A New Hymnal for Traditional Services

By Steve Nelson

Last December at a Session meeting, I learned that the Worship Committee had received an offer of a donation for a new hymnal for Central. I had helped two churches we attended in Minnesota to select new hymnals, so I offered to help out and was asked to form a committee for this purpose. The hymnal would replace the one used in our 10:00 am service.

What's wrong with the old one? Nothing, really. It has served us well. The Hymnbook was published in 1955 by five Presbyterian and Reformed denominations, including the three that merged to form our own. But a lot has changed since then. Many hymns have been written, music has flourished, our language has changed, new Bible translations have been widely adopted, and some countries that once were mission fields are now sending missionaries elsewhere and writing hymns that we might enjoy. And some of us might appreciate the larger print in most new hymnals.

The Worship Committee specified that the new hymnal be Reformed and suitable for traditional services. I asked five people to serve on the selection committee who were committed to the traditional service and knowledgeable about music: Jay Biddison, Julia Bosma, Tom Brantigan, Amy Killian and Jan Turnbaugh.

We held six meetings and considered eight hymnals. Committee members were asked to review the books using the following questions:

1. What do you think of this book theologically? How well does it reflect Central's mission, values and philosophy? How compatible is it with Reformed theology?
2. What do you think of the selection of hymns? How well does it support our 10:00 traditional service, special services, a wide variety of sermon topics and biblical themes? How appropriate are the hymns for Advent, Easter, other seasons, baptism and communion?
3. What do you think of this book musically? How well does the music fit the words? Are the hymns singable (key, range, harmonies)? Do the styles fit our 10:00 service?
4. If this book replaced our present Hymnbook, what hymns would you miss the most and what new hymns in this book would you most appreciate?
5. In what ways would this book challenge us?

After considerable research into the hymns we actually have sung as well as further thought on the nuances of each "finalist," the committee decided to select The Presbyterian Hymnal. I reported this recommendation to the Worship Coordination Team, which in turn unanimously recommended the selection to the Session. The Session subsequently approved the recommendation as well.

In one sense we haven't lost anything because we can still draw from our outgoing hymnal as much as we have our incoming hymnal by copying hymns as needed.

We hope to hold a hymn sing Service in June to further familiarize the congregation with our new hymnal. We expect they will be available for use on Sunday, May 5th, if all goes well.

(see also O Sing To The Lord!)