 Mike Harland, Director of LifeWay Worship which is a part of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention said “there is a good mix of hymns, worship music and praise choruses.” He is talking about the new Baptist Hymnal and the songs chosen for it. Several of the favorites like, “Amazing Grace,” “Holy, Holy, Holy,” “Sanctuary,” “Shout to the Lord” are among the chosen songs in the new Baptist Hymnal. According to Mike Harland, “we have composers from Beethoven to Fanny Crosby to Travis Cottrell represented in this hymnal.” Harland also shared “about 300 of these songs are new ones to our hymnal” of 674 hymns and worship songs of this new edition. “Of these 300, about 200 have been published in other hymnals and about 100 are brand-new hymns and songs that haven’t been published in any hymnal before.”
For a list of the songs available you can go to www.lifewayworship.com “The selection process was arduous,” Harland said. “There are many hymns and worship songs that are wonderful, spiritually uplifting songs, but our task was to choose the best, most theologically sound songs we could.”
Included in the WorshipCharts, WorshipTracks and selected WorshipMedia accompaniment editions are 250 additional titles. A committee of theologians and musician’s looked at each hymn to clarify the theology was trustworthy before moving toward the next level of consideration. Georgia Baptist Convention State Music Director, Jon Duncan served as the leader of the theological overview committee. Duncan said, “the hymnal is more than a ‘song book’ to meet a utilitarian need for the congregant” but, “this hymnal, as with past editions of the Baptist Hymnal, serves many functions, including providing a historical document of doctrinal beliefs of the family of faith known as Baptists.” Every song was based on these questions: - Does the hymn speak biblically of God?
- Is it God-honoring?
- Does the hymn present a biblical view of man?
- Does the song help us to cover the depth and breadth of our theology?
- Does the hymn call us to true discipleship, service, repentance, witness, missions and devotion?
- Does the hymn speak biblically of salvation?
- Does it engage the whole person -– allowing a person to express his deepest feelings?
- Does the hymn emphasize that Christ is the Christian's Lord, Master and King?
- Does the hymn present an Americanized/Westernized gospel?
- Is there a balance with corporate and individual response in worship?
Duncan said, “I believe that, along with most Baptists, my theology was shaped through the singing of hymns.” “The teaching impact through singing our hymns cannot be understated.”
Harland said, “There is an excitement from the churches about the new hymnal, despite what seems to be a trend, a vast majority of our churches still use hymnals.” Orders for the new Baptist Hymnal are being processed with a discount to churches who preorder the pew edition before it is released. These hymnals are due to ship on or before August 8th.
| Published in : The News, Denominational News |
| Keywords : News, Denominational News, New Baptist Hymnal song titles released, Baptist, hymnal, songs, singing, church, worship, music, praise |
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