Reviewed by Debra Fox

You have either been eagerly awaiting this book's publication or you will be irritated by yet another songbook which contains so many songs that have been published before. As can be expected this book is in the standard Kingsway format and "brings together a broad selection of hymns and songs tried and tested in the fire of true worship" (so says the back cover) The sensible arrangements, easy to grapple with keys and 40 pages of index makes this a useful tool for the small guitar-led group through to the large church setting. And the complete range of products (OHP transparencies, music recordings, words songbooks and choral and instrumental arrangements) will enable you to get the most from this book. This new Songs of Fellowship mixes a lot of the old SOF material with newer songs (including Silent Night and Away In The Manger!). But here is the rub - most of this book has been included in previous Kingsway publications - SOFs 1 to 4, Hymns of Fellowship and the very timely New Songs. There may well be some purpose to amalgamating all these books but there is no indication given as to what has been omitted and how many previously unpublished songs have been included. I for one would not wish to fork out on this book simply for some simple chords to a few carols. On its own merit this book is a valuable resource for many groups and if your church/CU/youth group is currently suffering from handfuls of photocopies or you are about to invest in a new set of congregational songbooks then this book is for you.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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This music edition is an exciting collection of the best hymns and songs, with a depth and range that will prove an invaluable resources to your church for many years to come.