Glory to God: the Presbyterian Hymnal

by David Eicher (Editor)

This is the current (2013- ) official hymnal of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), replacing the 1990 "Presbyterian Hymnal: Hymns, Psalms and Spiritual Songs". It contains 853 numbered songs, as well as some forms of worship (service outlines) and materials (e.g. creeds) in Spanish and Korean to facilitate joint worship with non-English-speaking congregations.

1018 pages, Hardcover

First published September 20, 2013

Reviews

[Leland Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first hymn is "Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!" to NICAEA, with the only visible alteration of the text being the substitution (v. 3 l. 2) of "sinfulness" for "sinful man", and with four stanzas each in English, Spanish, and Korean. (Most Spanish versions of this hymn are five stanzas.) The second hymn is "Come, thou almighty King", to ITALIAN HYMN, with even less alteration. But then the new reality kicks in. Look at how much blank space there is in the second column of this side-by-side comparison. I'm still digesting the new materials, and the omissions, and can't really say what my ultimate opinion will be, but just on a first run-through I'd say this hymnal is very good, and will not make a lot of traditionalists too happy. Before rushing to judgment, read the appendices ("Theological Vision Statement" and "A Statement on Language") that give some indication of the rules the compilers were laboring under and the goals towards which they were striving. I still think I would leave the generic "man" in the first hymn...

Some months later... I've read the whole thing now, but of course there's still much to digest. The Pashto hymn is interesting, wish I could locate the original text. The arrangement of PISGAH is horribly Reformed (none of the ornamentations that *make* that tune for me). I would put it in second place among 2013 US-en hymnals, after the Community of Christ [RLDS]'s new one.