The new Celebrating Grace Hymnal will be released Easter 2010, and there is a premiere scheduled for Monday evening, March 8, at Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. The goal of this new hymnal is described as follows: "Through this hymnal, congregations and church musicians will sing the songs of different eras and cultures while creating songs of their own. Authors and composers, poets and prophets, musicians and congregations of the faithful will lift their voices together in the great conversation of celebrating grace, singing songs that are always new because they never grow old."Here are a few reasons why I'm excited about this new hymnal:
- It is an actual book with words and musical notes printed on the page, which can be held in the hands and shared between spouses or between parents and children. As people of the Book, we must value the printed word (even in a technological age of screens and projected words).
- Its title reflects the very essence of Christian worship - celebrating grace.
- It "makes a theological statement of belief and practice even in its organization." It is divided into two sections, reflecting the covenant language of Scripture: (1) I Will Be Your God and (2) You Shall Be My People.
- It incorporates Scripture readings, responsive readings, and various litanies drawn from the revelation of God's Word that will enhance the corporate involvement of the congregation in worship.
- It includes information about the Church Year or Christian Calendar (including Advent, Christmas, Holy Week, and Easter). This is something Baptists have long missed out on and could stand to learn more about in order to enrich our worship.
- Its selection criteria was very encouraging: (1) theological soundness (2) musical quality and (3) congregational sing-ability. If you've tried to sing through some of the recent hymnals, you know that some of the songs aren't easy to sing congregationally; other hymns have texts and tunes that simply do not fit together, and some hymns are just plain bad when it comes to their theology. The selection process for this hymnal was described in this way: "Each hymn and song selected was reviewed both for its musical contributions and its theological soundness. The text of each hymn, along with the arrangement, was carefully considered before being accepted for inclusion. The Editors were committed to providing songs that encouraged congregational singing."
- It appreciates the rich legacy of English hymnody but also incorporates some of the good, new hymns and songs that churches should be singing (it contains over 600 songs in all).
- My friend, Ron Boud, served on the Supplemental Music Committee (if you know Dr. Boud, that's reason enough to be excited about it!).
For an interview with Mark Edwards, who served on the Editorial Board of Celebrating Grace Hymnal and serves as the worship resource manager for the project, click here.
For more information about the hymnal, click here.
