wfn.org | New hymnal in works for German-speaking churches

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

July 1, 1999  News media contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-71B{362}

By Martin E. Brose*

BERLIN (UMNS) - Work is under way on a hymnal for the United Methodist
churches in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

A hymnal committee began working on the German-language songbook in January
1997, with a goal of having it available by Easter 2002. The 20-member
committee consists of musicians and theologians from all three countries.
Bishop Walter Klaiber is chairman.

The committee is planning the book not only for church singing but also for
use in the home. The hymnal will have:
*	600 to 700 hymns, about 300 of which will be entirely new. All hymns
appear in a four-part setting;
*	hymns in various styles, ranging from pre-Reformation time to the
present;
*	hymns with themes that have been largely absent from the current
hymnal (i.e. justice, creation);
*	hymns for all ages;
*	ecumenical hymns (i.e. from Russia, Korea, Australia);
*	a number of new translations of Charles Wesley hymns; and
*	canons, liturgical pieces, prayers, psalms arranged in a "call and
order" pattern, orders of daily praise and prayer, and liturgies of general
services.

The United Methodist Church has close to 100,000 German-speaking
constituents. Many of them are using the 1969 edition of a United Methodist
hymnal for Germany, Switzerland and Austria, according to the Rev. Heinrich
Meinhardt, a Berlin pastor. German-speaking areas in France are also using
that hymnal or German-language hymnals from the old Evangelical United
Brethren and Methodist churches.

The hymnal will be published by the denomination's publishing house in
Stuttgart, Germany.

During January through March, five "Sing Days" have been held in Germany and
Switzerland, in order to present 42 songs of the new hymnal to the
congregations. Church members also will receive a booklet containing 100 new
hymns, to be used at various meetings of the conferences. Afterward, 40
congregations may order the booklets and test the new hymns for seven
months.
# # # 
*Brose is a member of the hymnal committee in Berlin.

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