7 sacred songs in honor of Memorial Day
'Onward, Christian Soldiers'
Considered controversial in some circles for its strong military imagery, "Onward Christian Soldiers" was written by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1864.
The hymn was originally meant to serve as a youth processional song, with the idea being that Christian children were as soldiers engaged in spiritual warfare.
In recent decades, some churches have tried to remove the song from their hymnals. The United Methodist Church considered omitting it from its 1989 hymnal until a large outcry from their pews kept the song in.
