Note: As the WELS Hymnal begins to approach its halfway point, the members of the project are pleased to share this comprehensive update on our work. Over the course of the next several weeks, we will feature each individual section of this report here on our website's blog. As each individual section is featured we invite your feedback using the contact form on the bottom of the page.

Introduction and Background

A hymnal project is a synod-wide effort, and that makes it beneficial on a number of levels. This is a time for us as a synod to review our current hymnal and to give thanks for the gifts we have. It’s a time to think about future generations and the heritage we will pass along to them. It’s a time to work together and talk together about the most important thing we do together in the name of Jesus our Savior: worship. We recognize that a synod’s hymnal isn’t the only resource for worship that a local congregation has at its disposal, but it is a resource that carries the weight of synod-wide dialog, committee discussion, and careful study in light of God’s Word. That promises to make this new hymnal a unique and valuable resource for God’s people gathered around God’s means of grace.

When the Joint Hymnal Committee was finishing its work on our 1993 hymnal Christian Worship (CW), its members generally agreed that the fifty-two-year lifespan of our previous hymnal, The Lutheran Hymnal (TLH), had been too long. Thirty years seemed closer to the desirable lifespan of a hymnal, and the idea was to publish a hymnal supplement when we were halfway there. In 2008 WELS congregations welcomed the release of Christian Worship Supplement (CWS). Already then, the Commission on Worship was promoting the supplement as a bridge to the next hymnal. As congregations around the synod made use of CWS’s lectionary, psalms, rites and hymns in worship, they would be helping the next hymnal committee know which of those elements deserved a more permanent place in the worship life of the church.

In 2011, the synod in convention adopted a long range plan which included this goal under strategies for congregation and district ministry: “establish a committee to publish a new hymnal by the 500th anniversary of the first Lutheran hymnal (1524).” The Commission on Worship began preliminary work on the project’s aim, scope, and timeline, and in 2012 the Conference of Presidents called Rev. Michael Schultz to serve as project director. Soon afterward, the administrative structure for the project began taking shape.

Committee Membership

Names of committee members are listed here, with an asterisk (*) marking the chair of each committee.

Bryan Gerlach, Michael Marquardt, Michael Schultz, Daniel Sims, James Tiefel, and Jon Zabell* have been appointed as at-large members of the Executive Committee (XC).

Seven subcommittees are in place, with the chairman of each serving on the XC:

Psalms Committee

Samuel Hacker, Amy Hansel, Grace Hennig, Paul Prange*, Adrian Smith, Bill Tackmier, Dale Witte, Daniel Witte

Hymns Committee

Jeremy Bakken, Kevin Bode, Sara Buelow, Aaron Christie*, Mark Davidson, Brian Doebler, Benj Lawrenz, Holly Ledvina, Jeremy Mattek, Ruth Mattek, Phil Moldenhauer, Joel Otto

Rites Committee

John Bortulin, Timothy Buelow, Joel Gawrisch, James Hoogervorst, Wayne Laitinen, Jon Micheel*, Johnold Strey, James Tiefel    

Communications Committee

Jonathan Bauer*, Steve Bauer, Daniel Bondow, Linnea Koeppel, Amanda Kohlmetz, Mike Marquardt, Sarah Mayer, Jonathan Niemi, Mark Schutz

Occasional Services Committee

Phil Arnold, Steve Bode, Aaron Glaeske, Keith Wessel*

Scripture Committee

Steven Lange, Daniel Leyrer, Tyler Piel, Jonathan Scharf, Jonathan Schroeder*, Earle Treptow, John Vieths,

Technology Committee

Caleb Bassett*, Dave Gruen, Paul Lemke, Jonathan Pasbrig, Martin Spriggs, Don Vossler, Ian Welch, Matt Weseloh

In addition to the members of these seven subcommittees, the Executive Committee is assisted by a group of people who are responsible for producing the supplementary material currently found in Christian Worship: Handbook and Christian Worship: Manual. They include Mark Tiefel, Philip Casmer, Justin Cloute, Noah Headrick, Johann Caauwe, and Benjamin Tomczak.

Project Mission Statement

Early on in the project’s development, the members of the Executive Committee developed and adopted a project mission statement. That mission statement is as follows:

1. This hymnal will confess Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, who comes to us in the means of grace.

2. This hymnal will provide materials that enable believers to use the means of grace in public worship and other devotional settings.

3. This hymnal will be faithful to the scriptures and to the witness of the scriptures in the Lutheran Confessions.

4. This hymnal will respect and draw from the historic worship voice of the Christian Church and from our Lutheran heritage.

5. This hymnal will include texts and music of excellent quality from past and present sources.

6. This hymnal will be produced with thorough study of the character of worship in WELS and the prayer that it may be used joyfully by the people and congregations of our synod.

7. This hymnal will be accompanied by print and electronic resources intended to meet the needs of various worship settings in WELS.