What Are They Doing In Heaven

1 

I am thinking of friends whom I used to know,

Who lived and suffered in this world below;

They've gone up to heaven; but I want to know,

What they are doing now?

Refrain:

What are they doing in heaven today?

Where sin and sorrow are all done away,

And peace abounds like a river, they say;

O what are they doing there now?

2 

There were some whose hearts were burdened with cares,

They passed their moments in sighing and tears,

They clung to the cross with trembling and fears,

But what are they doing now?

3 

There were some whose bodies were full of disease,

Medicine nor doctor could give them much ease;

They suffered till death brought a final release,

But what are they doing now?

4 

There were some who were poor and often despised;

They looked to heaven through tear-blinded eyes,

While people were heedless and deaf to their cries,

But what are they doing now?

Author: Charles Albert Tindley

Charles Albert Tindley was born in Berlin, Maryland, July 7, 1851; son of Charles and Hester Tindley. His father was a slave, and his mother was free. Hester died when he was very young; he was taken in my his mother’s sister Caroline Miller Robbins in order to keep his freedom. It seems that he was expected to work to help the family. In his Book of Sermons (1932), he speaks of being “hired out” as a young boy, “wherever father could place me.” He married Daisy Henry when he was seventeen. Together they had eight children, some of whom would later assist him with the publication of his hymns. Tindley was largely self-taught throughout his lifetime. He learned to read mostly on his own. After he and Daisy moved to Philadelphia  in 1875, he took correspondence courses toward becoming a Methodist minister. He did this while working as a sexton (building caretaker) for the East Bainbridge Street Church. Beginning in 1885, he was appointed by the local bishop to serve two or three-year terms at a series of churches, until coming full circle to become pastor at East Bainbridge in 1902. Under his leadership, the church grew rapidly. They relocated in 1904 to the East Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church, then again in 1924 to the new Tindley Temple, where the membership roll blossomed to about ten thousand.

Tindley was known for being a captivating preacher, and for also taking an active role in the betterment of the people in his community. His songs were an outgrowth of his preaching ministry, often introduced during his sermons. Tindley was able to draw people of multiple races to his church ministry; likewise, his songs have been adopted and proliferated by white and black churches alike.

The songs of Charles Tindley were published cumulatively in two editions of Soul Echoes (1905, 1909) and six editions of New Songs of Paradise (1916-1941).

His wife Daisy died in 1924, before the completion of the Tindley Temple. He remarried in 1927 to Jenny Cotton. Charles A. Tindley died July 26, 1933.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtZOY81el8s