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Welcome! This web site is the home of the Open Hymnal Project to create a freely distributable, downloadable database of Christian hymns, spiritual songs, and prelude/postlude music. I am doing my best to create a final product that is "Hymnal-quality", and could feasibly be used as the basis for a printed church hymnal. This music is to be distributed as complete scores (words and music), using all accompaniment parts, in formats that are easily accessible on most computer OS's and which can be freely modified by anyone.

"Freely you received, so freely give." - Matthew 10:8 (WEB)

23 May 2013 Added a new hymn, The Lily of the Valley.

13 May 2013 Added a new hymn, To Avert From Men God's Wrath.

06 May 2013 Added a new hymn, To God Be The Glory.

02 Apr 2013 We're on the new server now. If you have any problems, let us know!

31 Mar 2013 Happy Easter! Christ is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Some may have noticed that the site has been up and down for a few days: some server issues have caused a bit of grief. The crew is working on it and we appreciate their efforts.

Added a new hymn, Lord of Life, All Praise Excelling.

18 Mar 2013 Added a new hymn, Rejoice, O Pilgrim Throng.

17 Mar 2013 Added two new hymns, Were You There? and Within the Father's House.

10 Mar 2013 Added two new hymns, The Lord's My Shepherd and a second translation of A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, using the isorhythmic version of the tune.

10 Feb 2013 Added a new hymn, Every Morning Mercies New.

05 Feb 2013 Multiple changes today. I've added the "Choral Edition" and also the "Editions" web page to guide you through the various available editions of the Open Hymnal. Also fixed a bug in the presentation of one hymn and in the general index for another.

14 Jan 2013 Added a new (modern) hymn, Yet Before We See Your Plans. Special thanks go to Greg Paul and to Pastor Todd Liefer for helping to make it happen!

11 Jan 2013 Added a new logo, seen in the upper left of the web page. It's supposed to indicate that what you should see when you look inside the Open Hymnal is Christ's work for you.

07 Jan 2013 Added a new hymn, Abide, O Dearest Jesus.

02 Jan 2013 Added a new hymn, On What Has Now Been Sown.

31 Dec 2012 I've been planning out the work for 2013, and the Open Hymnal will see some changes. Firstly, it has grown sufficiently that the choral and instrumental pieces will be moved to a separate edition of the Open Hymnal. Then, an effort will be made to round it out for actual congregational use. I will be looking at whether there are the right numbers of the right types of hymns to cover an entire Church Year. The Open Hymnal will be compared against a handful of common lectionaries to make sure that sermon hymns will be available for each week (probably assuming that the sermon will be from the Gospel lesson of the day). Lastly, I will look at whether the Open Hymnal has sufficient hymns appropriate for mid-week congregational gatherings (weddings, funerals, Ash Wednesday services, Ascension day services, special memorial and prayer services, mid-week Lenten and Advent services, etc.). Pray for guidance in 2013!

25 Dec 2012 “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.” This Christmas day, may you have real peace ... true peace ... heavenly peace. The peace that can only be brought by Immanuel ... God with us.

12 Dec 2012 Added two hymns, God Himself is Present and O Holy Spirit, Enter In.

14 Nov 2012 Added a new hymn, O Father, All Creating.

22 Oct 2012 I've updated the Christmas Edition for 2012.

14 Oct 2012 I've updated the large PDF hymnal, making version 2012.10. Enjoy!

11 Oct 2012 Added a new hymn, Lamp of Our Feet.

30 Sep 2012 Added a new hymn, One Thing's Needful.

06 Aug 2012 Added a new hymn, God Will Take Care of You.

28 Jul 2012 Added two hymns, Blessed Jesus at Thy Word and O Holy, Blessed Trinity.

02 Jul 2012 Added a modern hymn by Anthony Robertson The Apostle Looked and Heard a Voice. Check it out! Thanks Tony!

04 Jun 2012 Added the hymn Blind Bartimaeus

16 Apr 2012 Small fix to the lyrics of 'O For a Thousand Tongues'. We love bug reports!

06 Mar 2012 Added two new hymns. The first is a nearly-lost gem, The Galilean Fishers Toil. Thanks to the folks at Finest Of The Wheat for digging up this one! The other is a classic and uses two tunes: Blest Be The Tie That Binds (Boylston) and Blest Be The Tie That Binds (Dennis).

05 Mar 2012 Added two new hymns, I Need Thee Every Hour and No, Not One!, both contributed by Samuel Cantrell - thanks!

19 Feb 2012 Added three new hymns, Where He Leads Me and More Love to Thee and Whiter Than Snow, which were contributed by Samuel Cantrell - thanks!

11 Feb 2012 Added two new hymns, Not Worthy, Lord, to Gather Up the Crumbs and The Comforter Has Come, which was contributed by Samuel Cantrell - thanks!

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