NOEME WILLEM
VISSER Wie en Waarom

Liturgie LITURGIEK Liturgiek TVG Liturgiegeschiedenis Joods Vroeg Christelijk Oosters Orthodox Westers Katholiek Protestants

HYMNOLOGIE Geschiedenis van de Hymnodie Oud Joodse Hymnodie Vroeg Christelijke Hymnodie Griekse Hymnodie tot 900AD Latijnse Hymnodie Lutherse Hymnodie Calvinistische (Franse) Psalmodie Nederlandse Gemeentezang na de Reformatie Engelse Hymnodie Muziekgeschiedenis

Foreword to New Start Hymns and Songs, the official Churches Together Collection for the Millennium and beyond

The Christian Churches of England have never worked so closely together on any major celebration as they have done for the Millennium celebration. A huge range of Christians - Catholics, Anglican, Nonconformist, Black Churches, New Churches - have come together to promote a New Start in this nation. A New Start is at the heart of the Gospel, and is the central message that the Churches have for the world as we enter the third Millennium.

So it is with very great pleasure that we commend to all of our Churches this supplement of new hymns and songs for worship. It deliberately draws from all the Christian traditions of worship represented in our Millennium celebrations. The editorial board was chosen to reflect all these traditions in their rich diversity, and has commissioned a collection which celebrates the New Start and the New Millennium. May this hymn book add to our understanding and our common worship as we enter the adventure of the third Millennium of our Lord.

Baroness Richardson

Bishop Crispian Hollis
Bishop Gavin Reid

Introduction

At the heart of the Christian Gospel is the call to inclusiveness. No one is outside the embracing love of God who goes to the Cross for each one of us, and as Christ himself prayed for unity, we are called as Churches to model this inclusiveness.

So when a new collection of songs and hymns for the Millennium was proposed by the Churches' Millennium Group, it was clear that it had to reflect this inclusiveness. All Christian traditions would be invited to contribute, and the collection would be the first ever produced that was deliberately intended to reflect all these traditions.

The Millennium message of the Churches is simply the offer of a New Start - a New Start for the world's poor, a New Start at home, and a New Start with God. The Thematic Index is divided into these three headings so that worship can be planned around this Millennium message.

Putting this collection together has been an exciting project. The editorial board met only twice, and did much of its work at a distance. I am grateful to my colleagues for their help and advice, and to Kevin Mayhew and Jonathan Bugden for their gentle and patient guidance.

We offer this collection in a spirit of prayer, that it may enrich the worship of the Christian Churches at the start of a new Millennium of hope and inclusiveness.

The Revd Richard Thomas Chairman, Editorial Board

Editorial Board
Mrs Wanda Adams The Harmony Trust
Mr Malcolm Archer Organist and Master of Choristers, Wells Cathedral
Mr Ken Burton Principal Conductor, London Adventist Chorale and Croydon SDA Gospel Choir
The Revd Brian Hoare Former President of the Methodist Conference
Abbot Alan Rees, OSB Choirmaster of the Monastic Community at Belmont Abbey, Hereford
Canon Michael Saward Canon of St Paul's Cathedral, London
The Revd Richard Thomas Director of Communications, Oxford Diocese
The Revd Roger Whitehead Secretary of the Churches' Group for Evangelisation