The Committee elected Bishop Ernest Lyght (West Virginia Area) as chairperson, Ms. Raquel Martinez as vice-chair, and the Reverend Trey Hall as second vice-chair. It had previously been announced that Gary Alan Smith and Dean McIntyre were named co-editors for the quadrennium-long project.Presentations were made by Dr. Carlton J. Young, Editor, and Bishop Rueben P. Job, Chair of the Committee for the 1989 UM Hymnal; Dr. Lester Ruth of Asbury Theological Seminary and Dr. Michael Hawn of Perkins School of Theology, consultants to the Committee; Karen Greenwaldt, General Secretary of the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD) and Neil Alexander, President and Publisher of UMPH.
The Committee learned that current financial uncertainty necessitated a suspension of spending on the project for at least a year. Open issues to be resolved include determining the degree of local church interest in and ability to purchase hymnal-related products in 2013, and whether there will be adequate funds to support development and production.
The Committee agreed to continue work from their dispersed locations while these matters are deliberated. Members will complete an audit of currently available hymns, tunes and worship resources. They will seek input from local church leaders and others about their use of music and liturgies, perceived gaps in the contents of the current hymnal, preferred formats (print, digital, etc.) for future resources, and views about the criteria used to determine what should be included in an official United Methodist collection.
Further research will be conducted by GBOD and UMPH, and the Committee will participate in common reading and share views with one another about position papers on the critical role of Wesleyan theology, the best balance of musical genres, the way to support new churches reaching new people, and other matters important for future decision making.
Conference telephone calls and Internet communications are planned to facilitate continuing work and provide updates throughout 2009. Decisions about how to proceed with preparation of the report to the 2012 General Conference will be taken up as more is known about local church and UMPH finances later in the year.
Direct inquiries to Amy Smith, The United Methodist Publishing House, 201 8th Avenue S., Nashville TN 37203, or e-mail asmith@umpublishing.org. To direct inquiries to the UM Hymnal office please e-mail umchymnal@umpublishing.org.
