I have come to realize that I probably felt a little skeptical about the new Sing! Hymnal from Getty Music. I wasn’t aware of this, but I suppose I hear of so many big product launches—and experience so many that end up being a mite disappointing—that I am prone to be a bit jaded. But I realize now that I should not have been, because this hymnal delivers.
It forced me to ask the question: What makes a good hymnal? Obviously, song selection is at the very top of the list and is the most important factor. A hymnal cannot be good if it is full of bad songs, and it’s hard for it to be truly bad if it’s full of good songs. Beyond the quality of the songs is the variety—the variety of songwriters, subjects, time periods, and even the inclusion (or lack of inclusion) of Psalms. Simply, a good hymnal must be a collection of good songs. With the massive variety of songs available in the English language, we could perhaps go a bit farther and say that it must be a collection of great songs.
A second factor is the additional material such as Scripture readings, creeds, liturgical elements, snippets of catechisms, and so on. Many of the best hymnals go beyond merely printing hymns and offer other material that can be used for personal or corporate worship.
A third factor is the structure. While it would be possible to simply arrange each of the selections alphabetically by title or chronologically by age, the best hymnals provide a deeper structure that helps lead through the selection. Often this is done by arranging songs according to a typical order of worship or by certain themes.
A fourth factor is the index or indexes. A good index can help a reader (or singer) discover songs by title, topic, Scripture passage, or songwriter. It can often also help with melodies and meters.
Then, of course, there are the musical settings, which are a bit outside my domain as someone whose ability to read music peaked with sixth-grade recorder lessons.
All of this is to say that there are many factors that combine to set a great hymnal apart from a good, mediocre, or just plain one.
How does The Sing! Hymnal stack up? Very well, I’d say. When it comes to song selection, it draws deeply from the rich history of Christian hymnody while including the best of the songs written in recent years. It is perhaps slightly stacked toward the works of Keith and Kristyn Getty and their associated musicians (e.g. Matt Boswell, Matt Papa) but it is, after all, a Getty product. You’ll also find a good bit of CityAlight, Sandra McCracken, Bob Kauflin, and other contemporary favorites.
In terms of additional elements, there are many of them that are well-placed and helpful—prayers, Scripture-readings, quotes, and more. It has been carefully crafted to be more than a collection of songs. The structure is useful as well and it offers three sections: The worship service (which offers selections following a traditional Protestant liturgy), the Christian life (which offers songs related to topics like the church, suffering, thanksgiving, and death), and the life of Christ (which traces his life from advent to return). The indexes are numerous and helpful. And, after asking those who are more qualified than I am, the musical settings appear to be excellent.
So overall, The Sing! Hymnal is a great product and one that may have its place in personal devotion, family worship, and the corporate gathering. There is probably not a human being on earth who will agree with every song that was included and omitted, but that is inevitable for any collection. And every hymnal gets revised eventually, so it is probable that through the decades, some selections will be added and others removed. In that way, I take this to be the beginning of a living, still-to-be-curated collection.
The Sing! Hymnal is an impressive product and one I’d gladly commend to you. I’d suggest you give it a look and consider how you may make it a part of your worship.
