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Hymnal Revision Committee – Report 2000

HYMNAL REVISION COMMITTEE
REPORT 2000
Nominated by the Hymnbook Advisory Committee
Mrs Alison Cadden | Rev Canon Gary Hastings
Dr Donald Davison | Rev Canon Paul Hoey
Mr David Drinkell | Miss Valerie Ireland
Rev Tom Gordon |
Nominated by the Liturgical Advisory Committee
Dr Tony Carver
The Rt Rev Edward F Darling (Chairman)
The Rt Rev Harold C Miller
Nominated by the APCK
Rev Canon Michael Burrows
Rev John McKegney
Nominated by the General Synod Standing Committee
Dr Edith Newman-Devlin
Mr Martin White
Co-opted on the recommendation of the APCK
Dr Kenneth Milne
Secretary to the Committee
Ms June Howard
THE REVISED CHURCH HYMNAL – THE FIFTH EDITION
The Hymnal Revision Committee held its inaugural meeting in June 1994 and almost six years later, it is now nearing the end of its task.  The work of the committee will reach its climax when the new Church Hymnal is published by Oxford University Press on 2^nd September this year.  The finished product will, we hope, be a helpful resource and a truly valuable aid to worship.
At this time it, is worthwhile stating the basic principles originally suggested by the Hymnbook Advisory Committee, which recommended the revision of the existing Church Hymnal. These were “that a new hymnbook should continue to be a repository of classic hymnody from down the ages … The book should also embrace as wide a range of styles as possible, introducing incumbents and church musicians to good examples of different idioms and facilitating those who wish to follow up particular repertories as they find these to be relevant to the specific needs of their congregations”.
It is our hope that the committee’s commitment to the above principles is fully reflected in the new hymnbook.
It contains 719 hymns in total, of which over half remain from the 4^th edition.  In this way, the committee has endeavoured to create a balance between the retention of much loved favourites and the introduction of some of the new and vibrant hymns which have been written in the last forty years. The greater part of Irish Church Praise has been included.
Many of the hymns may be new to the Church Hymnal, but are already beloved by our congregations.  In some cases, the tune is what has endeared a particular hymn to us, and although the hymn itself may not appear in the new book,  the tune, allied to a different hymn has been retained.
In the forty years since the publication of the present Church Hymnal in 1960, the Church has seen myriad changes.  Not least among these is an awareness of all-inclusive language and the committee has been painstaking in its efforts to deal with wording which reflects prejudice of any kind, not alone gender bias.  Cognisance has also been taken of the alteration in meaning of some words in modern parlance.  The balance between all of these issues is not easy to achieve and it is readily accepted that inconsistencies do appear, but it has, at times, been considered paramount that the power and beauty of the original wording should not be lost, but should continue to enrich our worship.
MEETINGS
The majority of work taking place in the past year has of necessity, been outside of committee, for example, finalisation of the word and music texts, indexing, proof-reading and recording.  The full committee did, however, meet on two occasions, with a further meeting taking place between representatives of the committee, the APCK and Oxford University Press, to discuss publishing and marketing issues.
PROMOTIONAL CD’s
Mr Stephen Hamill of “All for Music” was appointed to undertake production of the double album being produced in conjunction with the new hymnal.  It is hoped that the CD’s will be available well in advance of publication of the hymnal.
Recording has been taking place during the year and the committee extends its appreciation and thanks to the following choirs for their time, effort and contribution:
Choir of Strandtown Primary School, Belfast
Choir of St Molua’s Parish Church, Belfast
Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick
Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin
Choir of St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast
Contemporary tracks were performed by a worship group convened by Dr Tony Carver for the album recording.
This project could not have been undertaken without the funding provided by the Priorities Fund.  This took the form of a grant of £5,000 with an additional loan of a further £5,000.  The loan is to be repaid to the Priorities Fund from sales of the CD’s.
PUBLISHING
First proofs were received from the publishers, Oxford University Press over a period of weeks commencing in September 1999.  
Proof-reading is demanding and meticulous work and with a limited amount of time available to carry out the task, the committee was aware that it would need assistance from willing and expert helpers beyond its own ranks.  It was also necessary to compile two groups of readers, one to deal with the word text and a second to cater for the music text.  We are extremely grateful to those who have readily given their time and commitment.
Following the final proof-reading by the publishers, the book passes to the manufacturing stage which will take place during the coming summer, finally leading to the hymnal’s publication at the beginning of September.  The initial print run will comprise 30,000 of the melody line edition and 5,000 of the full music edition.  At the time of writing, the publishers have not yet agreed prices for the either edition, but it is still anticipated that these should fall within the range originally planned.
Order forms for the new hymnal should be available by the time of General Synod and initial discounts for bulk orders are anticipated. Again, it must be stressed that the current editions of the Church Hymnal and Irish Church Praise will no longer be available following publication of the 5^th edition.
LAUNCH SERVICE
Full arrangements have still to be finalised, but following publication, a service in St Patrick’s Cathedral is planned to launch the new hymnal.  This will take place on 9 September 2000.  Ms Pam Rhodes from the BBC’s “Songs of Praise” has agreed to take part in the service.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Hymnal Revision Committee held its first meeting on 15 June 1994.  Since that date, numerous people have made important and much valued contributions to its work.  These include not only members of the committee itself, but also others whose expertise in a variety of fields has been called upon from time to time.  On all occasions, those from whom we have sought guidance have given their time and advice with the utmost generosity and the committee would like to take this opportunity to express its thanks to all concerned.  The book that makes its appearance later this year could not have been produced without their help.  Thanks is also extended to those who submitted original material, all of which was carefully considered by the committee.
The compilation of the book encompasses the Church as a whole, commencing with those parishes who responded so comprehensively to the committee’s surveys.  The information gleaned on the usage and popularity of the content of the present book formed the basis of what will appear in the new hymnal.
In this way, we have all taken ownership of the new Church Hymnal and the 5^th edition will prove, we trust, to be a dedication to all who have contributed and to the faith and love which we share in our heritage of hymnody within the Church of Ireland.