Press and Reviews

Blended Worship Your Church
July/August 1997

Only a few years ago, many churches thought they had to choose between traditional or contemporary music. Some celebrated the rise of contemporary worship songs, while others felt attached to the rich heritage and theological foundations of hymns.

So is there a middle ground that appreciates both styles? Yes - and you'll find it in The Celebration Hymnal™. This new hymnal from Word Music and Integrity Music makes blended worship - mixing traditional and contemporary - a viable choice for churches that want to sing time-tested hymns as well as newer praise choruses.

Combining strengths of diverse worship styles and covering everything from fresh compositions to historic anthems, The Celebration Hymnal™ pulls it all together with helpful segues and transitions. Special features give musicians and worship leaders a seamless flow from one style to the next.

The Celebration Hymnal™
Ministries Today - July/August 1997

The Celebration Hymnal™ bills itself as "a new kind of hymnal for the 21st century." Much more than a hymnal, it is a collection of traditional hymns, gospel songs, contemporary praise-and-worship choruses, Scripture readings, and worship sequences (medleys of readings and songs).

The Celebration Hymnal™ serves as a culmination of the dramatic changes that have occurred in the congregational song repertoire of the evangelical church over the last 30 years. Evangelical hymnals published in the late '60s and early '70s contained mostly 19th and 20th century gospel songs such as "Blessed Assurance" and "How Great Thou Art."

The Celebration Hymnal™ has gone beyond the chorus offerings given by previous hymnals. It is the first to include several hundred worship choruses among its 692 songs and hymns. The selection of choruses includes the majority of those commonly sung today.

In addition to the choruses, gospel songs are well-represented, as well as a respectable selection of traditional hymns from Roman Catholic, Reformed, Methodist and other traditions. With such a wide variety of congregational songs, The Celebration Hymnal™ is the ideal resource for churches using the blended worship model - on one page you have "Of the Father's Love Begotten," a fourth-century Latin hymn, and on the next page is "Arise, Shine," a charismatic Scripture chorus from the early 1980s.

One of the most useful features of The Celebration Hymnal™ is the 50 worship sequences. Each worship sequence includes an opening Scripture reading and two or three songs, complete with musical introductions and transitions between songs - a feature especially helpful for keyboard players who are not able to improvise their own transitions. A typical worship sequence is one titled "The House of the Lord." It begins with a reading from Psalm 122, followed by the chorus "We Have Come Into His House," a four-measure musical interlude, and a concluding hymn, "Come, Christians, Join to Sing."

For churches that sing from hymnals, The Celebration Hymnal™ is a strong resource for worship planning. It contains musical arrangements (including modulations, descants and choral endings) that will aid pastors, worship leaders and music directors as they lay the groundwork for worship services.

Blended Worship Music
The Celebration Hymnal™

Moody Magazine - October 1997

In the complex world of evangelical church music, one frequent debate is whether to sing hymns from a hymnal or to sing choruses from words projected on a screen. The Celebration Hymnal™ attempts to walk the fine line of balance by combining traditional hymns and gospel songs with contemporary praise songs in a single volume.

The Celebration Hymnal™, edited by noted composer and arranger Tom Fettke, is a collaboration between Word, publisher of a best-selling traditional hymnal, and Integrity, publisher of primarily of contemporary music. Together, they have produced a volume that can aid in the blended style of worship that many churches now desire.

The Celebration Hymnal™ contains many helpful features, including numerous indexes; Scripture passages placed next to hymns of similar subject; modulations, reharmonizations, segues, choral endings, and descants; and thematic "worship sequences" in which songs and Scriptures are woven together. Churches may choose from editions containing four different Scripture translations [and editions containing only KJV scripture], and may also buy companion orchestrations.

Traditional hymn and gospel songwriters such as Issac Watts, Charles Wesley, Fanny Crosby, and Ira Sankey, are well represented. Contemporary songwriters, such as Graham Kendrick, Andrae Crouch, Bill and Gloria Gaither, and Carol Cymbala, also have numerous entries, chiefly songs that have become a part of the mainstream evangelical repertoire.

Regrettably, The Celebration Hymnal™ does not contain more entries from the recent classic hymn explosion by such 20th century writers as Fred Pratt, Green and Christopher Idle (both with no entries), Margaret Clarkson (three entries), and Timothy Dudley-Smith (one entry). The fresh, contemporary language and theological depth of their hymns could do much to close the gap in evangelical churches between lovers of contemporary language and those who long for a traditional hymnody.

A church's choice of a hymnal should take place after careful scrutiny of its own philosophy of worship and projected types of use. Those that place The Celebration Hymnal™ in their pews may be those interested in strengthening musical literacy by singing from the printed page, and who wish to more seamlessly combine classic hymns and gospel songs with contemporary songs and choruses.

Few items of church equipment are so important as the hymnal. Although worship is ultimately a matter of relationship between individuals and God, a church's correct choice and use of a hymnal can go far toward creating an environment in which worship can take place. -- C.U.

Word Music and Integrity Music Release "A New Kind of Hymnal"

NASHVILLE, TN (April 4, 1997) - The first copies of The Celebration Hymnal™ have begun to roll off the presses, the result of a unique partnership between Word Music and Integrity Music orchestrated specifically to create a new kind of hymnal for today's church. According to Tom Fettke, Senior Editor, The Celebration Hymnal™ will be the first hymnal created for "blended worship, mixing great hymns of our faith with the popular praise and worship choruses finding their way into congregational singing in nearly every denomination and tradition."

The Celebration Hymnal™, which is, in fact, fifty individual products designed to meet the extensive needs of church musicians, is being launched with the release of the Standard Version of the pew edition. Other products, including complete orchestrations, a Worship Planner Edition, a Worship Resource Book, and computer software will continue to be released throughout the Spring and early Summer.

"The Celebration Hymnal™ has everything the first great hymnal of the 21st century should have," said Don Cason, Vice President and General Manager of Word Music, "nearly 700 carefully chosen songs, two scripture version options, nine decorator colors, complete orchestrations, and invaluable planning resources. It is also the very first hymnal with custom software."

As a non-denominational hymnal, the compilation of nearly 700 songs for The Celebration Hymnal™ was developed with the sole purpose of providing the strongest possible collection of songs and hymns for today's congregations. Hundreds of songs were evaluated carefully by a broad spectrum of advisors and consultants. Prior to the publication of The Celebration Hymnal™, an extensive survey was undertaken to determine the needs of hymnal users. When asked whether there are too many, too few, or the right number of hymns or songs of various types, 61% reported that their present hymnal has too few praise and worship songs.

"As a songwriter, it's a humbling experience to see a song that you've written side-by-side with one of the great hymns that have been around for 200 years," said Don Moen, Executive Vice President/Creative Director, Integrity Music, who is one many living songwriters with songs in The Celebration Hymnal™. "I think that it is a reflection of what God is doing on the earth in terms of worship. He is bringing together the old and the new. What we've tried to do in The Celebration Hymnal™ is select those new songs that are bringing people into God's presence which makes them just as valid as a 200-year-old hymn. It's bringing the old and the new together to create something special and significant."

An Unprecedented Alliance

In an unprecedented alliance, Word Music and Integrity Music have joined together to create The Celebration Hymnal™. Integrity Music, a leading force in the nurturing and proliferation of contemporary worship songs to the body of Christ, and Word Music, publishers of the best-selling nondenominational hymnal, The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration, which was published in 1986, have each brought their unique strengths and resources to the development of The Celebration Hymnal™.

Mike Coleman, President and CEO, Integrity Music, believes the unique alliance has resulted in a hymnal that will meet the vital needs of today's churches . "Blended worship is a growing trend and many churches are searching for tools to help them combine praise and worship songs with traditional hymns. The Celebration Hymnal™ does exactly that. We believe that our strength combined with Word's presence in the church music marketplace and Tom Fettke's expertise have resulted in a hymnal that will be innovative to the Church's approach to blended worship."

The CCM Update
April 21, 1997

FRESH SONGS – Over 1,000 ministers of music from around the country recently got their first peek at The Celebration Hymnal™, the new hymnal created through a joint partnership between Integrity Music and Word Music, at an "Evening of Celebration" held in conjunction with MUSICalifornia in San Diego, California. Pictured are members of the executive committee for The Celebration Hymnal™, (l-r) Mike Coleman, Integrity; Tom Fettke, senior editor; Don Cason, Word; Tom Hartley and Jim Gibson, consultants; Camp Kirkland, instrumental editor; David Guthrie, Word; and Don Moen, Integrity.