WELS Hymnal Project

Project Blog

Insights, analysis, techniques, opinions, and experiences from the team behind the WELS Hymnal Project.

The Beginning of the End

Jan 5, 2020 by Mike Marquardt

As we turn the page on 2019 and enter 2020, we find ourselves reaching some critical milestones in the WELS Hymnal Project. This past November, the Executive Committee met for its final scheduled face-to-face meeting. Just a few days after this final meeting, a draft of the new hymnal was turned over to Northwestern Publishing House for copyediting. A few days after that, a draft of the Psalter was also given to NPH for copyediting. Thus begins an 18-month process of getting these substantial volumes ready for print. There will be much back-and-forth in the coming months as issues are brought up and resolved and small alterations are made, but it is a significant milestone in the history of this project.

The Agenda Book, the Manuals, the Musician’s Resource, the digital tools, and other ancillary resources are still in progress but are scheduled to be released concurrently with the Hymnal and Psalter around Advent of 2021.

We can now say the new hymnal comes out next year, Lord willing!

So now what? We enter what might be considered a brief “intertestamental period” as we await the advent of the new hymnal. The remaining work on these resources will be largely silent to the public. Now that our research and development work is largely complete, and assuming that the public won’t necessarily want to hear about the figurative crossing of t’s and dotting of i’s as the books go through copyediting, the Communications Committee of the WELS Hymnal Project and www.welshymnal.com will be decommissioned sometime in the next couple of weeks. Replacing it at that time will be the website for the new hymnal with first looks at pages, artwork, and information that will help congregations and schools plan for adopting the new hymnal when it is released.

For the last six-and-a-half years, by means of roughly a dozen synod-wide surveys, over 120 blog posts and educational articles, and receiving and responding to over 2,000 comments and questions that have come from the public, we have endeavored to educate, to be as transparent as possible, and to give the members of our synod a voice in this process. Be assured that every comment and question that has come in through this website has been read by real people and shared with the Executive Committee and Committee chairmen. It is our hope that as we pass this milestone of the project, the members of our church body feel as though they had a window into the process and had opportunity to let their voices be heard.

Thank you for being a part of the process. Thank you for your honest and thoughtful feedback through surveys and messages. Thank you for the many words of support and encouragement these past several years. Thank you for your prayers. This project could not continue without you and without the blessing of our Lord.

In the very near future, the Hymnal Introduction Program (HIP) will be your source for information for the new hymnal and its resources. The Director of the HIP is Adam Mueller and working with him, Bryan Gerlach, Director for the Commission on Worship. So let me introduce the men who will introduce you to the new hymnal:

Adam Mueller
I am privileged to serve as the Hymnal Introduction Program national Director. Currently, I serve a parish of about 500 in greater Tucson, AZ. For more than half of my ministry, I served a parish that worshiped less than 100. My experiences in both settings have taught me that when worship is done well it not only feeds the soul, but positively influences your entire parish culture.

The latest hymnal family of products overflows with outstanding Gospel content. Print and digital tools will help pastors, musicians, and laity cooperate to proclaim the Gospel. Like any new tool, it's only as good as the guy who's using it! Throughout the next two years the Hymnal Introduction Program will familiarize you with the upcoming wealth of resources that will be released. It will also orient you and train you to be able to use them.

Bryan Gerlach
I’m excited to be part of the Hymnal Introduction Program for several reasons: 1) Worship is the heart of parish life and vitality; it deserves our best. 2) People will appreciate the richness and variety of excellent new content. 3) As someone trained both as a parish pastor and as a church musician, I was part of the introduction program for the 1993 hymnal. Now, having served as the Director for the Commission on Worship since 1996, I am happy to use my experiences to help congregations adopt a new hymnal “for a generation yet unborn” (the project’s motto).

As the project’s executive committee is firmly grounded in parish ministry, so it’s good that the introduction program is chaired by someone in the parish. Thus Pastor Mueller’s role will assure that HIP is practical and accessible to any congregation. My role is to organize and implement various aspects of the introduction program.

What I look forward to in HIP is simple: helping congregations, pastors, and musicians to discover a wealth of superb quality content. Chief among these are some wonderful new hymns, a lectionary revised toward thematic unity for each Sunday, the amazing ability of the digital resources, and the exceptional design quality of the printed products.

For me it’s more about ministry and stewardship than marketing to promote the new hymnal suite of resources.

Please pray for these two as they begin their work. Please continue to pray for our project director, Mike Schultz, project chairman Jon Zabell, the subcommittee chairmen and their members, the folks at Northwestern Publishing House, and all others who are continuing to work to make this hymnal a blessing for our church body and beyond.

A View from Two

Jan 2, 2020 by James Tiefel

Sometimes you find yourself in the right place at the right time.

I was a sophomore at Northwestern College when LCMS published Worship Supplement in 1969. The college wasn’t much interested back then, but I was, especially in the new hymns which are well-known to us 50 years later. By the time I arrived at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, copies of Worship Supplement were in the chapel pews, and Prof. Martin Albrecht, who also chaired the Commission on Worship, introduced some of the little book’s liturgical innovations. Assignment day in 1976 sent me to St. Paul, Saginaw, and hymnals were in the news. Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) was in publication mode, and LCMS conservatives were thundering opposition. The conservatives won, and Missouri published Lutheran Worship in 1982. I chaired a district committee instructed by the Commission on Worship to study the feasibility of using LW in WELS. That idea was pretty much a non-starter, but I got to know LBW and LW pretty well.

The Commission was ready to recommend to the 1983 synod convention that WELS produce its own hymnal. My associate at St. Paul, Forrest Bivens, was appointed to chair the floor committee that would study and propose the recommendation. Via lengthy phone calls, Kurt Eggert and Martin Albrecht prepared him for the convention, and he shared information with me.

The recommendation was approved, and Kurt Eggert was called as project director. One of his tasks was to form a committee. The Commission on Worship was seeking geographical representation, and I was appointed to represent the Michigan District. I didn’t represent my geography for long, however, but was called to succeed Martin Albrecht at the seminary in 1985. In 1987 I was appointed to the WELS Commission on Worship.

I was one of three “under-40” members of the 17-member hymnal committee. All the others had served long and faithfully in WELS schools and congregations. Despite differences in age, experience, and social connections, we got along with one another and worked together well; everyone contributed. The 17 members divided into four committees, so committees were small. We met as one subcommittee or another almost every month and always face-to-face or in written correspondence. We worked only on paper—lots of paper in coded colors.

By far the greatest challenge the Joint Hymnal Committee faced was preparing a hymnal for the 21st century that would replace a hymnal firmly planted in the 19th century. We needed to move forward without abandoning the heritage of The Lutheran Hymnal. We spent long hours working through language issues (thee or you), inclusive language (sons or saints), where and how to expand the hymn corpus (gospel hymns and spirituals). Field testing was a vital component of the work; so was answering criticism and responding to charges of heresy.

WELS was ready for a new hymnal. The introduction program was highly successful and was commended by several non-WELS denominations. Within a year or two, 98% of WELS congregations were using the new book, Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal.

Back at the seminary, it was my job to help students and WELS members in general use the materials they were seeing in the book. Responsive psalmody, pastoral chant, and the full use of Morning Praise and Evening Prayer became common in the seminary chapel. The growing worship awareness stood behind the change from the black Geneva robe to alb and stole and prompted the use of alternate worship instruments. I contributed 136 pages to Christian Worship Manual (Worship in Theology and Practice). Working with others I prepared two video-enhanced worship education products and created the National Conference on Worship, Music, and the Arts. I was deeply involved with the Commission’s Schools of Worship Enrichment and Institute on Worship and Outreach.

At a certain point, I set creative hymnal work aside. I didn’t participate in the creation of Christian Worship: New Service Settings, Christian Worship Altar Book, or Christian Worship: Occasional Services although I introduced their materials at the seminary and at worship conferences. I passed on participating in Christian Worship: Supplement, although I was asked to review content and obliged. I turned 60 in 2009, and I was ready to step aside and let the younger men take over. I resigned from the Commission on Worship in 2013.

Michael Schultz was in my first seminary class in 1985. Since he was a Michigan boy and since his dad and I had become good friends, Mike and I also became friends during his student days and as he served in Arizona and Georgia. I wasn’t close enough to the Supplement effort to have noticed his good work, and he wasn’t my first choice to head up a new hymnal project. He took on the task, however, and soon called me with the question: “What would you like to do?” My reply was, “I think I should do something, but nothing that takes too much work.” He appointed me as a member-at-large on the Executive Committee and as advisor to the Rites Committee. So much for not-too-much-work!

So now, I’ve had an opportunity to be involved in a second hymnal project. The basic tasks are similar but the administration of the tasks is very, very different. Like in 1985, there is a decision-making committee, the Executive Committee (XC), composed of seven committee chairman, two members-at-large, and three administrators. Unlike in 1985, XC members have not divided themselves into small committees; each committee chairman works with his own committee composed of a half dozen or so men and women. More than 70 people were directly in planning. Only the XC gathers exclusively in face-to-face meetings. Other committees meet most often via digital video conferences. PDFs and Google Docs have replaced paper. Correspondence is by email and digital project management websites. And instead of being one of the young punks of the committee, I am now its old man! Despite differences in age, experience, and social connections, we get along with one another and work together well. Everyone contributes, no one lacks a voice, and most know how to use it!

So how do the two projects compare? I have told the brothers that this committee is more fun than the last committee—all but two were my students at the seminary and all sang in the Seminary Chorus. We have had fun before! I do believe that the era which has passed since the publication of the 1993 hymnal has enabled these men to gain knowledge and experience that is deeper and wider than the previous committee had. This group has an outreach spirit which the other group could not have had. Only a few on the XC have recollections of TLH but all have a respect for the historic legacy of liturgics and hymnody that was not as keen on the last committee. This group has not been afraid to move back from 1985 decisions that may have pushed the envelope too far. This sensitivity blends smoothly with the general acceptance of alternative instruments and the possibilities of digital resources. Their efforts provide an example of how the church builds on the experience of the past as it moves confidently into the future.

I mentioned all these factors as I gave a little speech at the XC’s last meeting in November. I finally said, “Now you have to sell it.” I wonder if this will not be the biggest challenge this project faces. Many WELS members consider the 1993 hymnal to be “the new hymnal” and wonder why we need a second new hymnal now. Some will suggest that digital resources make the purchase of books unnecessary—if you print everything in the bulletin why put books in the pews? Perhaps the most serious of these “sell” challenges will come because a growing number of WELS congregations have lost sight of or interest in the liturgical legacy of Lutheran worship. Claiming mission-mindedness (and ignoring the reality that the members of the hymnal committees have a mission-mindedness surely equal to theirs), too many pastors and congregations are abandoning the liturgical rite, confessional hymnody, and the church year and lectionary for a worship style they sense will appeal to the seeker on the street. In this, we dare say, they overlook the reality that genuine seekers are looking for the truth which they have not found in other churches, the truth that Lutheran worship so magnificently proclaims.

A Gift Beyond Comparison

Dec 23, 2019 by Michael Schultz

You may know the words by heart, but it’s ok if you don’t. You may recall the chapter and verse of the Bible book where the words are located, but it’s ok if you don’t. You do, however, know exactly what the writer was talking about, because on a daily basis you experience the same frustration that he did, and that’s not ok. It gets to be downright maddening.
The good I want to do, I do not do. The evil I don’t want to do, that I do.

I pray that the Lord would create a clean heart within me, but the evil thoughts keep reappearing. I say I’ll watch my tongue and not say things about other people that I have no business saying, but a couple of hours later I’m looking over my shoulder to make sure the person I am gossiping about is not around. I know that the best things I can be doing are the things that help and serve others, but when is there going to be time for me and what I want and what I need?

When the Lord Jesus took on human flesh, it was not like an episode of Undercover Boss. He didn’t dive into the trenches for a week and then take a limo ride to go back to living in his posh house on the hill. For three decades plus, he was subject to the same living conditions that we know so well. Jesus of Nazareth stubbed his toe, burned his finger, coughed and sneezed, had sore muscles, experienced headaches, and upset stomach, was hungry, lived out of a suitcase, heard people curse and swear, saw people acting as if God didn’t exist, was exhausted after long workdays, laughed at celebrations, cried at funerals, and all the while, just like us, he was under the law. He was under legal obligation to love God and never complain, to endure sickness patiently, to say only good things about less than perfect people, to thank God for daily bread, to let his light shine, to trust his Father in heaven to see him through any and all adversity. Jesus was obligated to do and to be everything God has commanded us to do and to be.

But while I go back to Romans 7 and think with Paul, “Why don’t I ever do those things I’m supposed to do and stop doing those things I’m not supposed to do,” Jesus fell asleep each night for 33 years with no sin to confess. In purity, he was always what I have not been—pure. In obedience, he was never what I have been—disobedient.

The fact that God sent his Son is the heart of Christmas. What his Son did puts the blessing into Christmas. Breathing the same air I breathe, living in the same world I live in, subject to the same physical and emotional challenges I face each day, and under the same law of God that I am under, Jesus Christ obeyed the law for me, trusted God for me, spoke only constructive words for me, thought only pure thoughts for me, gave true testimony about God for me, obeyed every commandment for me, endured sickness and heartache with hope and good cheer for me, was kind for me, was content for me, loved God with all his heart, soul, and mind for me. He is my obedience to God. He is my purity in the sight of God. He is for me exactly what God demands that I be. What kind of gift is that!

It’s the kind of gift that has no comparison, because Jesus my righteousness also became my sin. God’s pure Son became my wretched guilt. All of his perfect compliance to the will and law of God made him the only sacrifice pure enough to pay off the eternal debt of my rebellion. The price of redemption came at the cost of his life, offered to God in place of me and in place of everyone. What kind of redemption is that!

It’s the kind of redemption that has made you and me the full-fledged children of God. That means that when we experience the daily struggle of having a new self that wants to live to honor God and an old self that wants to do nothing other than dishonor God, when we fall asleep each night with a boatload of sinfulness to confess, our Father in heaven will hear our confession and grant us his forgiveness, because that’s what a dear Father does for his dear children. And then he provides the strength and the drive to keep fighting the good fight.
Peace in Jesus to you and yours!

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Galatians 4:4-5

An Update from the Project Director - Summer 2019

Jul 29, 2019 by Michael Schultz

Introduction
There is a noticeable shift taking place these days. Things are definitely moving from research and development of content to production of content. In plain language, this means that what hymnal project committees have brought forward is being handed over to Northwestern Publishing House for production as print and digital resources. It’s an exciting time. Years of committee work are coming to fruition in the form of soon-to-be finished works. It has certainly been a team effort. The Lord has been kind to us by bringing us to this point. We look forward to the days in the not too distant future when we will be able to start sharing with members of our church body first glimpses of all of these materials. As we anticipate those days, this update will serve as a progress report on the work our Lord has allowed us to do.

Scripture Committee
The update of the three-year lectionary is complete. A key strength of this updated resource is that all Sundays and festivals will have a unified theme across all three readings. The balance of the propers (Prayer of the Day, Psalm of the Day, Gospel Acclamation [with its proper verse of the day] and Hymn of the Day) will all support this integrated theme. Now that the thousands of work hours that went into the lectionary update have drawn to a close, the Scripture Committee is moving on to the second major component of its work. The committee is busy producing a series of books entitled “Commentary on the Propers,” volumes that will expand on the previously published “Planning Christian Worship” by providing 4-5 pages of comments per Sunday/festival, showing the common thread that runs through the appointed readings. These comments will give tremendously helpful direction to preachers, worship planners, and musicians.

Hymnody Committee
At the beginning of May 2019, the Hymnody Committee brought forward a first draft of the final hymn list. For the Executive Committee (XC) that has been reviewing this list of 650 hymns, this has meant taking a first look at all of the hymns laid out in hymnal format—6X9 pages with music and lyrics. The XC is reviewing the hymns of the new hymnal over the course of this summer. At its September meeting, the XC will look to finalize the list.

There are several different ways that congregations present music to congregations. Hymns are printed in hymnals, reprinted in service folders, and projected on screens. Different users in different contexts may see various strengths or weaknesses in one form of presentation or another. We will always view resources printed in hymnals as perhaps having the highest amount of strengths. Only in the printed book can the full musical accompaniment be legally printed (according to contractual copyright agreements). Reprint licenses (OneLicense.net; CCLI.com) only allow service folder reprinting or projection of the melody and text of copyrighted materials. We will be fully providing all of the above options for congregations—printed books, resources that can be reprinted, resources that can be projected), but we are mindful of the fact that putting the full musical version of resources in the hands of worshipers is something which only the printed book can accomplish.

A ratio of 2/3 and 1/3 is common for new hymnals—2/3 of the hymns of the previous hymnal are brought forward in the new hymnal, while approximately 1/3 of the hymns are new. New hymns are not all recent; a good number of the “new hymns” are simply “new to us.” Bringing forward more than 200 new hymns means that congregations could introduce two new hymns in worship per month over a period of eight years. There are, of course, many new resources in all of the volumes that will appear with the new hymnal. Whether it is hymns or psalms or rites, the amount of new material available will mean that congregations will be acting wisely if they plan to gradually “unwrap” all of these new worship materials over years and even decades, rather than inundating worshipers with too much new material in a short period of time. A Hymnal Introduction Program will explore this gradual approach in great detail.

The final area of the Hymnody Committee’s research was the genre of modern hymns. With the term modern hymns, we are referring neither to Contemporary Christian Music nor to Christian songs played on the radio. An excellent blog article by Pastor Jon Bauer on the hymnal project website explains the philosophy that was adopted and the process that was followed. The Accompaniment Edition for the hymns is slated to be a two-volume set totaling 1500 pages, formatted on 8.5X11 pages, with notation scaled larger for ease of reading on the music stand. (This is the format for all of the accompaniment editions.) An additional, separate accompaniment volume for the hymns is also slated to be produced: Accompaniment for Hymns—Simplified.

Psalmody Committee
As in the current hymnal, the new hymnal will include 62 psalms, those psalms that have been appointed in the lectionary for the various Sunday and festivals of the Christian church year.
Little did we know that choosing to produce a complete psalter would be much like adding another entire hymnal to the workflow of the hymnal project—or maybe we did. That mammoth project is rapidly moving toward completion. A separate, self-standing psalter of approximately 700 pages will include the full texts of all 150 psalms, with an average of two or three different musical settings of each psalm. The Psalter will feature approximately 450 psalm settings. These settings will have a much greater diversity of style than the one style that appeared in our current hymnal. A psalm with a refrain and chanted verses is referred to as a responsorial psalm. Six to eight different styles of musical settings will appear in the new Psalter. Each of the 150 psalms will have at least one responsorial setting and one metrical paraphrase (Christian Worship #238 is a metrical paraphrase of Psalm 103). The Accompaniment Edition for the psalter is slated to be a two-volume set totaling 1000 pages.

Rites Committee
The Rites Committee is in the process of finalizing the text and music of all of the services in the front part of the hymnal. The fact is that these rites have been in close-to-final form for some time now. Since these rites will find repeated use over several decades, final editing is very important so that every service, every rubric, every note, and every syllable appear as intended.

The rite for Holy Communion bears the title “The Service.” Three musical settings of The Service will be printed in the hymnal. Five to six more musical settings of The Service will appear in digital resources. The text of The Service remains essentially the same across the various settings of The Service. Variety is found in some of the prayer texts but is primarily found in the music of the different settings of The Service. Rites for Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline have also been completed. The keyboard Accompaniment Edition for liturgy, psalms and Gospel Acclamations is slated to be a volume of at least 300 pages.

Some congregations participated in field tests of Setting Two of The Service. Setting Three of The Service will be introduced to congregations in a limited way in the Preview that will be available in January 2020. It is noteworthy that Setting Two and Setting Three will both have full settings for both organ and piano. This means that the organ versions of these settings will have their own instrument parts (brass, percussion, etc.), while the piano versions of these settings will also have their own instrument parts (C-instruments, guitar lead sheets, percussion, etc.).

Congregations can also look forward to a full set of Gospel Acclamations (alleluia refrains with a chanted verse of the day) for every Sunday and festival, as well as updated rites for seasonal services (Holy Week, Easter Vigil, etc.).
The liturgical art studio of Nicholas Markell is producing high quality liturgical icons for the various rites and sections of the hymnal and psalter. These images are also slated to be made available to congregations for purchase.

Agenda Book
The WELS Hymnal Project includes print books numbering a total of approximately seventeen volumes. Among those volumes is an Agenda Book. This is the volume that includes rites frequently used by the pastor on special occasions such as the installation of a church council, the installation of a teacher, reception of new members, confirmation, etc. This volume and most of the other seventeen volumes are slated to be released simultaneously with the new hymnal, ready to be used for Advent 2021.

Manuals
Four manuals are being written to support the new worship books of the WELS hymnal project. The four manuals will treat topics aimed at four audiences – pastors; musicians; congregational groups; lay devotions.

Handbook
The current book that includes the background story for the hymns and the biographies for all of the authors and composers of the hymns was entitled: “Christian Worship: Handbook.” That comprehensive volume is being updated and will appear as an online resource.

Communications Committee
The work of the Communications Committee is winding down. The members of the committee did a tremendous amount of work in the early years of the project by way of survey, data analysis, blog posts, FIC articles, news releases, etc. The committee continues to manage the project website where this summer update appears. The work of the Communications Committee will soon transition into the work of the Hymnal Introduction Program.

Technology Committee
The three main initiatives of the hymnal project’s Technology Committee (TC) have not changed over the past five years.

1) The highest priority initiative of the TC has been a service builder program. We are pleased to announce that the licensing of this program has been finalized. The service builder program is “software as a service.” Users operate the software in a web browser rather than installing software on their own hard drives. All of the digital assets of the hymnal program will be available in the service builder program. Worship planning will be greatly facilitated. Undoubtedly, the two greatest strengths of this program will be time savings in producing service folders and the high-level quality of the service folders that the program exports. All WELS congregations will greatly benefit from this software which will be available by subscription. Those using OneLicense.net or CCLI.Com for reprint licensing will want to be aware of the fact that use of this new service builder program virtually eliminates the need for third party reprint licenses. We are eagerly looking forward to letting congregations know about this software starting in early 2020 as the Hymnal Introduction Program officially kicks off. The software itself will be available for Advent 2021 when the new hymnal materials launch.

2) A Musicians’ Resource is the second main initiative of the Technology Committee. This resource is now the main focus of the TC. We are preparing to make available thousands of individual music files in support of congregational singing. These resources would be available for purchase on an ala carte basis. Need a flute part for hymn #523? Like to have an alternate keyboard accompaniment for hymn #499? Need the brass part for the Glory to God in the Highest in Setting Three? Like to have the guitar lead sheet for Psalm 91? Literally thousands of such files will be available in the Musicians’ Resource. Work on the Musicians’ Resource is taking place on a daily basis.

3) A personal app for individual users to access the hymnal materials on a devotional basis is the third initiative of the TC. This resource has been intentionally delayed to the very end of the development timetable, so as to make use of the very latest emerging technology.

Preview
A 60-page booklet is being produced to introduce the new hymnal line of products to the members of our church body. Each congregation will receive multiple hard copies of this Preview. Please note that the Preview is not a sampler. It is not a booklet for use during worship. It is a booklet that shows features of the new hymnal, psalter, and other resources. It will foster conversations in your congregation about the decisions you will make as far as acquiring the new hymnal materials. The Preview will first be released at the January 2020 WELS Leadership Conference. The Hymnal Introduction Program will also formally begin its work at the same time.

Next Steps
The Preview will also begin to share with congregations plans they can make to fund purchases of new hymnal materials. Suffice it to say, before a pricing schedule has been set by Northwestern Publishing House, that we want to encourage all congregations to start planning and setting funds aside now for the new hymnal materials that will be ready for Advent 2021. We are pleased to hear that some congregations are already doing so.
Look forward to seeing in the Forward in Christ magazine a three-article series on the new hymnal, starting in October 2019.

Respectfully submitted,
Pastor Michael D. Schultz, director
WELS Hymnal Project

Searching for Modern Music for the Hymnal

May 18, 2019 by Jonathan Bauer

As the hymns committee began its search for the 200 or so new hymns that will be included in the next hymnal, that search included scouring dozens of published hymnals from all corners of English-speaking Christianity. As a result, when we speak about the “new” hymns that will appear in our next hymnal, we mean hymns that will be new to us. In some cases they are also new in the sense of having been written rather recently. In some cases they have been around for decades or more.

In addition to searching these published hymn collections, we also searched the music that has been produced in recent years within wider English-speaking Christianity, including what is often referred to as Christian contemporary music. We searched artists’ and publishers’ websites. We asked for song lists and recommendations from congregations who regularly use this type of music. Hundreds of songs were looked at, and eventually about 150 were presented to the hymns committee for their review. Of that 150, roughly 50 were presented to the project’s executive committee for their review.

A variety of different reasons could be given for making such a search. But the most important one starts with a very simple assumption, the same assumption that lies at the heart of our church body’s decision to publish a new hymnal in the first place. That assumption is that the Holy Spirit continues to give good gifts to Christ’s Church for the carrying out of its mission. Those gifts didn’t stop in 1524 with the publishing of the first Lutheran hymnal. They didn’t stop in 1993 with the publishing of Christian Worship. They aren’t restricted to any specific generation or denomination. Until Christ comes back, we should expect the Holy Spirit to continue to bless us with gifted poets and composers who put the beautiful truths of the gospel to poetry and music. And if that’s the case, it’s only natural that we would try to identify all of the gifts that could be of benefit to the gospel ministry of our church body’s congregations and schools.

So what did we find? Having been heavily involved in the search described above, I’d like to offer a few reflections.

Observation 1: Much modern music is produced with different priorities than those of a hymnal project.
It’s easy for any evaluation of modern Christian music to be carried out on a pass/fail basis. In other words, the goal is simply to determine whether a song is acceptable for use in our worship or not. Under such a pass/fail approach, the primary focus would naturally be on the words of the song in question.

While this is certainly the place to start and while there are certainly songs that we would conclude are unacceptable for use in our church body, a helpful evaluation goes much further than this. The contents of a generational, denominational resource like a hymnal are selected on the basis of specific priorities. In contrast, much of so-called contemporary music, while not unacceptable for worship, is nonetheless created with very different priorities.

In some cases, the difference in priorities is textual. Our hymnal project is looking for songs whose words proclaim biblical truth in general and gospel comfort in particular. In contrast, many songs are written not primarily to proclaim biblical truth but to give expression to the Christian’s response to that truth.

In some cases the difference in priorities relates to congregational participation. A hymnal is a worship resource designed to be put in the hands of an assembly and used together by that assembly. Words and music are placed side by side so that the collective assembly has everything it needs to be able to proclaim the gospel in song together. In contrast, many songs are written to be performed for an assembly rather than produced by an assembly. Even though the assembly may be able to participate, this ability would come only after hearing the song a good number of times so that the melody is known by heart. If the musical notes of the song were to be displayed to the people at all, they would be more of a hindrance than a help.

Finally, in some cases, the difference in priorities relates to intended shelf life. A hymnal is a curated set of songs meant to serve an entire generation of worshipers. Its inherent expectation is that most of the hymns included have a shelf life of at least a generation. Additionally, a hymnal passes on to future generations a good number of hymns that centuries of worshipers have found worthy of use and adds our assessment to theirs. In contrast, many songs are written to catch on quickly but wear out just as quickly in order to make way for a new set of songs that will do the same. During our search among Christian contemporary music, it occurred to me that if we were to tell one of these artists that we were going to take one of their songs, publish it in a hymnal, and twenty-five years from now plan to still be teaching it to people who have never heard it before, their response might be, “Now why would you go and do something like that?” For comparison’s sake, imagine if our current hymnal were full of Christian songs that were popular back in 1991. As much as those Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith albums were well-loved back then, I’m not sure they’d be getting much use today. For many songs, publication in a generational, denominational resource isn’t in keeping with their purpose.

Observation 2: Observation 1 is not without exception.
All of that said, even when a song is evaluated on the basis of the various priorities inherent with a hymnal project, it’s still impossible to evaluate each song on a pass/fail basis. Rather, songs meet these priorities in varying degrees. This is true even of songs written in a rather traditional hymnic style. Some hymns proclaim gospel comfort better than others. Some include more of the believer’s heartfelt response to that gospel. Some hymns are readily singable by almost any assembly. Others are more difficult to sing or almost require vocal leadership. Some hymns are sturdy enough to last for generations. Others catch on quickly but likely will not be sung fifty years from now.

Even though much of the Christian music being produced for popular consumption today has different priorities than those of a hymnal project, that rule is not without exception. As I searched through list after list and website after website, it was great to see how many artists today are committed to producing music whose priorities match ours: music that clearly proclaims the gospel, music designed to encourage participation by the assembly, and music designed to have some staying power.

As a result, our next hymnal will include some songs that we believe worshipers will find lively and upbeat. It will include songs whose sound and poetry are fresh and relevant to today’s generation of Christians. However, there won’t be a batch of songs that is clearly different from all the rest. They won’t be relegated to their own section with their own heading, “Contemporary,” if such a thing were even possible. If you didn’t look at the bottom of the page to see when the hymn was written and by whom, you might not even realize that a particular song is considered “contemporary,” just like a person might listen to Koine’s setting of “Salvation Unto Us Has Come,” and have no idea that it was part of that first Lutheran hymnal published in 1524.

It’s not as if there’s this clearly defined line where one leaves the world of hymnody and enters the world of Christian contemporary music. Instead, most songs meet the criteria that differentiate those two genres in a wide variety of degrees.

Observation 3: The search will always be worth the effort.
As a result, while the search may have been tedious and while a great deal of the music we considered doesn’t fit with the priorities of a hymnal project, the search was worth the effort.

Our hymnal project has the priorities it has not simply because it happens to be a hymnal project. Rather, we have those priorities because we are convinced they are beneficial for God’s people as they gather for worship. Songs that focus on the believer’s response to God’s love have their place. But it’s good to have an overall diet of hymnody that puts the focus on gospel truth so that our confidence continues to be grounded in God’s work for us rather than on how that work happens to make us feel in the moment. Songs that catch on and wear out quickly can be valuable. But something just as valuable might be lost if a believer spends their entire lifetime learning a completely new set of songs every decade rather than having some that have the ability to last from cradle to grave. Songs that are designed to be performed for worshipers rather than produced collectively by them can serve a purpose. But in a society that’s already saturated with consumerism, it’s good to help believers see that they are part of a royal priesthood chosen and equipped to proclaim God’s praises rather than simply consume the praises that are produced by a select group with the talent to do so. In other words, we’re producing the specific type of worship resource we’re producing for a reason. It’s because we are convinced that these priorities best serve Christ’s church as it carries out its work.

That also means that it’s worth looking for, and finding, and including songs that fit those priorities and at the same time are accessible and enjoyable to sing and whose sound is fresh and relevant to today’s worshipers. Some of these modern songs might not last for generations or centuries. But by including songs that will catch on very quickly, we hopefully allow worshipers to discover the one on the very next page that has the ability to last for generations. By including songs that are easier to sing, we hopefully make it easier for worshipers to put in the worthwhile effort to learn the ones that are more difficult. By including songs whose sound is already relatively at home in the ear of newer worshipers, we hopefully make it easier for them to see that they can make a joyful noise to the Lord just as well as they can make a joyful noise to their pickup truck (sorry, country music fans) and that they can cry out in anguish to the Lord just as well as they can cry out in anguish over a recent breakup (sorry, Emo fans).

Finally, including modern music in a hymnal is very much in keeping with another priority inherent in producing a generational, denominational resource like a hymnal. It’s a reflection of one of the most beautiful and miraculous characteristics of Christ’s Church: our unity. Rather than the Church being one more group whose existence is determined by the shared interests of all the members, Christ’s Church brings together people from every tribe and every tongue, every nation and every generation, every political bent and every musical preference. Rather than being one more organization where everyone insists that every individual preference is met, the Church is an organization where everyone insists on setting aside those preferences for the good of the whole body. We hope our church body’s next hymnal will be a valuable tool for realizing that priority as well.