In February 1950, in Abidjan, the choir of the CELESTIAL CHURCH OF CHRIST was born. It was the work of the Holy Spirit through Papa Nathaniel A. YANSUNNU, the Church's first Senior Evangelist, and his children.
The keeper of the revealed hymns
Nathaniel A. YANSUNNU wrote down the words and the music. He translated almost all of the revealed and adopted hymns from Goun into French and Yoruba. He was called home to God on 13 September 1970 in Cotonou, leaving this heritage behind him.
Translations that betray the hymns
Over the years, French translations multiplied from one parish to the next, respecting neither the meaning nor the music of the hymns. In 1978, Papa SYLVANIELO Philibert, of Martinican origin and then Head of the Church's Diocese in Côte d'Ivoire, was the first to ask Lévi M. YANSUNNU for a French hymn book drawn from his father's original documents.
The Prophet's request
In March 1980, the Prophet OSCHOFFA, shocked by these translations, in turn called on the author. He asked him to:
COMPLETE the work on the hymns from the documents left by Senior Evangelist Nathaniel A. YANSUNNU; PUBLISH a hymn book for the Church; SPREAD it throughout the celestial world.
On 24 and 25 August 1985, during a short stay in Ketu (Lagos), the Prophet returned to this request and gave his final recommendations on the hymns and on the life of the choir in the Church.
Singing as one
The Recueil de chants en français, Tome I (French hymn book, Volume I) was published in 1996: 390 hymns (450 tunes) from the various services, the explanations and changes the Prophet wished for, and the music for a selection of Te Deums and 52 Glorias. Histoire des chants (History of the hymns) traces the origin of the hymns, the birth of the chorus and the choir, and the drift born of ignorance of this history. The Recueil de chants, Tome II gathers most of the Church's hymns, words and harmonised music, so that every parish may sing in the same way.
