The Session and Worship Committee at First Presbyterian Church are exploring the possibility of purchasing new hymnals for worship use. We have created this website as a resource for the congregation. Please take a look at the links and information below.
Letter from Steve Baxley
I love hymnals. I have eighteen different hymnals on my bookshelves at home. I come by this naturally since, from time to time, my father led the music at the churches we attended as I grew up, and many of the hymnals on my shelves were his. During my years as a minister of music, I added to my collection and our hymnal, The Worshiping Church, is among them. It holds a special place in my collection and not just because it is the hymnal of our church. The first person listed on the Editorial Committee that created the hymnal is Kerchal Armstrong. He and his wife were my favorite babysitters when I was a small child. Another member of the committee, Robert E. Webber, was my teacher for my Certificate of Worship Studies. It is one of the best of the new hymnals and hymnal revisions of the early 1990s. The beginning of the foreword to The Worshiping Church touches on the “reasonable lifetime” of a hymnal, the ‘“hymnal explosion”’ of the previous twenty years, and the changes in styles that had occurred during that time, all leading to the need for the creation of this hymnal. Our hymnal was first published in 1990 and, since that time, the “explosion” of excellent new hymns has continued if not increased. You will be familiar with a few of these hymns that we have sung with the words printed in our bulletins. “Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God” and “Blest Are They” are examples of new hymns coming from the United Kingdom and the United States. As music being sung in the global community becomes more accessible, great hymns from other cultures around the world are now being added to new hymnals. The growing interest in singing the Psalms has led to new, beautiful settings of these biblical texts. Changes in style during this time have meant that new hymns are more lyrical, accessible, and singable and often speak to issues for the church today that were not issues for our early hymn writers.
The Worship Committee at First Presbyterian Church is looking at new hymnals to see what is available that might contribute to our worship together. Church musicians say that the life of a hymnal is usually 20 – 25 years and ours is now 32 years old. There is an amazing body of hymns that was not available to the committee that created The Worshiping Church, and there have been more recent hymnals published that include the best of the new generation of hymns. Our guiding principles are that a hymnal must be biblically based, support our reformed tradition of worship, honor the centuries of great hymns that have been foundational to our worship, and include the best of the more recent hymns that can enrich and deepen our worship.
As part of our exploration of the hymnal’s place in our worship, we seek your input to help guide us. If you would like to share your thoughts on the place of hymnals in your worship experience, please fill out the questionnaire above. You will also find more information about the importance of hymnals at this link and new information will be posted in the weeks ahead. Also feel free to reach out to me at church or call or email me.
In Christ,
Steve Baxley
Chair, Worship Committee