Hymnal Project: Description

Central Principles

The hymnal project is grounded in the central principles of the Community of Christ. These principles not only guide the church’s witness and ministry, but also inform us as to the kinds of musical selections to be included in the song collections. To refresh your familiarity with the church and its ministries, please review the contents of the church’s web site, www.CofChrist.org.

Product Description

The hymnal will be a two-piece set for congregational use in the Community of Christ. One piece is to be a hard bound collection of hymns, praise choruses, chants and songs primarily in the English language. It is to contain approximately 500 selections. The other piece will be a soft bound collection of songs in multiple languages. It will contain about 100 selections and will be designed to physically fit together with the English language book. In addition to congregational use, the multi-language book will be used in international gatherings throughout the church. Both are to be completed by World Conference 2013.

Community of Christ will collaborate with Hope Publishing Company of Carol Stream, Illinois on this project. The church will be responsible for selection of all texts and tunes, indexes, numerical order, organization, color, title, and other related items. Hope Publishing will be responsible for typesetting, printing, copyrights and permissions, binding, distribution, and other related publication matters.

The process will be guided by a Hymnal Steering Team led by Jane Gardner. Other members currently include Peter Judd, Jan Kraybill, Joey Williams and Bruce Lindgren. Sub-teams will be organized as the process unfolds.

Processes

Four methods will be used to gather information for the project. In addition to existing songs new to the Community of Christ, processes will be established to review pieces included in Hymns of the Saints, Sing for Peace, Sing a New Song, and By Request. The 749 selections in Worship and Rejoice (Hope Publishing 2001) will also be reviewed for possible inclusion. Other submissions (new original texts, new original tunes, songs from past Community of Christ hymnals, etc.) will be received in accordance with processes to be well-publicized throughout the church. Refer to the Herald and the church’s web page for the most up-to-date information on this project.