Reviewed by Gavin Drake

Not another hymn book! Yes, just as your church has replaced all its Hymns Ancient And Moderns with the new combined Mission Praise, it seems that church treasurers are now being asked to write another large cheque for another collection. Do we need another hymn book? The reason for this new book, it would seem, is to bring up to date those old favourite hymns whose words have become entirely meaningless to modern day generations. (Does thou knowest what I meanest?) It also redeems some wonderful tunes that, because of extremely dodgy theology within the lyrics, have been dropped by the Church today. We all know that those feet in ancient times didn't walk upon England's pastures green. Yet nobody would deny that "Jerusalem" is a mightily powerful and emotive tune. Michael Perry has written a new hymn to this tune: "Bring to the Lord a glad new song/Children of grace extol your King/Your love and praise to God belong/To instruments of music sing!" 'Hymns For The People' is brought to you by the Jubilate Hymns people: David Peacock, Michael Perry, Roger Mayer, Christopher Norton, Chris Idle, Michael Saward, Jane Sinclair and Geoff Twigg - the same enlightened worshippers who brought out Hymns For Today's Church in the early 80s. That book created a furore in the conservative media. The world has mellowed since then and the Church is more receptive to musical change. Hymns For The People, with its selection of 316 hymns old and new, will certainly become a major part of many churches' musical life in the 90s.

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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