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PREFACE Hymns and Psalms 1983
HYMNS and Psalms have been in the past, and still are today, distinctive
features of Christian worship. They
unite the intellect, the emotions, the will, and the voice, in the human
response to God's grace; and they also point
beyond our human faculties and abilities, for God addresses us in them,
and through them applies the good news
of Jesus Christ to our lives. Their combination of music and poetry provides
a medium for God's Word, and a way
in which our hearts and minds may become open to that Word. Hymns and
Psalms, in as much as they are based on
what God 'has done, is doing, and has promised to do' (to quote James
Wallis's 1841 Preface to his Psalms and
Hymns), can provide a focus for worship, because they proclaim God's creating
and redeeming love, and because
they express our response to that love. They assist in making possible
a worship which is God's approach to us,
and our approach to God; George Herbert might have described hymns, as
he did prayer, as 'God's breath in
man returning to its birth'. And as we sing hymns together, they form
part of a worship which is a growth in
Christian understanding and fellowship.
The choice of the title Hymns and Psalms reflects a concern with this
growth in understanding and fellow-
ship. It also expresses the belief that this occurs most naturally within
the long and honoured tradition of
Christian worship, going back to the earliest times of the church. The
title is itself a biblical phrase, recalling our
debt both to the early church and to Ancient Israel. As a hymn book title
it recalls distinguished predecessors, such
,is the 1841 Psalms and Hymns quoted above, and also John Wesley's Psalms
and Hymns for the use of all christians
(1741), which it resembles both in name and in intention. It affirms our
thankfulness for the classic traditions of
spirituality which we have inherited.
The publication of Hymns and Psalms owes its origin to a decision of
the British Methodist Conference of 1979,
which resolved that a new hymn book should be prepared, to embody the
best traditions of Methodist
hymnody and to be a *contribution to the life and worship of the universal
church. The same Conference empowered its
Faith and Order Committee to encourage as wide a participation of other
churches in the project as should
prove practicable. The present committee has been greatly heartened by
the degree of participation by many de-
nominations in its work; and it has become increasingly aware of the potential
of this book to build from accepted
denominational traditions towards a richer sharing of our diverse interests
and our common heritage. The Methodist
Conference has been able to scrutinise the various drafts of this book
to ensure that the Methodist emphases are
present within it, and has authorised it as a successor to the Methodist
Hymn Book of 1933; agreeing also to its full
title, Hymns and Psalms, A Methodist and Ecumenical Hymn Book.
The 1933 Preface declared that 'the claims of poetry have always been
in mind, but those of religion have been
paramount, and not a few hymns have been selected chiefly because they
are dear to the people of God.' The
same principle has been followed in this book. Hymns and Psalms is unusual
among hymn books in the very great
debt owed by its compilers to the public correspondence which has guided
and informed their work: careful note
has been taken throughout of the public response to preliminary drafts
of its contents. There is no doubt that
one result of this public participation has been to give Hymns and Psalms
a breadth of appeal and sympathy
which should greatly assist its avowed intention of assisting the growing
together of the people of God.
This intention will be evident also in the methods of editing used. Since
the purpose of the book is to provide
an ordered and authoritative collection of material commonly available
and used in the various denominations,
the editing of this material has taken account of present practice as
well as of historical research. Textual alterations
have been made only where these could be pastorally as well as editorially
sanctioned. Even this degree of editing
may mean that initially some congregations will find differences in words
and in musical setting from the texts
and tunes with which they are familiar. These changes have been kept to
a minimum: but without such altera-
tions the present publication would not have enhanced significantly the
hymn-singing in fellowship of those who
come from different traditions. As far as possible (in material open to
copyright changes, and insofar as
metrical and poetical considerations permit) the compilers have endeavoured
to offer hymnody which takes equal
account of the place of both women and men in the life of the church,
so that no one may be inhibited by insensitive
editing from making a full offering of herself or himself in God's service.
In other respects the compilers have sought to recognise that many changes
have taken place, both inside and
outside the Christian church, since the publication of the great 1933
hymn book. The great and terrifying events
which have occurred since then have revolutionised our thinking about
the world in which we live and the
condition of human kind. The second world war, for instance, put an end
to the idea that the 1914-18 war had
been a war to end all wars, and the discovery of the concentration camps
revealed a systematic and dreadful
inhumanity which uncovered hitherto unimagined possibilities of evil in
men and women. 'After Auschwitz', said
Theodor Adorno, 'no poetry.'
The war ended with the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, and since then the possibil-
ity of the destruction of whole portions of the world by nuclear weapons
has become more frightening year by
year. At the same time there have been other revolutions of amazing potential
for good and for evil: in communica-
tions, in information storage and retrieval, in genetic engineering, in
the development of materials for germ
warfare. Fifty years after 1933, we live in a global village, linked instantaneously
to our brothers and sisters in other
countries, and concerned inevitably with their hopes and fears, their
triumphs and disasters. In compiling this
hymn book, the committee has sought to respond to our changing times,
and to produce a book which articulates
the needs, the joys, and the fears of the contemporary world. Such an
editorial policy has an honourable history.
Isaac Watts wrote in the Preface to Hymns and Spiritual Songs: "The
most frequent tempers and changes of our
spirit, and conditions of our life, are here copied, and the breathings
of our piety expressed according to the variety
of our passions, our love, our fear, our hope, our desire, our sorrow,
our wonder, and our joy, as they are refined
into devotion, and act under the influence and conduct of the blessed
Spirit; all conversing with God the Father by
the new and living way of access to the throne, even the person and mediation
of our Lord Jesus Christ."
This policy has been implemented in two ways. First, by including a considerable
number of hymns written during
the last twenty or thirty years, many of which are attempting to give
a new expression to the everlasting
truth of the Gospel. It is a matter of rejoicing to the committee that
it has been able to engage in its work at a
time when modern hymnody has flourished more vigorously than at any previous
time in this century. Secondly,
the structure of the book has been designed to allow a strong second section
on God's World. This is concerned
with the natural world and human use of creation, with the social order,
and with the human condition. In this
section will be found hymns which give expression to the needs of the
world and the Christian response to those
needs.
The section on God's World is preceded by the first section on God's
Nature, in which the hymns explore and
celebrate the nature of the Eternal Father, the life of the Eternal Word,
and the work of the Eternal Spirit. The third
section, God's People, is concerned with Christian living and with the
function and purpose of the church. The
structure of the book has therefore been carefully designed, and it has
been modified during the committee's
deliberations in the light of debate and criticism. As a result, the compilers
can echo the words of John Wesley's
magnificent Preface to the 1780 Collection of Hymns for the use of the
People called Methodists, and can appropriate
them with confidence for the present book:
It is not so large as to be either cumbersome, or expensive: and it is
large enough to contain such a variety of hymns as will not
soon be worn threadbare. It is large enough to contain all the important
truths of our most holy religion, whether specula-
tive or practical; yea, to illustrate them all, and to prove them both
by Scripture and reason: and this is done in a regular
order. The hymns are not carelessly jumbled together, but carefully ranged
under proper heads, according to the experi-
ence of real Christians. So that this book is, in effect, a little body
of experimental and practical divinity.
To the surprise of the committee responsible for Hymns and Psalms the
public reaction regarding the place of the
Psalms in this book was vigorous and widespread, arguing strongly and
consistently for their inclusion.
There is no doubt that the reading and singing of the Psalms has become
an established feature of the worship
of many churches. A careful selection of Psalms suited to various lectionary
systems in current use has therefore
been added to the hymns, with a sequential numeration which will simplify
reference to them. Indications for
responsive reading have been given, and settings for congregational singing
have been included.
The compilers of this book would also recommend to its users the advice
of john Wesley: 'Sing ALL!' Its potential
for good depends principally on the whole-hearted vocal participation
of all who are present at worship. For this
reason, congregational singing, in town and in country, has been an over-riding
concern in the selection of the
music; very few items have been included specifically for festival use,
or for occasions when choirs are an essential
feature. 'Sing ALL!' should also encourage the development of a generous
repertoire, as the book becomes
progressively better known: only by the use of material from the broad
spectrum of hymnody which is offered will
Christians of different traditions be enabled to grow together in understanding
and fellowship.
As the music of this book has been selected to encourage congregational
singing, so too the words of the
hymns have been chosen because they are representative of the best of
ancient and modern hymn writing. All of
them, in Wesley's words, 'talk common sense'; the greatest of them demonstrate,
as he finely put it, 'the
purity, the strength, and the elegance of the English language; and, at
the same time, the utmost simplicity and
plainness, suited to every capacity.' Wesley desired his readers to judge
'whether there be not in some of the
following hymns the true Spirit of Poetry, such as cannot be acquired
by art or labour, but must be the gift of
nature'; but he considered that the needs of the religious life were of
paramount importance. His last words in the
Preface should ring in the hearts of all compilers of hymn books, and
all users of them:
That which is of infinitely more moment than the Spirit of Poetry, is
the spirit of piety. And I trust, all persons of real
judgement will find this breathing through the whole Collection. It is
in this view chiefly, that I would recommend it to
every truly pious Reader, as a means of raising or quickening the spirit
of devotion; of confirming his faith; of enlivening his
hope; and of kindling and increasing his love to God and man.
When Poetry thus keeps its place, as the handmaid of Piety, it shall attain,
not a poor perishable wreath, but a crown that
fadeth not away.
Over two hundred years later, throughout the world, men and women are
seeking a deeper awareness of God
and a fuller commitment to God's service. The compilers of this book believe
that these aims can be greatly
furthered by a hymn book which is rooted firmly in denominational traditions,
and which makes available to
all Christians the riches of classical, evangelical, catholic, and charismatic
hymnody of the past and the present. By
approaching God through them, and attending to God's word in them, may
we all grow nearer to God, and in so
doing grow nearer to one another in faith and fellowship.
RICHARD G. JONES (Chairman)
Ivor H. JONES (Convener)
London, December 1983
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