In June 2018 , our church announced a revision of the hymnbook and Children's Songbook to meet the needs of a global church. This announcement began a multi -year project to gather and review the current music selection, new submissions and songs from other Christian faith traditions.
In May of this year, the first 13 songs were released in English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese.
Today we finally sang one of the 'new' songs'.
Actually it isn't a 'new' song but one that was in the pre-1985 hymnbook but left out of the most recent book. I heard a speaker at Education Week many years ago, who had been on the committee to select hymns for the 1985 book, say that when people marched up to him with a certain glint in their eyes, he knew they were going to complain about the omission of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing".
The first hymn on the list of the new hymnbook, named Hymns for Homes and Church -
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Other hymns will be added every few months as they are translated.
Personally I love that one of my mother's favorite hymns is included.
His Eye Is On the Sparrow
I remember her singing these words to me as a little child,
"Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart be lonely
And long for heav'n and home,
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me."
Moma finished this cross-stitch a few months after my Daddy died and it hung in her kitchen for many years. Now it hangs in our house as a constant reminder of Heavenly Father's love and care.
In 2026 there will be a full release in print and digitally of all the hymns in English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese, with more languages added as they become available.
In 2030, it is anticipated that the project will be complete, including a total of 50 languages in print and digital form.
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