4 Sda Hymnal

[Aide Broeckel]

Asthe product of a piety-saturated, apolitical religious environment (except when liquor and gambling policies were on the electoral ballot), I was largely oblivious to the Civil Rights Movement. But by the time I entered seminary, the history and figures of the era became an obsession. I read everything I could get my hands on.

One of my purchases was an oversized book filled with photos of Dr. King and a host of other movement luminaries. To this day I retain the vivid memory of being caught up in a bewildering epiphany as I turned from one page to the next. As if my gut had goosebumps.

As my eyes began searching out the details, there it was. The hymnal cover was clear. It was the Broadman Hymnal. The hymnal I grew up with. Published by the Southern Baptist Convention, a denomination that formed over the express conviction that even missionaries could own slaves.

by Ken Sehested, Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, founder, Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence, and Chaplain Rabia Terri Harris, Muslim scholar and founder of the Muslim Peace Fellowship. Wipf & Stock Publishers.

Our Vision: to build a living collection of song resources through an accessible, equitable, online platform grounded in UU values. This virtual hymnal will help Unitarian Universalism live into our prophetic calling as a joyful, liberatory, and anti-oppressive faith.

Our Virtual Hymnal Task Force (members listed below) is actively designing our new platform and creating licensing agreements with musicians. These are two significant projects that are taking our time and attention.

Please note that due to the intensity of our work on technology and licensing frameworks, the Task Force is not accepting music submissions, suggestions, or contributions. The thought of new hymns and chants is exciting, and so we understand the joyful impulse to write in with hymn submissions or suggestions. However, we do not anticipate being ready for new music submissions until 2025, when there will be a public invitation here and through other channels.

In May and June, Rev. Erika Hewitt and Camille Hatton held several enthusiastic public gatherings in which we revealed our virtual hymnal prototype; explained its licensing system; presented our tentative plans for beta testing our model; and presented financial details that are emerging.

We anticipate spending the 2023-2024 congregational year to develop a pilot so that we can invite feedback on that technology and its capacities. The Task Force is not engaged in selecting or soliciting hymns at this time; it will be late 2024 or even early 2025 before we're able to shift our focus to developing guidelines and priorities for choosing songs for the Virtual Hymnal.

The responses vary widely, of course, but I can begin to compile a list of titles that are largely ignored by planners and unknown to congregations. Inevitably, when I share this list in a workshop I'm leading, there are some who say, ?Oh, no! I can't believe that! That's one of my congregation's favorites!" Yes, that may be true; but in general, I'd like to suggest that the following hymns in our hymnal are largely ignored and remain unknown. Some of the possible reasons follow the list.

It is important to remember that a hymn's appearance on this list is not a reflection of its quality, beauty, or worth. It is merely an indication that, for whatever reason, it is not being sung by United Methodists in the majority, English-speaking U.S.A congregations. And here are some of those reasons:

81, "Canta, Dbora, Canta!" Many non-English hymns are still unknown. They were included as a reflection of the growing ethnic and cultural diversity of the church and its presence around the world and to encourage us to celebrate and embrace that diversity by singing global music. The barriers of language and indigenous musical styles have not been overcome. Some of these hymns have entered the repertoire, while others have not.

728, "Come Sunday": This song contains a number of non-hymn traits, including the introductory phrase's "Oo" text, jazz-pop harmonies, wide leaps, an extreme melodic range, and a line of spoken text. Duke Ellington's sacred song was never intended for congregational singing. There are a number of ethnic hymns on my list that may enjoy good popularity within those congregations; but in the wider church, they are unknown and unsung.

275, "The Kingdom of God": Austin Lovelace's melody is simple enough, pentatonic, consisting of only steps and thirds, with no dissonant harmonies. But can congregations sing such a rhythmically free and expressive line, almost improvisational in character? This is but one of many on this list that are true masterpieces waiting to be discovered by congregations.

508, "Faith, While Trees Are Still in Blossom": Sometimes the text is the obstacle. In this case, it requires the singer to think hard on the symbols and beauty of the poetry to glean the meaning. The words are simple enough, but the thoughts are complex. The thickness, density, and complexity of the language can also make it difficult for modern singers to understand the theology and meaning of a hymn, including some by Wesley. Compare, for instance, the language and phrasing of 650, "Give Me the Faith Which Can Remove" (Wesley), whose text is not really all that difficult to grasp, with that of almost any modern-day praise chorus.

716, "Rejoice, the Lord Is King": This loved Wesley text has been with us in all hymnals with the more familiar tune at 715. The GOPSAL tune, composed by Handel expressly for this Wesley text as a solo song, shares traits with music found in his oratorios, including the concluding musical coda. The obstacle for today'scongregations is that the DARWALL'S 148th tune is so well-liked and familiar.

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Discipleship Ministries is a work from home community. Our workforce began working from home permanently in 2020. Staff is centered in Nashville, Tennessee, but we also have staff at locations across the United States. However, we continue to have leadership offices, meeting rooms, and The Upper Room Chapel at 1908 Grand Avenue, in Nashville.

Of course, many congregations will already have introduced the new hymnal by the time you read this article. Still, there are times when the Burlington strategy might serve such congregations: 1) when introducing a new setting of the communion service, or 2) on occasions when there is such little variety planned for the service (like an alternate psalm from the psalter) that the order of service is followed in a fairly straightforward manner.

We learned how to navigate the book. We learned that the hymnal is not just a book of hymns, but a collection of devotional resources. Yes, there were some growing pains, and even some complaints. But we learned how to navigate the book.

We will be patient with one another as we learn the new book. The pastors will give more thorough explanations on which page to turn to next and will give people more time to get there. Maybe before (or during) worship, we will practice singing a new psalm or liturgical music setting. We will listen carefully and follow along with the notes in the hymnal as the organist plays (or the choir sings) the melody before we join to sing. But we will learn how to navigate the book.

And there may be some growing pains, even complaints. Change is hard, and many people have come to dearly love the red Christian Worship. The new hymnal is new to all of us, and it will take some time to get used to it. So we want to learn it together. We want to page through it together, follow the liturgy from it together, sing the hymns and the psalms from it together. We want to learn how to navigate the book.

Pastor Gerlach is Director of the Commission on Worship and a member of the WELS Hymnal Project Executive Committee and Hymnal Introduction Committee. He previously served churches in El Paso, TX and Citrus Hts, CA. He enjoys introducing new hymnal content from the organ bench in two Milwaukee-area churches.

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