Favorite hymnals

[david01]

Here is a new one. Give me your favorite hymnals and why you like them. I will start with three very obscure ones, as follow:

1. The Psalter of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of America. I like this because it puts all 150 psalms to music with good, singable lyrics and usually several tunes from which to choose. It is great for public and private use.
2. Hymns of Worship and Remembrance. This is used by the Open Plymouth Brethren. It is exactly what it says - a purpose-driven (to use a new term) hymnal intended primarily for communion services. It has the most extensive set of such hymns that I have seen. By the way it also has some really excellent hymns for baptisms, funerals (when was the last time you sang one written just for funerals?), and weddings.
3. Believer's Hymn Book. This is also a Plymouth Brethren hymnal, but very traditional. It is published in Scotland where, apparently, they have not yet discovered musical notation, so it is just a small book with words only. The words are quite excellent and, if you can understand the titles of the hymn tunes to be used, you are just fine. If not, you can project the words to the screen at the front of the auditorium and let your worship team figure out the music.

 

[Rich48]

Today, many churches no longer use any hymnal at all, opting for the use of screens instead. This has some advantages, but there is just something about opening up a hymnal and singing from it! That being said, here are 3 that I like:

The Celebration Hymnal

This one contains many old hymns, and also includes quite a few praise and worship choruses. It is an excellent mix. The publishers also offer a Power Point version, which allows a church to legally project any song from the hymnal on a screen.

Sing To The Lord

This one is published by the Nazarene Publishing House. This is another one that mixes the old with the new, but concentrates on the older hymns. It also includes many lesser know hymns by Leila Morris, Halador Lillenias, and others.

Hymns For The Family Of God

If you like the music of the Gaithers, this one is great! It contains a lot of their earlier songs, with a mix of what was then more contempory. The one drawback to this one is that in a number of the older hymns, they leave out the alto/tenor/bass parts in the hymn choruses, opting for a simple singing of the words.

 

[Rich48]

Now, as an aside--in my opinion, the absolutely worst hymnal ever is The Worshiping Church, publihshed in 1990 by Hope Publishing. This hymnal is absolute the worst! They change the words of the great hymns to make them politically correct! One example of many is the Christmas Carol Good Christian Men, Rejoce!. In this hymnal, it is Good Christian Friends Rejoice!.