wfn.org | Cambodian Methodists get first hymnal in native language

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Oct. 9, 2001  News media contact: Linda Bloom*(212)870-3803*New York
10-33-71B{457}

By Lesley Crosson*
              
NEW YORK (UMNS) - Cambodian Methodist congregations around the world can now
sing and worship from a new hymnal written in the Khmer language and
composed mainly of songs that reflect their culture.  

Published by the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, the Christian
Hymn and Worship Book is the first ever hymnal written in Khmer, according
to the Rev. S T Kimbrough Jr., a board executive and leader of the hymnal
committee.  

The new volume, which Kimbrough calls "a landmark in mission," is the result
of a three-and-a-half-year effort by the United Methodist Church, the Korean
Methodist Church, the Methodist Church in Singapore, the Methodist Church in
Malaysia and the Wesleyan Church. 

It contains 194 hymns and will be used by the 140 Methodist congregations in
Cambodia and by United Methodist Cambodian congregations in the United
States, France and Switzerland.
	
More than half the hymns are from Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and other Asian
countries, and the book includes new compositions by young Cambodian authors
and composers.

Cambodian Christian hymnody dates back only to the 1970s, when hymns and
songs reflecting Cambodian culture were composed by Cambodians living in
refugee camps or in other countries, according to Sarin Sam of Australia, a
Cambodian who wrote many of the hymnal's songs. Those initial compositions
were published in 1985. Before then, Christian Cambodians sang hymns and
songs translated from Western countries.  
	
The Christian Hymn and Worship Book also contains the regular and occasional
liturgies of the church, such as Sunday Service, Praise and Prayer, Holy
Communion, Marriage, Death and Resurrection, Baptism and reception into
church membership.

Other members of the committee responsible for producing the hymnal are the
Rev. Carlton R. Young, United States, and Lim Swee Hong and Mary Yoke Thue
Gan, both of Singapore.

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*Crosson is director of public relations for the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries.

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United Methodist News Service
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