Interesting hymnal

[denf]

Some might be interested in this fairly recent hymnal. I'm always searching for hymns to augment our Episcopal Hymnal 1982, and this one really has all manner of things. Some of the more standard hymns have been transposed so people can sing them without straining. Even though it's recent, I don't find any of the "Praise" type included.

Here's a link: http://www.hopepublishing.com/html/m....0&workid=2196

[Silken Path]

Thanks, denf. As a small-time collector of hymnals, I'm very interested in this. I have been dismayed by the changes in the Baptist Hymnal 2008 and the songs and sentiments left out.

http://www.ethicsdaily.com/omitted-titles-in-new-baptist-hymnal-reflect-theological-shift-corrected-cms-13109

Looking through the alphabetical index of Worship & Rejoice, I see several of the omitted songs... No "Whosover Will" or "Whosover Meaneth Me" but "All Things Bright and Beautiful" is there. $49 for the spiral bound is a good buy, too.

On edit: I ordered the sample! $10 + free shipping. They want to get them out there.

[denf]

You're welcome. That's a great article applicable to almost any denomination that's revamping their hymnal. I have a sense that a fair percentage of members of the Episcopal church aren't cradle Episcopalians. That is, they've migrated there from other denominations. That's why I can frequently substitute an old, familiar hymn from another denomination - they enjoy it, and frankly, so do I.

[myorgan]

Denf,

I wonder if any of the words have changed? Sometimes rather than removing the hymns, they change the words to provide gender-neutral wording and/or removing references to the blood of Christ cleansing from all sin (i.e. Nothing But the Blood, etc.). Another recent change is to include International Hymns or non-English hymns such as Siyahamba, Nada te Turbe, etc. This hymnbook also reaches across the aisle, as it were, into the Catholic music tradition to include pieces that were originally in one of the Glory and Praise series like Here I Am, Lord, and one other I've forgotten, but saw when I saw the hymnbook for the first time.

There are, indeed, some "praise" style songs in the book, but they come from the '70s ad '80s--As the Deer, Alleluia (written by a fellow from Maine), Because He Lives (Gaither), In My Life, Lord, etc. You get the idea. I actually ran into this hymnbook for the first time a couple of weeks ago when visiting another church, but I can't remember the denomination or even why I was there. I guess they hymnbook was the most interesting part of the entire service.

Thank you so much for sharing the link!

Some might be interested in this fairly recent hymnal. I'm always searching for hymns to augment our Episcopal Hymnal 1982, and this one really has all manner of things. Some of the more standard hymns have been transposed so people can sing them without straining. Even though it's recent, I don't find any of the "Praise" type included.

Here's a link: http://www.hopepublishing.com/html/m....0&workid=2196

Michael

[denf]

You're welcome - and (aagh!) you're right, There are a few of those Praise-type songs in the hymnal. I guess I passed over them as I never actually look for that kind of music. Still and all, I think it's an interesting collection. I don't remember seeing that they've changed things to reflect gender-neutral words; I'll have to examine it a bit more.

We're using It is Well With My Soul from the hymnal in October. The congregation sings the pants off it.

[jbird604]

Another new hymnal on the market is "Celebrating Grace" which was published more or less as an alternative to the 2008 Baptist Hymnal, which some Baptist churches found unsatisfactory for a variety of reasons.

Like you, Silken Path, I am a bit distressed by the 2008 Baptist because of the numerous omissions of very well-liked and long-standing hymns, because of the sad over-simplification of some of the hymns, putting them into ridiculously low keys, and because of the large number of contemporary songs taking up space, many of which were probably out of fashion before the ink dried on the paper. I can't imagine why they would include some questionable contemporary songs when the pages could have been used to keep some of the most loved traditional hymns.

So "Celebrating Grace" came out not long after the 2008 Baptist, and fills a void in the hymnal market for certain denominations.

"Celebrating Grace" is not tied directly to any denomination, but had a lot of input from folks involved in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which are the former SBC churches who have distanced themselves from the SBC in recent decades as the SBC became increasingly fundamentalist and (IMHO) legalistic and exclusive. As many of the CBF churches lean toward a bit more liturgical type of worship, this hymnal remains almost completely traditional in its selection of hymns.

Last year I thought we were going to have some money to replace hymnals, so I spent some time researching this one, and found that it includes almost every traditional hymn that we sing in our Disciples congregation, and all the hymns we were using in my former Baptist church. So I was going to recommend buying these, until the funding did not materialize.

Anyway, it's nice to know that there is yet another good choice. If and when our opportunity for new hymnals come around again, I will give this one serious consideration too.

Here's a link to info on "Celebrating Grace" if anyone is interested:

https://pinelakemusic.com/pdfs/1936151004.pdf

[Silken Path]

Thanks, John. They're just down the road from me in Macon, GA. I ordered the accompanist's version.

[myorgan]

Interesting hymnal, too, John. It has some (but not all) of the same pieces the hymnal Denf shared. It seems to have excluded some of the International hymns/songs, and has also excluded classic "hymns" like When Aimless Violence Takes Those We Love, and When Will People Cease Their Fighting?.

"Celebrating Grace" is not tied directly to any denomination, but had a lot of input from folks involved in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which are the former SBC churches who have distanced themselves from the SBC in recent decades as the SBC became increasingly fundamentalist and (IMHO) legalistic and exclusive.

That's too bad. They really should not exclude the fundamentalists and distance themselves from them. Sounds like discrimination and intolerance to me.

Michael

[jbird604]

Isn't it sad that Christians can't even all sing from the same hymnal?

I guess I betrayed my bias when I mentioned "Celebrating Grace" and bragged on it as I did. But honestly, I wasn't the only Baptist (which I was at the time, though no longer) who found the hymnal presented us in 2008 a little disappointing. And of course it was not forced on us in any way, just presented as a new option by Lifeway. The 1991 Baptist Hymnal (IMHO the best of all the Baptist Hymnals) is still for sale. I suppose one can even still buy the old 1975 and even the 1956 Baptist Hymnals, as well as the Broadman Hymnal from the 40's. So Southern Baptists certainly have options, and of course many SBC churches use none of these hymnals at all, some use one of the various independently produced hymnals, some use no hymnal at all.

"Celebrating Grace" appears to me to have been made with folks like me in mind. It retains nearly all the hymns from the 1991 Baptist, at least the ones that were actually being used. And the newer hymns included are generally in traditional/classical hymn style and format. It has about the same set of quasi-contemporary choruses as the 1991. And the layout of the pages, fonts, and organization into sections are all very familiar and useful, as good as any hymnal I've seen.

As a bonus, the breakout hit new hymn "In Christ Alone" is even in there! (The publishers made an unauthorized emendation to the text, changing a single phrase about the "wrath" of God to the "love" of God. I understand that the hymn's authors were not happy, and I'm not sure if the emendation survives in subsequent editions. Personally, I liked the revision and understand the theology behind it, but I'd still sing the song with the original words if that were the only option.)

So, for me at least, and even more so now that I'm no longer a Baptist, "Celebrating Grace" is a perfect upgrade from the 1991 BH. When I was DOM at my former Baptist Church, there were around 200 hymns, gospels songs, and choruses that we actually sang out of the 1991 BH. These were, for me, the best of the best. Not that the other 450 entries weren't worthy, but these were the songs that our people knew, that they loved dearly, that spoke to their hearts. I considered all of them worthy from a musical point of view as well. We didn't exclude everything else, but these were our steady musical diet, and I thought it was a healthy regimen.

When I was researching hymnals last year, I compared my "top 200" list to the index of "Celebrating Grace" and found every single one of my "essential" hymns present! The only drawback I found was that a handful of hymns that I've come to love in the Disciples "Chalice" Hymnal were not there, specifically "We Call Ourselves Disciples" (no wonder) as well as "Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation" set to the tune "Westminster Abbey." And a very fine arrangement of "Be Thou My Vision" which was borrowed from the Methodists.

Perhaps for us, the eventual solution will be to get "Celebrating Grace" as a supplement to "Chalice" and keep both in the pews. Right now we have not only the "Chalice" but also an old Gaither-published hymnal called "Worship His Majesty" that lets us sing a lot of old favorites that the Chalice omitted. But our old "Majesty" books are falling apart, the pages are yellowed with age, and there are some glaring problems with some of the hymns -- strange tunes, strange arrangements, strange emendations. And several of my favorites are still not there.

Anybody want to donate a couple thousand dollars to a small congregation for new hymnals? Thank you!

[davidecasteel]

We're using It is Well With My Soul from the hymnal in October. The congregation sings the pants off it.

That was my mother's favorite Hymn, and I'm strongly considering using it in my funeral. The text is very appropriate.

David

[rmdostie]

As a bonus, the breakout hit new hymn "In Christ Alone" is even in there! (The publishers made an unauthorized emendation to the text, changing a single phrase about the "wrath" of God to the "love" of God. I understand that the hymn's authors were not happy, and I'm not sure if the emendation survives in subsequent editions. Personally, I liked the revision and understand the theology behind it, but I'd still sing the song with the original words if that were the only option.)

Your mention of "In Christ Alone" rang a bell with me. I became acquainted with this hymn about a year ago, through the work I was doing as music notation editor for a book entitled Hermeneutics of Hymnody, by Scotty Gray of Texas, to be published by Smyth & Helwys in 2015. As Mr. Gray told me, "This work address the interrelated biblical, theological, liturgical, literary, musical, and historical/sociocultural dimensions of hymnody." My job was to set all of his musical examples, used with publishers' permission, into a uniform format with the same notation style and size for each. "In Christ Alone" was one of his examples, and the pdf he sent me was from the Celebrating Grace hymnal. It is indeed a fine hymn with a stirring tune. Mr. Gray's book has been accepted for publication and is probably in its final editin process now. As far as I know, it isn't available yet, but I haven't checked with the publisher so it might be.

Rick Dostie

Correction: The book has been published. Here is the link to the Smyth & Helwys page: http://www.helwys.com/sh-books/2338/

[denf]

I think it's a fine hymn as well; I can barely make it through it sometimes. There's something about personal tragedy that inspires people to write a really good hymn. Horatio Spafford, the man who wrote the text for IIWWMS had some really awful things happen in his life, and so did Karolina Sandell-Berg who wrote the text for Children of the Heavenly Father.

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/t/i/itiswell.htm
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/cofthehf.htm

Yet, they kept on going faithfully for many years.

Dennis

(I was replying to David's previous note. This computer stuff throws me sometimes)

[myorgan]

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/t/i/itiswell.htm
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/cofthehf.htm

Yet, they kept on going faithfully for many years.

Dennis,

Oddly enough, the Cyber Hymnal doesn't do an effective job with What a Friend We Have in Jesus. A more complete/accurate history can be found here.

All,

It mystifies me why hymns are arbitrarily removed from hymnbooks in favor of a contemporary (or near contemporary) piece that
endlessly repeats a phrase or two,

endlessly repeats a phrase or two,

endlessly repeats a phrase or two,

endlessly repeats a phrase or two.

Sorry, got stuck in the rut--like I was at one of those contemporary churches!

It makes me wonder if, in our positions as church musicians, we are failing in our job somehow. Of course, I'm not ruling out all contemporary pieces, because those of merit deserve to be added to the annals of hymnody. I just wonder if we're being too open, accepting, and/or tolerant of palaver, popularity, and political correctness instead of insisting on quality.

Michael

[jbird604]

That's funny, Michael!

[davidecasteel]

I call those "7-11 songs" (7 words, 11 times)....

David