On not obacerating myself
Whew, my stint at a regular blogger for the CENTURY Blog has come to a (regularly scheduled) end. It was lovely, but by the final days of the two+ month partnership I did feel my blethering had become too churchy and pastor-focused. Come January, I’ll begin a different but related stint with another great organization so stay tuned. Now, though, enjoy a few random thoughts I’ve been collecting.
- An example of why I love NPR: a story on the website Save the Words, reported (quite cleverly) on All Things Considered last week. Check out the Save the Words website (it’s where I took the word “obacerate” from the title of the post) but logophiles beware: it’s addicting.
- Here’s a great story on a recent Fuller Seminary grad, Andrew Richey, whose living out of the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” has developed into some really awesome Christian-Muslim dialogue.
- My latest youth study for The Thoughtful Christian just came out, “That Mission Trip Was Fun! Now What?” You should check out their website this week anyway, as their book deals are amazing (and often beat Amazon!).
- Here’s a really pretty well done article from Arkansas Online in association with the Arkansas Democrat Gazette on the work of the Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song on which I serve.
- Finally, this is one crazy “random act of culture” by the Opera Company of Philadelphia “Hallelujah!” in Macy’s. Enjoy!
Check Out These Sites
A few recommendations from around the web.
First, The God Complex, an internet radio show hosted by Bruce Reyes-Chow and Carol Howard Merritt. Bruce and Carol run a fun show, but their guests are just fascinating. You can listen live and chat or call in questions, or pod cast it and listen on long runs (another thing I recommend).
Next, Enter the Bible, a new site from Luther Seminary is a great source for basic background knowledge on many things Biblical. The site won’t answer all your questions, but it’s a really good place to start when considering context, history, and criticism. The site continues the strong work of Luther Seminary online (come on, PC(USA) seminaries, you’re getting schooled).
Finally, you should join the Facebook fan page of the Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song. Go there to find our newest press release, some pictures of Presbyterians singing (add your own too), and other fun stuff galore. The committee is hard at work developing resources, including a new hymnal, to serve the PC(USA) and beyond.
New Presbyterian Hymnal/Congregational Song Resource Update
A few weeks ago I attended the second meeting of (what then was called) The Presbyterian Hymnal Committee. It was a grand meeting during which the committee got much accomplished and prepped for receiving new materials for new hymn and song resources.
I commend our press release to you, which may be found at the committee’s website.
To whet your appetite, though, here’s a few highlights from the meeting
- We changed our name! Yep, from The Presbyterian Hymnal Committee to the Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song (which, thank goodness, can be pronounced acronymally as “peacocks”). We thought that “Hymnal Committee” was not sufficiently broad, as we’re considering more than just a printed “hymnal,” and more than just “hymns” in the final product.
- We made clear the guidelines for submissions old and new (go here)
- We adopted a theological vision to guide our work. Check it out on the website. As the release says, “the Theological Vision Statement focuses on a framework of salvation history-God’s powerful acts of creation, redemption, and final transformation-and on the human responses made possible by such gracious acts. In the words of the document, placing priority on God’s empowering and transformative actions “offers hope to those whose faith in human efforts has been undermined.” It also invites a broadly inclusive scope as a means of most faithfully giving voice to “the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ” (Eph 3:18).”
I’m grateful to the committee for the good work, collegial spirit, and prayerful friendships that continue to support me in the process. Two meetings down… ?? to go!
Technology and the Next Hymnal
Sing to the Lord a New Song:
Technology and the Next Hymnal
Technology opens doors in the church and in the world. One tweet on Twitter can connect pastors in ways unimaginable when my Dad was in seminary (sorry, Pops). Blog communities bring new and exciting — though imperfect — ways to discuss Christ and culture. What self-respecting youth group these days doesn’t have a Facebook group? That said, I’m also aware of the growing digital divide in our congregations. Now, when we think of our diversity, we must also remember the diversity of those with email and those without, those with a high-speed internet connection and those without a computer. Ahh, the challenges of ministry in 2009.
The Presbyterian Hymnal Committee, a group formed last year, is in the initial stages of developing the next Presbyterian hymnal. The next hymnal will include songs composed since 1990 (the publication date of the blue hymnal) and will seek to honor our rich heritage. Perhaps it will bring back some from the red book, but it’ll also put into print some of the new places that God is leading us. For all your next hymnal questions check out http://presbyterianhymnal.org , and remember the committee is just beginning its work.
Especially in these early stages, though, I want to take to the committee some ways that new technology might best be used to sing a new song unto the Lord. Copyright law is tricky enough with printed materials, let alone when concerned with electronic formats, but I want to think broadly at this stage.
(On a parenthetical note, let’s not forget the amazing “technology” of the bound paper printed book. What a remarkable, durable, cheap, easy-to-use, technology it is — and will be for years to come. The next hymnal will certainly be in book format, but why stop there?)
The committee can make no promises — we have budget considerations like everybody else — but we will consider, in good faith, how God may be calling the church to use technology in its congregational song and worship planning. That’s where you come in.
Comment away. What tech ideas — hymnal/singing/worship related — would be handy in your congregation? How do you use the hymnal for worship planning and how could that be bettered with new technology? Do you use existing online worship resources? What, technologically speaking, should the hymnal committee consider?
Pop a comment on this post, or email me at adamjcopeland at gmail dot com. Peace.
A week later
It was a joy to attend the first meeting of the Presbyterian Hymnal Committee last week. Strange, I know, “a joy to attend a meeting.” Truly, though, I had a great time getting to know the other committee members, and getting a better grasp of our task.
The Presbyterian News Service has a wee pic from the commissioning service here.
And Linda Valentine blogs about things here.
I won’t bore you with meeting details, but I will say that I took away from our meeting both great excitement about the road ahead and clarity that the task before us is, well, hard.
The largest American Lutheran denomination (ELCA) came out with their newest hymnal two years ago. Rumor has it, they received over 10,000 hymns to consider for the hymnal. That number is both heartening since it shows the huge popularity of hymnody and explosion of new texts and tunes in recent years, but also harrowing since the committee had to find the time and energy to consider 10,000 hymns!
The PC(USA) is in a delicate place at the moment, theologically, pastorally, financially. My personal hope, then, is that through the process of developing the next hymnal we might in some way, with God’s help, be strengthened, uplifted, and soothed through the collection of hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs to God. After all, it is to God’s glory that we work and sing.
Humming a New Tune (for five, maybe six years)
In a press release today, the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation announced the Committee to Develop the Next Presbyterian Hymnal. Pretty exciting stuff.
Denominational hymnals tend to have a life comparable to one generation, so the PC(USA) is doing well to start the process now since a quality hymnal takes around 5 years to develop. The denomination’s 1990 “new blue hymnal” isn’t so new anymore, so the General Assembly in 2004 authorized the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation to conduct a feasibility study and develop a new hymnal in collaboration with the Office of Theology, Worship, and Education, the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, and the Holy Spirit (sorry, no link). PPC will assume all the costs for development, including the expenses of the committee.
What’s super crazy, though, is the interest in the project. Over 230 applications were received….yes, for a hymnal committee! The committee of 15 is quite diverse, with eight men and seven women, two Asian Americans, one African American, two young adults, a seminary president, pastors, professors, and an internationally known hymn writer. And, perhaps the most disturbing thing you’ll read all week: I’m on it.
Our first meeting is next week. I’m pretty darn pumped. I’m not sure how much blogging I’ll do about the project along the way, but I have heard that so far, at least, folks really value openness and will intentionally seek ways to keep the church involved along the way. So we’ll see.
To see the press release, other committee members, hymnal website, FAQs, or complain about their ridiculous choice of a certain young adult, click on the graphic above or below.
Connect Online
