Tenth Anniversary for Hymns of Truth & Light

Say you're visiting FCC.  The organist introduces a hymn, a very familiar melody.  As you sing "Dear Lord and Father of mankind," just as you learned it years ago, you notice that everyone else is singing something different:  "Dear Lord who loves all humankind . . ." You decide to pay closer attention to the words.

Then you sing "This is my Father's world" and slip back into the old groove, only to find Mother's world in the second stanza.

After encountering new words, some hymns you've not heard before, and others with tunes you've heard but not in church, you realize that hymn singing at FCC is not the same-old, same-old.  You realize it's actually adding meaning to your life.

On January 18, as First Congregational marked the Tenth Anniversary of the publication of Hymns of Truth & Light, you get it: the hymnal is indeed a distinctive, creative work.  It includes 200 hymns written toward the end of the 20^th Century, such as a church favorite, "I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry" (No. 327).  It also includes hymns borrowed from other traditions - folk hymns, gospel songs and music from other cultures, for example.

Once the upcoming ninth printing is delivered, 90 churches across the country will be singing from it.  

Yes, We Can Do Our Own Hymnal

To learn its history is to learn about the church that produced it.  Having realized that the time had come to replace FCC's hymnal, a committee examined three hymnal candidates, then recommended that the church produce its own hymnal. "Carl Umland gave the hymnal a big 'push' when he volunteered to head the fund raising," says David Nussman, a key committee member and the hymnal's co-editor.

Says Maggi Tucker, composer and hymnal co-editor, "Within two days of the congregation's voting to proceed, 25 people called me to say they wanted to participate.  We had talent as well as enthusiasm; we had musicians, writers, and unusual resources, such as David's library of hymnals that is possibly the largest private collection in the U.S.

"We also had knowledgeable leadership," she continues.  "Steve Olson, who headed the text committee, has a background in literature, poetry, theology – and a good sense of humor.  That committee met every other week for eight months, with homework.  Members seldom missed a meeting. And they usually reached decisions by consensus."

Says Nussman, "Their decisions expanded our images of God and humanity – and have gained the admiration of many outside FCC."

Many Traditions Tapped

The process began with 800 hymns, many nominated by the congregation.  They were sung and rated by the Hymn Selection Committee, members of which came from many religious traditions.  They worked after choir rehearsal for more than a year. Other rating sessions were held to involve other church members. Then the text and music committees joined the project, beginning their work with 500 selections rated the highest.

For each of the hymns, the text and music committees looked at text, tune, even the harmonization.  Sometimes one committee found (or wrote) words they liked, and the other found (or wrote) a tune for it.  Thanks to Maggi and George Howe, a few new harmonizations are keeping a few long-time altos on the alert.  Linda Day composed an entirely new hymn - words and music.

About the only across-the-board text guideline was to reduce gender-specific words and broaden the images of God.  "We left the Battle Hymn of the Republic alone," says Maggi, "because we viewed it as an historical document."

There is a lot more to hymnbook production than writing, composing and singing.  Other committees handled such tasks as writing footnotes, copying (a lot of it), proofreading, preparing indices, and providing oversight.  The Steering Committee worked on paper selection and printing bids.  Four other churches, who recognized a good thing when they found out about it, shared in the cost of the first printing. 

Tracking down copyright owners and obtaining permissions was an especially onerous job.  That committee had a major disappointment when dealing with the copyright holder of many of the Hispanic hymns the editors wanted to use.  So the hymnal has fewer Hispanic hymns than originally planned.

The cover and Mayflower designs were contributed by member Jill Heustess and 'friend of the church' Bob Lapsley.

Committee members are listed on page viii of the hymnal.

The Work Goes On 

Today, the two co-editors supervise new printings, done every 18 months, with fall 2010 the targeted delivery time for the tenth printing.  David Nussman handles the financial end and deals with the printer. Maggi Tucker works with churches choosing hymns for their hymnal supplements and is the liaison with our computer service and with copyright owners.

In addition to serving as one of the two general editors, David Nussman won the contest that produced the title Hymns of Truth & Light.  The three words are from a farewell address John Robinson made to the Pilgrims as they were about to leave Holland.