Lift Up Your Hearts Has Its Fifth Birthday and Still Counting
Chris Meehan
A handful of Christian Reformed Church in North America employees took a few minutes on Wednesday morning to sing a few songs in celebration of the fifth anniversary of the publication of the Lift Up Your Hearts hymnal.
Gathered in a semicircle around a piano in the atrium of the Grand Rapids, Mich., office and led by Joyce Borger, director of Worship Ministries, the event began with singing “Great Is Thy Faithfulness!”
From there, the celebrators launched into many other favorites contained in the hymnal, which since it was published in 2013 has sold over 50,000 units in hard-copy and in the various digital editions and apps for Apple and Android devices.
“The pew edition is in more churches in the Reformed Church in America and CRC than we had imagined, but it is also being picked up by churches in other denominations as well (28 as of now). In addition, it is a go- to-resource for many worship planners and, either with or without the use of the digital editions, it is influencing the song diet of many congregations,” said Borger.
While sales have leveled off, Borger said that they will probably pick up in the coming years as congregations decide to replace their current hymnal with Lift Up Your Hearts.
Borger said one church, when placing an order for a few copies of the pew edition, noted recently that their congregation loves the hymnal so much that copies keep disappearing.
In Waco, Tex., three weeks ago, a Baptist musician said he uses it every week in planning worship.
“Users say they love the organization, the bandwidth of music, the size, and the mix of songs and texts,” said Borger.
The CRCNA joined with the Reformed Church in America to compile this 2013 hymnal.
Joel Navarro, who was on the committee that oversaw production of the hymnal and is now a professor in Singapore, said the hymnal continues to be “a potent and ever-present resource” for students at the School of Church Music in Singapore Bible College.
“We have two SCM services and one college-wide service each week. These student-led worship gatherings are reliant on the hymnal for a variety of reasons: a broad mix of traditions and styles which are theologically rich and which widely addresses a range of biblical themes and human experiences; accessible music; and deeply devotional texts,” said Navarro.
“We have 10 Southeast Asian countries represented in SCM alone, so the potential is high in reaching farflung communities hardly reached by the gospel.”
The app for iPad and Android devices features a free download of all the public domain songs, in-app purchases of copyrighted songs, in-app purchases of the FlexScores for all songs, and much more. Download the free app from iTunes or Google Play.
Sites to visit:
LiftUpYourHeartsHymnal.org
- Webinars and videos with background information
- How and where to get permission to project
- Expanded indexes
- Resources related to each song
- Background information
- Audio clips
- Musical scores for public domain songs
- Transpositions for musical instruments
Follow Lift Up Your Hearts on Facebook and Twitter for hymn highlights and updates. We invite you to share pictures of LUYH in your church using hashtag #LUYH or by emailing photos to [email protected].
