The Lutheran Hymnal
Encyclopedia
The Lutheran Hymnal is one of the official hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

als of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 2.3 million members, it is both the eighth largest Protestant denomination and the second-largest Lutheran body in the U.S. after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Synod...

. Published in 1941
1941 in literature
The year 1941 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Frank Herbert marries Flora Parkinson.*F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished work, The Last Tycoon, is edited and published by Edmund Wilson.-New books:...

 by Concordia Publishing House
Concordia Publishing House
Concordia Publishing House , founded in 1869, is the official publishing arm of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Headquartered in St Louis, Missouri at 3558 S. Jefferson St. Louis, MO, CPH publishes the Synod's official magazine, The Lutheran Witness and the Synod's hymnals, including...

 in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, it was the LCMS' second official English-language hymnal, succeeding the 1912 Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book
Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book
Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book was one of the official hymnals of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Published in 1912 by Concordia Publishing House in St. Louis, Missouri, it was the LCMS' first official English-language hymnal...

. Development of TLH began in 1929 as a collaborative effort of the churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America
Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America
The Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America was a Lutheran joint fellowship organization between the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod , the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod...

 and became the common hymnal for both the LCMS and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod is a North American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as theologically conservative, it was founded in 1850 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As of 2008, it had a baptized membership of over 389,364 in more than 1,290 congregations,...

 (WELS). Containing 668 chorale
Chorale
A chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....

s, hymns, carols, and chant
Chant
Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes to highly complex musical structures Chant (from French chanter) is the rhythmic speaking or singing...

s, plus the liturgy for the Common Service, Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...

, Vespers
Vespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...

, the propers, collect
Collect
In Christian liturgy, a collect is both a liturgical action and a short, general prayer. In the Middle Ages, the prayer was referred to in Latin as collectio, but in the more ancient sources, as oratio. In English, and in this usage, "collect" is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable...

s and prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...

s, the suffrages, canticle
Canticle
A canticle is a hymn taken from the Bible. The term is often expanded to include ancient non-biblical hymns such as the Te Deum and certain psalms used liturgically.-Roman Catholic Church:From the Old Testament, the Roman Breviary takes seven canticles for use at Lauds, as follows:*...

s, psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...

, and miscellaneous tables, TLH became an extremely popular and beloved worship resource in the Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

 church in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, and attempts to succeed it in more recent years have often met with strong resistance.

The first attempt to replace TLH began in 1965, when the LCMS began work on the Lutheran Book of Worship
Lutheran Book of Worship
Lutheran Book of Worship is a worship book and hymnal used by several Lutheran denominations in North America. It is often referred to by its initials as the LBW, and in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America the LBW is sometimes called the "green book" as opposed to With One Voice, a...

 and invited other Lutheran denominations
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...

 in North America to participate in its creation. As a result of disagreement and compromise with the other churches involved in LBWs production, the LCMS objected to some of its content, and Lutheran Book of Worship was published in 1978
1978 in literature
The year 1978 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, a humorous award given annually to books with unusual titles is created. The first winner was Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude...

 without the endorsement of the very church body that initiated its production. An LCMS revision of LBW was quickly published in 1982
1982 in literature
The year 1982 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*La Bicyclette Bleue by Régine Deforges becomes France's best selling novel ever.-New books:...

 under the title Lutheran Worship
Lutheran Worship
Lutheran Worship is one of the official hymnals of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Published in 1982 by Concordia Publishing House in St. Louis, Missouri, it is the LCMS' third English-language hymnal and was intended to replace The Lutheran Hymnal...

. Lutheran Worship (LW) was intended to replace TLH as the official hymnal of the LCMS; however, many congregations were still unsatisfied with the final product, leading them to continue using TLH. According to a 1999 survey by the LCMS' Commission on Worship, approximately 36% of the synod's congregations were still using TLH as their main hymnal, and even more were continuing to use it in combination with LW and/or other hymnals and hymnal supplements. An even newer hymnal, Lutheran Service Book
Lutheran Service Book
Lutheran Service Book is the newest official hymnal of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Lutheran Church–Canada . It was prepared by the LCMS Commission on Worship and published by Concordia Publishing House, the official publisher of the LCMS...

(2006), has restored many of the former hymnal's features in the hope that more widespread use can be achieved. In the WELS, TLH was effectively replaced by Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal in 1993, and few congregations continue to use it on a regular basis.

The Lutheran Hymnal is commonly referred to by many to as the "Red hymnal," in contrast with LW, the "Blue hymnal". However, the "Red hymnal" moniker is somewhat misleading. The initial editions of TLH were in fact bound in blue, and the hymnal has been simultaneously available in both red and blue cover versions for much of its history. Although the red cover version is now more common, many congregations' pew racks are filled with blue-covered copies of the "red" hymnal. Generally, members of these congregations refer to TLH simply as "the old hymnal". The widespread use of Lutheran Service Book (LSB) http://lsb.cph.org/ has begun the process of resolving the LCMS' hymnal controversy, as initial reviews have been generally quite favorable. Concordia Publishing House has announced that all TLH-related supplemental materials, including specialized accompaniment editions and the agenda, will go out of print when current supplies are depleted, but plans to continue to produce the pew edition for the foreseeable future. TLH remains an officially sanctioned hymnal of the synod, and it is unlikely that the synod will ever formally decommission it as an official hymnal.

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