The New Century Hymnal


The New Century Hymnal is a comprehensive hymnal and worship book published in 1995 for the United Church of Christ. The hymnal contains a wide-variety of traditional Christian hymns and worship songs, many contemporary hymns and songs, and a substantial selection of "world music" selections origin, a full lectionary-based Psalter, service music selections, and a selection of liturgies from the UCC Book of Worship. Generally speaking, the hymnal is theologically within the mainline Protestant tradition, with a slant toward liturgical forms.

History

The hymnal project was initiated by action of the UCC General Synod in 1977, only three years after the denomination released its first-ever hymnal as a unified body. Prior to that time, congregations used the hymnals from their predecessor traditions: the Pilgrim Hymnal of the Congregational Christian Churches or The Hymnal of the Evangelical and Reformed Church. Because of financial struggles and other issues of greater concern to the denomination, however, work on the project by the denomination's Board for Homeland Ministires did not begin until 1989. The hymnal committee was chaired by James W. Crawford, then pastor of Boston's prestigious Old South Church, and the book was edited by Arthur Clyde.
In addition to the standard UCC edition, the hymnal is available in an "ecumenical" edition that lacks the United Church of Christ symbol imprint on the cover and some of the liturgical material in the "Orders for Worship" section.
While it is currently the only "official" hymnal of the UCC, some local UCC congregations have officially adopted a variety of other hymnals that are used for reasons outlined below, including the local church's own traditions as well as dissatisfaction with language revisions. The UCC does not exert authority over its member churches on matters of worship and congregational life, so congregations are free to use whatever hymnal they choose. No comprehensive figures are available as to the exact percentage of UCC congregations that use the NCH; however, among congregations that responded to the 2004-05 denomination-wide survey of worship practices, "A majority use The New Century Hymnal, with 39% using it all or nearly all of the time."

Theological Guidelines

According to "The Making of The New Century Hymnal" by James Crawford and Daniel Johnson, the hymnal committee was guided by the following theological guidelines:
The New Century Hymnal is perhaps most famous both in and outside the United Church of Christ for its approach to using "inclusive language". Arthur Clyde, hymnal editor, writes "The New Century Hymnal is not the first hymnal to deal with the issue of inclusive language. It does, however, represent the most even and consistent approach to language of any hymnal yet published. Rather than choosing to present only new hymns in inclusive language, those responsible for the language of this hymnal took the General Synod request for an inclusive hymnal quite literally. Thus hymns of other ages are presented in ways that seek to maintain the theology and beauty of the original but without some of the biases of the time in which they were written."
Clyde identifies a number of approaches and concerns implemented in considering hymn text language, which include:
The language revisions made necessary by these principles became very controversial upon the hymnal's release. Some congregations, mainly from more liberal backgrounds, found the changes liberating, while other ones, typically of moderate-to-conservative theological or social bent, have refused to adopt the new hymnal because they feel the changes were too "radical". Most often, however, complaints about the changes are not theological, but rather because the updated language is seen as un-poetic or as conflicting against the congregation's stored memory. Similarly, the printing of this hymnal left stanzas disappearing into the binding, and musical lines of text and notes that are poorly typeset on the page. Finally, the omission of certain bass notes in the melodies seem to place an emphasis on singing only the melody and not the harmony in a particular hymn. The 1995 issues of Prism contain critiques and criticisms of the new hymnal.

Hymnal Contents