes I know it's not that old, but it is a theology he would have understood) who, driven by his faith, created schools, championed abstinence in an alcohol-plagued society, and challenged people to rise above their base instincts to emulate the one who died rather than betray his principles.

My grandmother use to sing it to me when I was a little girl and it was sung at her funeral.

I also like Lord of the Dance.

That's just sad Crazyheart.  Yes, the family takes precedent.  A funeral service is a chance for the living to say goodby to those they have lost.

I sang at my cousin Judy's memorial.  Having been a big fan of New York City, one of the songs she requested was On Broadway.  Of course I played and sang it for her.  And for those who knew Judy it evoked some wonderful memories.  Was the chance to experience  wonderful memories or comforting thoughts  lost when the family wasn't allowed to hear and sing The Old Rugged Cross?  Possibly...I will guess likely.

Me, I would have gone to the church board to allow it to be sung or found a different church for  the funeral. This kind of lockstep, dictatorial thinking is one reason church attendance is declining. 

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

Refrain

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.

O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.

Refrain

In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.

Refrain

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GoldenRule---You and I could stand and cry together for this song. I owe you an Apolgy brother I Have watched  your writings . I've  made a mistake you are a brother. As The Old Rugged Cross goes .This song is the  Emcomposing of Christian Belief.Read The Words  Again.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For many, this is "comfort food". Like the theology or not, the song has been echoing through my mind and it still brings comfort. Yes, DaveHenderson, it was sad for the family - not honoring the deceased request.

I heard it alot growing up since my mother and her siblings always sang when they got together, and this one reminded them of their mother -- my grandmother.  They'd all be a mess while singing it -- tears streaming down their cheeks and lots of hugs.

Except I wondered what all the fuss was about a rubber cross. 

Thanks ac. I sincerely appreciate your comments. Our theologies are still radically divergent, as your comment "encompassing of Christian belief" would mean quite different things to each of us, I'm sure.

Still, the conversations here, as usual, have helped me get a handle on how I want to approach my Lent and Easter articles this year.

Thanks and be well

David

My memory of this hymn/song was as a solo piece that my father (baritone) used to sing in church.  I don't ever remember singing it as a congregational hymn.