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Rating: 
Summary: The Brightest, and Quite Possibly The Best
Review: I love this hymnal! It just came out in June 2003 and I hope it's selling like hotcakes---it deserves to. Along with Hope Publishing's WORSHIP & REJOICE, it's so encouraging to encojunter a hymnal so comprehensive in scope and noteworthy not just for what it includes but for what it doesn't EXCLUDE--in VOICES OF WORSHIP the seeker/musician/worshiper will find between two covers such diverse hymns as "How Great Thou Art," "Onward Christian Soldiers," "Here I Am, Lord, "Majesty," "Amazing Grace," "Jesus, Remember Me (When You Come Into Your Kingdom)," "Blessed Assurance," "Of the Father's Love Begotten" and "Pentecostal Power." The hymns are set in very easy-to-read typeface, undoubtedly set by computer, but with no semi-scrutable computeresque serifing, silly-putty typeface or the other extreme of overscrunching, or other nasties that afflicted the first generation or two of CAD hymnals. People sometimes call me a "Luddite" of a technological slow-poke but this hymnal clearly demonstrates the superiority intelligent computer-assisted design has now gained over traditional typeface or monotyping. The old Anglo-American or American hymns that have frequently been cut down from four verses to three in so many denominational hymnals -- thus destroying their theological progression as Protestant statements of faith or what I call "mini-eschatologies" -- but generally VOICES IN WORSHIP retains full format and flavor. (Sermonette): Unfortunately, a great many "mainline" and other Protestant denominational hymnals of the past forty years have increasingly become islands unto themselves; despite the sponsoring denominations' protestations of ecumenism their hymnals all too often emerge as narrow and shallow, only grudgingly conceding that intelligent hymody exists beyond the consensus of 1955's triumphant mainline PILGRIM HYMNAL (1955). Denominational apologists who trim the "Johnny-come-lately" hymns tip their hands when they attempt to justify such censorship by using terms like "heretical" or "not part of our tradition" or "politically incorrect": the clued-in church-listener can recognize the churchiologists' ideological stance but understand the common arrogance of "might-makes-right" behind it all. (End of sermonette) Perhaps VOICES IN WORSHIP benefited by having a happy blend of old-fashioned denominational and new-fangled "marketing-orientation" traditions. VOICES is the latest in a long line of hymnals produced by the venerable Christian & Missionary Alliance (www.cmalliance, a dot-org); a middle-sized denomination with historic roots in the northeastern US and parts of Ontario and Quebec. A number of years ago C&MA moved its headquarters to Colorado Springs and as its regional church base became more widespread and cosmopolitan, so did its worship style (as witness the use of "Pentecostal Power"). So along with VOICES IN WORSHIP's tradition and expertise comes its ecumenism and diversity, which, according to the publisher's spokesperson, is the process of a natural, organic growth and not an applique of surveyed usage for marketing's sake. On the other hand, VOICES the physical product is promoted and marketed by the church's retail publishing house, Christian Publications, as aggressively and expertly as any "private-market" hymnal, much like Word/Integrity's (1997) CELEBRATION or the very similar 2001 Hope WORSHIP & REJOICE hymnal out of Carol Stream, Illinois (very much nearby to Wheaton). Thinking outside the box, I am officially recommending my "along with" to include GIA's HERITAGE AFRICAN-AMERICAN HYMNAL. Unlike most private-market hymnals it has liturgy: aimed mainly at African-American congregations of course; all the more so the scope, research, and compiling of hymns for all people are beyond my ability to praise. (But you can look at the reviews and see me trying and others succeeding!) Denominational congregations can be excused if they feel their hierarchy is trying to "shove down their throat" a new hymnal. Surely people of faith would not want to abandon their congregation's book of hymns or psalms or spiritual songs because of a blunder or an omission or two but the flock in search of a new hymnal has plenty of new options . . . plenty of new tires to kick . . . nothing wrong with that. The real problem these days is learning to live with a hymnal that may contain hymns that you know darn well you DON'T want to use--but that others surely will!
Rating:
Summary: Stunning
Review: This hymnal destroyed a lot of myths I held about modern hymn books. It has modern hymns but did not purge older ones or "kick them out" because of being politically incorrect ("Onward, Christian Soldiers" is the classic whipping boy and has disapppeared from a lot of hymnals already). It is big but is well-constructed, with sturdy pages and very good binding. It seems kind of "all-around Protestant" in its orientation and is so well equipped that practically any congregation could make good use of it. In fact, a member of a mainline Protestant denomination told me recently that her own church was not too happy with its denomination's own hymnal and was considering picking a new pew hymnal from among several privately-published hymnals similar to this one.
"Voices in Worship" is so useful and thorough that it is no surprise to me it's being sold through retail channels like Amazon to churches as well as to individuals like pianists, organists and of course hymnal collectors. Church hymnals like this one (and the growing number of Roman Catholic hymnbooks aimed at congregational singing) are vectors of ambient culture and I've been pleasantly surprised at the number of people like me who like to collect them just to have a keepsake of what's new, what's old, what's in and what's out. With VOICES IN WORSHIP we seem to have the best of it all.
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