This article was first published in Australian Presbyterian here
A New Hymnal for Australian Presbyterians? (and non-Australians and non-Presbyterians!)
The lady was upset. “Why are you throwing out the old hymnbooks?”, she asked, as we continued the spring clean of the church. The answer was simple. We didn’t use them; they were covered in dust on the outside and cockroach dung on the inside. And we were never going to use them. They were dated and defunct. I told my concerned congregant that we would come to a time when we would reintroduce a hymnbook. She looked incredulous. That will never happen. But yet it is. Yesterday my copy of what I hope will be our new hymnal arrived. The Sing Hymnal has just been launched at the Gettys’ Sing Conference.
In one sense a new printed, hardback, large hymn book seems so counter intuitive and counter cultural. In this internet age of onscreen projected words, there are those who argue that the very idea of a physical hymnbook is dated and defunct. Who needs one? We can just put up whatever we want. We don’t have to carry a large book. It’s so convenient, flexible and…. forgettable. And therein lies the problem. I would never encourage anyone in my congregation to just have an online bible. We read differently online. Get a physical one, a real one…one which you can handle, smell, skim and which doesn’t require an external power source, other than the Holy Spirit. This is not to argue against screen bibles – I have several – but it is to argue that it is good to have a physical book, which cannot be interrupted by text messages and adverts! Likewise with a hymnal.
I wrote this earlier article on Rob Smith’s excellent ‘Come let us Sing’.
Now we have a hymn book which I would suggest is worthy of being used in all the Presbyterian churches in Australia. The Sing Hymnal from Crossway and Getty Music has just been launched. It is outstanding. Combining the great hymns of history, the songs of the Bible and the best of contemporary Christian songs it has a depth and quality which is reflected in the production and the music. The 498 hymns are topically arranged, paired with Scripture readings, poems and prayers. It is excellent for public worship, family devotions and personal use.
I have to confess a personal interest. In 2018 I was staying in Sydney when I received a phone call from Keith Getty – asking about psalms. From that point on we kept in touch and discussed how we could encourage the singing of the psalms throughout the church. I ended up writing this article on the importance of psalm singing for the 2018 Sing conference – https://theweeflea.com/2018/09/10/a-revolutionary-question-for-the-evangelical-church/
When Keith told me about the Sing Hymnal project, the initial idea was to have versions of all the 150 psalms. But that would have made it even larger than the almost 1,000 pages it is. So sadly that had to be shelved. Nonetheless there are 50 psalms included.
Since moving to Scots Kirk in Newcastle a couple of years ago, we have been gradually trying to reform the public worship. The introduction of a psalm at every service has been part of it. The introduction of this hymnbook will be another part of the Reformation. The next step will be to encourage each member of the congregation to have not only their own hymn book, but also their own psalm book. As regards the latter, Sing Psalms, from the Free Church of Scotland, is the best I have seen. The Sing Hymnal and Sing Psalms is a match made in heaven.
Come let us worship!
– David Robertson
Is 5% Enough? A Response to Recent Discussions on Evangelism in Australia – AP
You have touched on something quite topical for us. Today I asked if the Elders could go through old worship books as they have not been used for at least twenty years , and are coated in dust and whatever else. I hesitate to open one. They are cluttering up a room in the church building that needs re-decorated. I immediately detected hesitancy at my request, as though I was asking to bin the Magna Carta .
May the Lord bless the praising of his name in Sing Psalms and the new Sing Hymnal as you use them in worship in Scot,s Kirk , Newcastle.
❤️
You’ll go far to beat the Free Church Psalmody – https://seinn.org/omeka/items/show/1250#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-118%2C-1791%2C4234%2C6247 – accompanied by a good precentor.
Hi David. Thanks for this. One advantage of a real book over projected words only, is that worshippers can, more easily, see how, the verse being sung at any moment, relates to earlier and later verses. I’m sure Sinclair Ferguson advocated somewhere for a real hold-it-in-your-hands songbook so that God’s people could sing, to please the LORD, with better understanding.
I have to say it is a superb book – both in terms of content and production.
However, it is a very heavy volume – I feel it’s greatest contribution may be in personal devotions in the home (perhaps linked to from use of hymns from it on Sunday). It would be quite a ‘lift’ for 6 verses for some folks in our church!