The Presbyterian Hymnal: Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs

by Westminster John Knox Press

Book Overview

This exceptional hymnal features more than six hundred hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs in contemporary language that is both familiar and inclusive. The selections are arranged according to the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0664100996
• ISBN13: 9780664100995
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
• Length: 716 Pages
• Weight: 2.28 lbs.

Customer Reviews

presb. songbook

this songbook is, of course, according to what I expected, but it's less suitable for use as a songbook for piano or organ playing. It's hardbound and doesn't stay open when playing and that is very annoying.

Presbyterian Hymnal CD and Vista Compatibility

This CD is a great way to copy and paste the songs of the Presbyterian Hymnal into Word documents, Powerpoint, etc. We also use it to import hymns into Mediashout for projection. One thing - to get it to work with Vista requires that two files be manually copied - dirdib.drv and macromix.dll into your c:\windows folder. Otherwise, you'll get error messages saying that the files can not be copied because the disk is full. What's happening is that the new Vista security features are preventing the files from being copied. So where do you get these two files? Install and run the hymnal CD on a Windows XP computer. The files are only available while the program is running. They are removed when the program is closed. So - while the program is running, copy them to a floppy disk, flash drive or whatever and then manually copy them into the c:\windows folder on your Vista computer. You'll need administrator priveleges to do so. After that, the CD runs as well on a Vista computer as on our XP computer.

Every Presbyterian Church Should Have This.

We understand that the Presbyterian Church is at the start of making a new hymnal (due to debut in 2014) to replace this one. Their theory is that every generation needs a new hymnal and if you look at the preceding hymnals (the blue or green hymnal of 1933, the maroon hymnal of 1955 and the ill-fated Worshipbook of the 70s), you see their point. Even so, this one gets most things right and will be hard to beat. The second half of the 20th century experienced what has been called the Hymn Explosion, and many of the best hymns of that time are represented in this book which is still called the "new" hymnal in most Presbyterian churches. There are some works that were hard to introduce to congregations that are now among their most beloved hymns represented: Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ, Here I Am Lord, etc. Fred Pratt Green, Timothy Dudley-Smith, Jane Parker Huber and Hal Hopson are all represented here, as well they ought to be. There are also some under-utilized gems in it as well, songs like "Come O Spirit" (for Pentecost) and "God Bless Your Church" (for an anniversary) that have also found their way into other denominational hymnals. All in all it is a great hymnal for expanding the congregations "Favorites" repertoire without being too jarring. LindaJo McKim and company did yeoman's work in creating it. The layout is according to the liturgical year. The indexes are thorough and easy to use. The print is clear; the size is comfortable to hold while singing. There is a non-denominational version of this hymnal available too, from the publisher, for non-Presbyterian congregations who find it to their liking.

Ethnic and Cultural DIversity in Christian Hymnology

If you could have only one hymnal in your piano bench, this would be the one. The traditional Christian hymns in lush arrangements in the British style, with a great diversity of Christian hymn and praise songe from other non-European cultures. Some hymns have lyrics in various world langauges. A fitting tribute to the universality of the Christian tradition and the union of spirits in praise of the Divine.