The expanded edition of my "Useful Hymns" book is shaping up quickly. The number of original hymns I have been aiming for all this last year is 200, double the number I initially published at the beginning of 2015, and that isn't counting hymns that I translated and existing hymns (translation included) for which I supplied original tunes. I may also, when all is said and done, work into the book my melodic setting of Luther's Small Catechism and a Divine Service setting that I wrote almost 15 years ago.
But for right now, I'm just excited to have a specific plan for each of the remaining 17 slots in the main sequence of hymns - hymns for which I now have titles, topics, and in some cases, tunes picked out, though I have yet to write their texts. Here are my plans for hymns 184-200, in no particular order:
- HEROES OF THE FAITH
- Abraham: For Justifying Faith
- Jacob: Wrestling with God
- Moses: Strength in Weakness
- Joshua: For a Devout Heart
- David: The Gift of Penitence
- Isaiah: For Christ-Centered Ministry
- Minor Prophets: Warning and Promise
- Women of the Faith
- Timothy: For Faithful Youth
- Onesimus & Philemon: Honor in Humble Service
- Seven Churches of the Apocalypse: For Perseverance
- CARE OF THE COMMUNITY
- Intercession for the Sick
- For the Despised and Rejected
- For Troubled Families
- For Healing of Division
- For Courage
- For a Cheerful Heart
With my plans for the remainder of this book so clear, I can all but taste the completion of the project. As for the hymns for which I haven't chosen a tune in advance, I'm thinking about asking my friends in one or two hymn-writers' discussion groups to contribute their original tunes. Perhaps they'll agree to an exchange, in lieu of royalties, in which I will let them make free use of my work if they let me use a bit of theirs. I think it would be good to stir into my book a few tunes that aren't either old unsung masterpieces or my own original work; call it creative diversity.
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