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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Old hymn books
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
The Salvation Army has published a new song book this summer. I will be introducing it officially next Sunday morning and dedication the new books.
My question is what do we do with the old ones?
If you have ever had a new edition what did you do?
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
No new book at my present place, but at a previous one we advertised the old ones: first via the Diocesan newsletter and then in the back of the RSCM's quarterly magazine. Another church I know of has used The Church Times to get rid of theirs.
IME there is often somewhere out there which needs "new-to-them" books because they don't have the money for brand new.
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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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Arethosemyfeet
Shipmate
# 17047
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Posted
Judging from my current church, stick them in a corner until they grow mould and no-one can argue with ditching them. Otherwise I would say that if no-one can find a use for them, recycle them.
Posts: 2933 | From: Hebrides | Registered: Apr 2012
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
Dispose of them discreetly (re-cycling bins at supermarkets are just the thing), and if/when anyone asks where they are, tell them (truthfully)that you have no idea.
Well, by then, you won't have, will you?
![[Snigger]](graemlins/snigger.gif)
Ian J.
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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lily pad
Shipmate
# 11456
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Posted
I'm pretty sure this gives you free reign to offer up what are now the old old hymn books and put the old hymn books on the shelf where the old old ones have been kept since the last hymn book came out.
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Sloppiness is not caring. Fussiness is caring about the wrong things. With thanks to Adeodatus!
Posts: 2468 | From: Truly Canadian | Registered: May 2006
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Mamacita
Lakefront liberal
# 3659
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Posted
Plenty of good suggestions above about trying to find a place that needs them. If that doesn't work, may I suggest finding a place that recycles books. (Books can't go in with the regular paper recycling because of the glue in the binding.) Here stateside, the chain Half Price Books will accept books to be recycled.
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Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.
Posts: 20761 | From: where the purple line ends | Registered: Dec 2002
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Before you dispose of the lot, give your people the opportunity to take one home. Seriously. A lot of people get very attached to familiar hymnbooks.
Then talk to your youth group, elders/men's/women's group, whatever. If they have retreats or offsite meetings which involve singing, it's much handier to have a dedicated stash of hymnbooks that don't have to be hauled back by Sunday morning. The same goes for any Christian school that holds chapel and might appreciate not having to buy books (if they haven't already).
Then talk to others in your district/synod/whatever-you-call it. Our state/national papers have a "Wanted" and "Available" section where hymnbooks get listed pretty often.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Kaplan Corday
Shipmate
# 16119
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Mudfrog:
The Salvation Army has published a new song book this summer. I will be introducing it officially next Sunday morning and dedication the new books.
My question is what do we do with the old ones?
If you have ever had a new edition what did you do?
I'm amazed that you are still using hymn books.
We haven't had them for years.
Box up the old ones and send them to the missionaries, so that Christians in obscure corners of the world can sing in Jacobean English, and their kids can while away the time during boring sermons by trying to find the oldest and youngest hymn writers by the dates at the end of the hymns.
I came across hymn books in a church in India which had, at the end of the Recessional, Rudyard Kipling 1865 - .
Posts: 3355 | Registered: Jan 2011
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Kaplan Corday:
I'm amazed that you are still using hymn books.
We haven't had them for years.
You'll have to pry my Hymnal from my cold, dead hands!
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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Kaplan Corday
Shipmate
# 16119
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
quote:
Originally posted by Kaplan Corday:
I'm amazed that you are still using hymn books.
We haven't had them for years.
You'll have to pry my Hymnal from my cold, dead hands!
I didn't say I didn't like them or miss them.
Posts: 3355 | Registered: Jan 2011
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gog
Shipmate
# 15615
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Posted
Also worth keeping hold of if you do service in residential homes and so forth.
Also check that "the great favourite" hymn has not been left out of the new book, so need to keep the old one for that reason.
Posts: 103 | From: somewhere over the border | Registered: Apr 2010
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georgiaboy
Shipmate
# 11294
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Posted
When I was some years ago the Parish Admin at a TEC cathedral, I received a phone call form a parishioner who lived a the Episcopal Church Home (retirement facility). She asked if I could send her one of the 'old hymnals' for their chapel organist to use. We had lots; I shipped one right away.
A few days later she called and after thanking me, said 'But what I wanted was the one before that!' (The 'old hymnal' to me was The Hymnal 1940, what she wanted was the 1918 version.) There was one in my bookcase, so I sent it along. The name on the bookplate was the requesting lady's grandfather -- former bishop of the diocese. (Usual refrain of 'It's a small world...')
For those shipmates not TEC-oriented; unlike some other Anglican bodies, we have an official hymnal, whose texts must be approved and adopted by our triennial General Convention.
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You can't retire from a calling.
Posts: 1675 | From: saint meinrad, IN | Registered: Apr 2006
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Hymns Ancient and Modern ... if it was good enough for the disciples ...
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
I'd imagine it would only have been Redemption Hymnal where you were, Kaplan Corday ... in which case it's no great loss ... ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
The trouble with the new versions of the old hymnals is that they update the language - often with catastrophic results.
The reality on the ground, though, I've found, is that irrespective of tradition or churchmanship, most churches have a fairly limited repertoire when it comes to hymns.
I visited t'other Anglican parish here on Sunday and they seem to combine a bells and smells approach to the eucharist - a friend of mine wafts the incense around - with Wesleyan hymns which are sung with some gusto at times.
By and large, other than worship-choruses at the 11am trying to be trendy service at our parish, the hymns at our snake-belly low but still quite 'traditional' 9am service aren't that different to those sung at the liberal catholic parish - although there are more 1950s style evangelical hymns at the former.
Give me 1662 and some anthems and now you're talking ...
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
In answer to the OP, my recommendation would be to keep hold of the old hymnals just in case they ever come back into fashion ...
The Orthodox have kept the thing about 'The doors! The doors! Let all catechumens depart' thing in their Liturgy for that reason, I'd imagine - even if they don't actually close the doors and even though no catechumens (if there are any) actually depart ...
Meanwhile, if I were Kaplan and missed the old hymn books he was used to - and it may not have been Redemption Hymnal, I was teasing (the Brethren assemblies I knew used that, as did the various Pentecostal denominations in South Wales - but I suspect it wasn't the only hymnal that Brethren assemblies used - and may even have been unusual for them to do so, for all I know) - then providing they were still using the hymns but dispensing them some other way - on a screen? - I'd still take the old hymnal in with me ...
Who knows? It may create a trend?
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
The trouble with the new versions of the old hymnals is that they update the language - often with catastrophic results.
You will be glad to know (or possibly not) that we have not updated the hymns. No PC inclusive language in The Salvation Army books! (Strange considering that we have women preachers before most of you!)
So, we still have warlike songs like Stand up stand up for Jesus with the interesting experience of a congregation full of women singing 'ye that are men now serve him...'
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
So if the new book doesn't update the hymns is your church arguably wasting its money by buying something that mostly duplicates the material from the old book? Or is it a new book of mostly new hymns? If it's the latter why not keep the old book in case you still want to sing the oldies? Perhaps you're expecting never to sing them again, which surprises me.
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Thanks Mudfrog - yes, I am pleased to hear you've retained the original language rather than updated it.
I'd far rather a Salvation Army that was true to its roots than one that sought to modify everything in the interests of inclusivity or 'Political Correctness'.
On the gender-specific language thing - I'm afraid I'm pretty unreconstructed in that area. Replacing masculine pronouns and replacing them with feminine ones or neutral, non-gender specific ones doesn't solve any problems, it seems to me - it simply creates new ones.
I might be muddled but I don't see any incompatibility between that and holding to a centre left position on political issues ... which is where I'm at politically.
As for updating language generally, in principle I don't have a problem with that. One of the problems the Orthodox face, of course, as many of them will readily acknowledge - is that in Greece and Russia a lot of people can't actually understand and follow the words of the services.
The problem, as I see it, at least in English, is that most attempts to update the language of old hymns removes the poetry ...
I think it was you, Mudfrog, who shared an anecdote here on these boards of a university graduate who complained about what he took to be incomprehensible lyrics in a well-known Wesleyan hymn - 'thine eye diffused a quick'ning ray' I think the line was - which he could easily have untangled with a bit of nouse and application.
There's a balance of course.
I've heard some Orthodox say that the English translations of their ancient prayers and liturgies by Fr Ephrem Lash are pretty good and work well in contemporary language.
If that's the case, I'd like to see someone do something similar with some (but not all) Jacobean and Elizabethan English when it comes to hymns and prayers.
The trouble is, most attempts I've seen have been pretty trite.
I wince at some of the Common Worship phraseology in the CofE - 'on the night he was betrayed he had supper with his friends ...'
It sounds like a bunch of lads sharing a pizza before sitting down to watch the match on telly ...
But that's probably Dead Horses territory.
I would imagine that the new Salvation Army hymnal would contain popular classics and standards from the older versions - and that those that have been left on the editorial floor, as it were, are unlikely ever to see the light of day again.
Which begs your original question as to what to do with them.
I often see old hymnals in second hand book shops, so a few could go to those - but you may have to go across a wide area to distribute them - most secondhand bookshops would only take one or two.
Might some of your congregation want a copy or two at a knock-down or nominal price?
Are the older versions still in use somewhere? In which case, could they be shipped out to help congregations which might not be able to afford to buy some for themselves?
It depends how many you have, but I would have thought that a few distributed around second-hand bookshops, a few on Ebay, a few sold to people in your church who might wish to hold onto them for nostalgic reasons and a few recycled or pulped would be the balanced way to deal with them.
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
I'd imagine the new hymnal would be a mix of old and new, SvitlanaV2. Even the Methodists don't sing all of Charles Wesley's hymns these days!
Mind you, did anyone EVER sing the full repertoire? Weren't there 7,000 of them or something daft like that? And some with loads and loads of verses ...
No, what I envisage here - and Mudfrog will correct me if I'm wrong - is a book with a mix of old standards - probably those sung most regularly or which are best-known and loved - and newer material.
I've said this aboard Ship before, but on the two occasions I've attended a Salvation Army rally / musical event in a northern town hall, I was pleasantly surprised by the stylistic range and repertoire of the music - some of the choral settings appeared quite challenging too.
It certainly wasn't oompah-oompah brass band music - not that I've got anything against brass band music, I'm quite partial to it, as indeed I am to Welsh Male Voice Choirs.
As far as musical talent goes, I think one would have been hard-pressed to find anything as good - apart from among highly trained cathedral choristers - say, with a different style involved.
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
Our song books have always had Salvation Army songs, more Wesley songs than the Methodists have, a lot of American Moddy & Sankley type, Fanny Crosby revivalist songs, Anglican hymns and Catholic stuff by Bernard of Clairvaus and Newman, Faber, etc.
The new song book has removed about 300 songs that have fallen out of use and replaced them with others - some Gaither stuff, dome Hillsong, some Townend but also songs like Come Down O Love Divine, All My Hope On God Is Founded, Tell Out My Soul, and As Water To the Thirsty. About a third of the book has been renewed.
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
LOL Moddy and Sankley ha ha
And Clairvaux has an x.
Too late to change it ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif) ![[Help]](graemlins/help.gif)
[ 07. September 2015, 19:39: Message edited by: Mudfrog ]
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Ok - most of that doesn't surprise me, perhaps because I sometimes used to visit a small group near where I used to live that continued to meet after their Salvation Army citadel was closed. They used the old hymnal. I was even invited to preach there on two or three occasions.
They were joined by a handful of independent evangelicals and looked to be getting fairly established at one point.
Eventually, the Salvationist core drifted off to other Citadels and the conservative evangelical rump remained and continued to meet with very small numbers.
I've no idea what happened to them in the end as I moved to another part of town.
Perhaps my preaching was the final straw ...
It's interesting, though, to hear what's been added to the existing Wesleyan, Moody & Sankey, Fanny Crosby material - I'd expect Townend and Hillsongs, but I was heartened to hear that Come Down O Love Divine, Tell Out My Soul (a good rousing hymn) and All My Hope On God Is Founded have been added.
Sorry to hear that Bernard of Clairvaux has been given the heave-ho, though.
I wonder how he feels about that ...
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
I've said this aboard Ship before, but on the two occasions I've attended a Salvation Army rally / musical event in a northern town hall, I was pleasantly surprised by the stylistic range and repertoire of the music - some of the choral settings appeared quite challenging too.
It certainly wasn't oompah-oompah brass band music - not that I've got anything against brass band music, I'm quite partial to it, as indeed I am to Welsh Male Voice Choirs.
As far as musical talent goes, I think one would have been hard-pressed to find anything as good - apart from among highly trained cathedral choristers - say, with a different style involved.
You'd be hard pressed to find much oompah-oompah brass music - we don't like it.
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Oh, whoops ... no, he's still in ...
I've seen what Mudfrog meant now - I hadn't noticed he'd mispelt Clairvaux in his previous post ...
I thought you were saying that Bernard had been given an 'x' - ie. an exit - that he'd been crossed out or something ...
Glad he's still in.
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
I'd imagine the new hymnal would be a mix of old and new, SvitlanaV2.
If the new SA book contains a mixture of old and new then it makes sense to keep at least some copies of the previous book, in case someone needs to refer to any of the discarded hymns.
This is what Methodist churches do, IME. But perhaps Salvationists are less nostalgic. It wouldn't surprise me.
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Sure, I know you don't like oompah-oompah music.
I wasn't seriously expecting it to be like that.
I wasn't criticising. I was paying a compliment.
What I genuinely wasn't expecting, though, was the range and variety of the musical styles. I was expecting it to be mostly Moody and Sankey style but there was a lot more to it than that.
I'm not particularly musical - unlike my wife and kids - but even I could pick up that there was a very high standard in both musicianship and arrangements.
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
I can't speak for the Salvation Army but I've come across some pretty nostalgic Pentecostals in my time ...
Any group that's survived for more than a generation or so is bound to build up a degree of nostalgia.
Or even over less time than that - has anyone here seen the film 'Babette's Feast'?
The whole point of that is that Babette's self-sacrificial feast softens the sectarian peasant-folk and brings them back to the principles of love and fellowship expounded by their founder.
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
I'd imagine the new hymnal would be a mix of old and new, SvitlanaV2.
If the new SA book contains a mixture of old and new then it makes sense to keep at least some copies of the previous book, in case someone needs to refer to any of the discarded hymns.
This is what Methodist churches do, IME. But perhaps Salvationists are less nostalgic. It wouldn't surprise me.
Let me just say that a nerd (or is it a geek?) in our congregation, sent me a list of all the songs in our song book that had been removed. I was amazed to see that I diodn't know most of them, and the others thast I had heard used on occasion, in my 27 years of ministry I have never ever used - except 1 which lamentably has now been dropped: Hark, My Soul It Is The Lord.
None of those that have been omitted will be missed. - it's why they have gone, I guess.
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
Oh, whoops ... no, he's still in ...
I've seen what Mudfrog meant now - I hadn't noticed he'd mispelt Clairvaux in his previous post ...
I thought you were saying that Bernard had been given an 'x' - ie. an exit - that he'd been crossed out or something ...
Glad he's still in.
The Bernard songs are
Jesus the very thought of thee, with sweetness fills my breast.
Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts,
O sacred head once wounded (adapted by Paulus Gerhardt of course)
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Mudfrog:
Let me just say that a nerd (or is it a geek?) in our congregation, sent me a list of all the songs in our song book that had been removed.
What will your 'nerds/geeks' of the future do if you extinguish all traces of the past??
But seriously, I suppose each denomination, or even congregation, has its own distinctive relationship with its hymn book(s). If your congregation has no particular interest in the old book then put the copies out for recycling.
Interestingly, the other day a man came into the charity shop where I work and asked if we had any old hymn books. We didn't (and they're usually too tatty to put on the shelves when we do) but I got a nice Melody Edition of Hymns and Psalms from there once. Should a copy of the old SA hymnbook come in I'd certainly have a good look at it it, as I've never seen one before. I like old hymn books.
[ 07. September 2015, 20:42: Message edited by: SvitlanaV2 ]
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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Kaplan Corday
Shipmate
# 16119
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
Hymns Ancient and Modern ... if it was good enough for the disciples ...
The disciples sang from Believers' Hymnbook for the Breaking of Bread meeting, and Golden Bells for the gospel meeting (and penty disciples sang from Elim Choruses).
quote:
I'd imagine it would only have been Redemption Hymnal where you were, Kaplan Corday ... in which case it's no great loss ...
Christian Praise, actually.
Any sense of loss which I feel is for hymn books in general in favour of Powerpoint, not any hymnal in particular.
Besides which, Soapy Sam's "If I were a cassowary/ On the plains of Timbuctoo/ I would eat a missionary/ Cassock, bands, and hymn-book too" (which as a family we used to sing to the charismatic worship song Lord Prepare Me To Be A Sanctuary) doesn't scan if you substitute Powerpoint.
[Edit: the UBB got to me]
[ 09. September 2015, 00:38: Message edited by: Zappa ]
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Thanks Kaplan.
I never cease to be impressed by your insight into Early Church practice.
I share your dread of PowerPoint.
I mean, all these innovations ... I mean 1662, what was all that about ...
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
I mean 1662, what was all that about ...
Yeah, well, I do still wonder that. Nasty modernist aberration.
But as for the hymn books ... I'm sure you could sort of snap-fossilize them and use them as building blocks for a children's playground?
[Edit: subversive little conjunctions ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif) ]
[ 08. September 2015, 19:41: Message edited by: Zappa ]
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shameless self promotion - because I think it's worth it
and mayhap this too: http://broken-moments.blogspot.co.nz/
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Graven Image
Shipmate
# 8755
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Posted
When I was a jail chaplain I was very happy when old hymn books were donated to our chapel. Nursing homes might also be able to use them.
Posts: 2641 | From: Third planet from the sun. USA | Registered: Nov 2004
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american piskie
Shipmate
# 593
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by gog:
Also worth keeping hold of if you do service in residential homes and so forth.
I am pretty sure that my distaste for dirty old hymn (and service) books will outlast most of my other faculties. When books are not fit for you to use, put them straight in the bin. Buy some fresh ones for the Oldies! Buy some new ones for the Prisoners!
And by the way if folk are saying "they'll problably last until Easter" then they won't. Bin them now.
[ 09. September 2015, 10:14: Message edited by: american piskie ]
Posts: 356 | From: Oxford, England, UK | Registered: Jun 2001
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Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
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Posted
When I had a bit of spare cash and a new edition of A&M came out, I thought of giving a new set for our church. One of the reasons for deciding not to, apart from it seeming a bit indulgent, was what we'd do with the old ones- they are Hymns Old & New and I wouldn't want to pass them on to anyone!
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
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Dennis the Menace
Shipmate
# 11833
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Graven Image:
When I was a jail chaplain I was very happy when old hymn books were donated to our chapel. Nursing homes might also be able to use them.
I play at a nursing home once a month for their communion service and they use a page with a copy of the words in large print for each hymn that is given out as I play the intro and collected straight after the hymn is finished. Otherwise there is mass confusion with books/hymn numbers/constant turning and rustling of pages etc
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"Till we cast our crowns before Him; Lost in wonder, love, and praise."
Posts: 853 | From: Newcastle NSW Australia | Registered: Sep 2006
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bib
Shipmate
# 13074
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Posted
Just don't repeat what a large church in my city did. They decided to go 'modern' and went to the big screens with hymns and songs projected onto them (people do look funny craning their necks). However they then decided they had no further use for their very large supply of hymn books, so they sent them to the town tip. There are so many rural churches which would have been thrilled to have 'new' hymn books, but they were never offered. ![[Mad]](angryfire.gif)
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"My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, accept the praise I bring"
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Nick Tamen
Ship's Wayfaring Fool
# 15164
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Posted
Mudfrog, this link from when the new PC(USA) hymnal came out a few years ago has some ideas on retiring and disposing or repurposing of old hymnals. (And if you're curious about the craft projects mentioned, look here or here. I have seen some hymnal angels that are quite beautiful, as well as some that are more kitschy.)
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The first thing God says to Moses is, "Take off your shoes." We are on holy ground. Hard to believe, but the truest thing I know. — Anne Lamott
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Cathscats
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# 17827
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Posted
Denis the Menace has it right. Hymn books are no use for nursing homes, as the print, even in large print versions, is too small. And large print versions are too heavy, by and large. Printed sheets is the way to go, and I find works quite well. It means too that when one of the congregation wants to keep the hymn, they can do so. I expect many of them take it to their room and promptly forget about it, but you never know.
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"...damp hands and theological doubts - the two always seem to go together..." (O. Douglas, "The Setons")
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Cathscats
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# 17827
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Posted
Love the shippy bit which says "Thank you for contributing, one wash your hands". In the case of old hymns books another reason for not passing them on..... Do you know where they have been all these years? My local hospital has done away with Gideons's bibles because of the risk of passing infection on them!
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"...damp hands and theological doubts - the two always seem to go together..." (O. Douglas, "The Setons")
Posts: 176 | From: Central Highlands | Registered: Sep 2013
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
quote:
Cathscats: In the case of old hymns books another reason for not passing them on..... Do you know where they have been all these years?
Now my mind is thinking up some very imaginative things ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
[ 13. September 2015, 20:00: Message edited by: LeRoc ]
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
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Belle Ringer
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# 13379
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Posted
What condition are the hymnals in?
A couple decades go when the church I attended bought new hymnals, they stacked the old ones on a back pew and weekly in announcements reminded people to take one or more. They were all gone within 6 months.
But a nearby church has some retired hymnals so old they shed bits of paper if you open one. The music may be forever but the paper it's printed on isn't. At some point things must be allowed to die.
I assume these are in good shape. There are churches that have no hymnals and might like some, but they are usually small independent churches. I don't know how one would publicize availability of free hymnals in a way that would catch their attention.
Another thought - schools? Or after school places? A friend taught at a school in a poor area, I gave her a stack of readers (long story why I had a stack of readers), she used them to set up a library for the kids. For special reward and also for the last day of class she invited kids to choose a book to be their own, take home, keep. The kids were thrilled to own a book! These were used books, well used books, scuffed, with someone else's name written on the cover in large black marker. But the kids were thrilled to have a book of their own.
Could a hymnal be thrilling to kids who have never seen a book in their dwelling place, never owned a book?
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SvitlanaV2
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# 16967
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
There are churches that have no hymnals and might like some, but they are usually small independent churches. I don't know how one would publicize availability of free hymnals in a way that would catch their attention.
In the UK it would be through local ecumenical connections, I imagine.
quote:
Another thought - schools? [...]
Could a hymnal be thrilling to kids who have never seen a book in their dwelling place, never owned a book?
State schools in Britain are meant to offer a daily act of worship that is Christian in character, but those that take this ruling seriously probably already have their own 'approved' hymnbooks. Those that don't take it seriously won't want books provided by the Salvation Army, I suspect.
I also think secular youth and after-school clubs are unlikely to want hymnbooks, for fear of causing offence. The kids will come from all sorts of religious backgrounds, or none. Introducing Christian music in this context would be fraught with problems, and I doubt that the leaders would be trained to deal with that, or be familiar with much Christian music themselves.
[ 14. September 2015, 20:26: Message edited by: SvitlanaV2 ]
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bib
Shipmate
# 13074
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Posted
if they are in good nick then maybe you could offer them to the RSCM as they may know who could use them.
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"My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, accept the praise I bring"
Posts: 1307 | From: Australia | Registered: Oct 2007
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
There are churches that have no hymnals and might like some, but they are usually small independent churches. I don't know how one would publicize availability of free hymnals in a way that would catch their attention.
In the UK it would be through local ecumenical connections, I imagine.
quote:
Another thought - schools? [...]
Could a hymnal be thrilling to kids who have never seen a book in their dwelling place, never owned a book?
State schools in Britain are meant to offer a daily act of worship that is Christian in character, but those that take this ruling seriously probably already have their own 'approved' hymnbooks. Those that don't take it seriously won't want books provided by the Salvation Army, I suspect.
I also think secular youth and after-school clubs are unlikely to want hymnbooks, for fear of causing offence. The kids will come from all sorts of religious backgrounds, or none. Introducing Christian music in this context would be fraught with problems, and I doubt that the leaders would be trained to deal with that, or be familiar with much Christian music themselves.
Why would secular youth groups/after school clubs even be singing hymns in the first place...? That's why hymnbooks wouldn't be of any use to them, not about offence.
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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SvitlanaV2
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# 16967
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Posted
Well, Belle Ringer suggested that they might be interesting to children in after-school care, and I extended that to include youth clubs.
Old hymns represent a cultural heritage, and can be explored by young or old, Christians and non-Christians alike. But I'm sure you're right in saying that youth clubs wouldn't be interested in this sort of thing.
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
Our choir music edition hymn books tend to wear out, from overuse long before they are replaced. This is due to bindings not being made to last any more (perhaps the publishers know they are not going to be needed for long these days). The last lot of congregational hymn books, which were replaced, went to a smaller church in the Benefice. They were in much better condition than any they had had previously!
My old copy, sadly, ended up in the loo. (Not a deliberate act, I hasten to add. And yes, it was clean water!) I did try to dry it out, but it never properly recovered. There is probably someone with a second hand copy out there somewhere, wondering why all the pages are so crinkly....
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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