Archive of Old News

30 Dec 2011 Added a new hymn, His Gifts.

21 Dec 2011 Added two Christmas hymns, In The Bleak MidWinter and Sing, O Sing, This Blessed Morn.

04 Dec 2011 Added two hymns, Hark the Glad Sound and O Lord, I Am Not Worthy.

28 Nov 2011 Added a modern hymn, Christ My King On High by Jay Wingard. Thanks!

08 Nov 2011 Updated the Visitation Edition for 2011.

07 Nov 2011 Updated the Lent/Easter Edition for 2011.

06 Nov 2011 Updated the Advent/Christmas/Epiphany Edition for 2011.

14 Oct 2011 Added the hymn The Strife Is O'er, The Battle Done

05 Oct 2011 Added two hymns, Christ Returneth and O That The Lord Would Guide My Ways. I've also updated the large PDF hymnal, making version 2011.10.

03 Oct 2011 Added another modern hymn, My Neighbor with words by John Fleischmann. Thanks!

25 Aug 2011 Added the hymn I Place My Trust In God, a new hymn with words by Dorothy Amstutz and music by Loren Kropf. Thanks!

23 Aug 2011 Added the hymn Fear Not, O Little Flock. Also, the general index Scripture references now include each Scripture text on mouse hover-over.

13 Aug 2011 Added two hymns O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High and Souls of Men! Why Will Ye Scatter.

05 Aug 2011 Added two hymns If God Himself Be For Me and Thou, Who at Thy First Eucharist.

25 Jul 2011 Added two hymns Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior and Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow.

18 Jul 2011 Added two hymns Songs of Thankfulness and Praise and When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder.

12 Jul 2011 Updated the SWORD module.

24 Jun 2011 Updated the big PDF hymnal. You'll note that the structure has changed dramatically. The hymnal is now organized into (hopefully) logical sections, many more indices are found, and pdf bookmarks assist navigation.

13 Jun 2011 Added the hymn Alleluia, Alleluia! Hearts to Heaven and Voices Raise.

24 May 2011 Added two hymns Hallelujah, What a Savior! and My Hope Is Built.

15 May 2011 Added the hymn Savior, Who Thy Flock Art Feeding.

10 May 2011 Added a new tune for the hymn Christ The Lord Is Risen Today (Lyra).

04 May 2011 Added the hymn Have Mercy On Me, O My God by Brian Penney from Heart and Voice.

27 Apr 2011 Added two hymns Awake, My Heart, With Gladness and Lord, Who at Cana's Wedding Feast.

24 Apr 2011 He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

19 Apr 2011 Added the hymn Lo, God To Heav'n Ascendeth.

14 Apr 2011 Added two hymns I'm But A Stranger Here and Lord, Dismiss Us With Thy Blessing.

12 Apr 2011 Added two hymns Baptized Into Thy Name Most Holy and Tis Good, Lord, To Be Here.

10 Apr 2011 Added two hymns All Who Believe and Are Baptized and See, The Lord Ascends In Triumph.

09 Apr 2011 You're now seeing the new server!

09 Apr 2011 The Open Hymnal is being switched to new servers. This will involve some DNS server changes. When you see the next update, we should be on our new server. It might take a few days to percolate out throughout the net.

03 Apr 2011 Added two hymns 'Tis Midnight and On Olive's Brow and 'Twas On That Dark, That Doleful Night.

28 Mar 2011 Added two hymns Go To Dark Gethsemane and Over Kidron Jesus Treadeth.

22 Mar 2011 Added two hymns O Wondrous Type, O Vision Fair and Under His Wings.

18 Mar 2011 Added a new translation of Paul Gerhardt's Baptism Hymn You People Who Are Now Baptized.

I also noticed that before the last upload I had forgotten to tag the MP3s. Fixed now.

17 Mar 2011 I've uploaded new individual hymn files, which result from two changes: 1) additional research done into translation and setting origins, and 2) A number of bug reports sent in by Max (mpronnei) last June. I may not be fast at getting to all requests, but I don't ignore them! Thanks, Max!

15 Mar 2011 I've uploaded new MP3s and MIDI files. The new process creates much better sounding audio. The MP3s are made using the soundfonts found at: zenvoid.org/audio.html.

01 Mar 2011 Added a index of tunes to the regular web site (this already existed in the mobile site under browse->By Tune Name).

24 Feb 2011 I've updated the arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon as a part of writing a choral piece that I'm slowly working on. I had never really been a fan of the old arrangement anyway. The new one is also set for piano.

21 Feb 2011 Automated generation of the general index is done and uploaded. Uploaded an online "people" index: authors, translators, composers, arrangers

18 Feb 2011 Added the hymn Jesus Shall Reign. This is another donated hymn from Samuel Cantrell. Thanks!

A significant cleanup effort has been ongoing. A number of errors have been fixed, documentation of sources is much better, and the process of automation is nearing completion. I've already uploaded the newer abc files (individually, not as a zip), so you can see the documentation inside.

31 Jan 2011 An index of Scripture references is added to the online edition. In doing so, the Scripture references had to be normalized. This is reflected in the individual abc and pdf files.

28 Jan 2011 Many of the recent updates fix errors in the Open Hymnal. They also have made it much easier to issue a new revision of the hymnal. As a result, I've decided to issue a new overall PDF, Revision 2011.01. You'll notice that the hymnal now has hymn numbers, a feature that becomes more important as the hymnal grows larger. Of course, the online version really doesn't need hymn numbers and won't use them.

Unlike the old system, the new auto-generation system happens by carefully merging all of the individual abc files into a single big abc file. For this reason, it seems that I might as well distribute the agglomerated abc file.

27 Jan 2011 Added the hymn The Day is Surely Drawing Near.

26 Jan 2011 Behind-the-scenes scripting and cleanup continues. Now about 95% of the lyrics web pages are auto-generated from the abc file. This brings with it a whole boatload of bug fixes. It also means that those pages now have the entries in the topical index as keywords for Google indexing.

25 Jan 2011 Added a contributed hymn There's a Great Day Coming. This hymn was contributed by Samuel Cantrell. Thanks!

07 Jan 2011 The process of automating each release continues behind-the-scenes. Some smaller changes to the general index are now uploaded. I'm working to add hymn numbers which are auto-generated for each release of the big PDF, hopefully making it a bit easier to use but still allowing for frequent updates.

05 Jan 2011 Found and fixed a hymn that had been previously missed in the topical index altogether. Also allow online topical index to link to both tunes when the same hymn text uses two tunes. Also build the topical index for mobile version of the site.

03 Jan 2011 I've overhauled the topical indexing system. Now, topical index info will be stored directly in each abc file (new abc files to be uploaded soon). This will eventually offer many advantages. It has already made the topical index auto-buildable (see the updated online topical index, which now includes links). It will in the future allow me to use the topics as keywords for Google/Yahoo's indexing robots. In this process, a whole bunch of spelling and alphabetization errors have been fixed. These errors are significant enough such that the final PDF was revised and uploaded.

29 Dec 2010 Finalized the PDF hymnal. The 2010.12 Edition is complete.

26 Dec 2010 Fixed a permissions problem that was stopping people from listening to Mp3s. Uploaded 2010 SWORD module.

23 Dec 2010 Release Candidate 2 of the final PDF hymnal is available, after a few updates to the index. The topical index online is now updated.

17 Dec 2010 Release Candidate 1 of the final PDF hymnal is available.

10 Dec 2010 Updated the setting for I Am Jesus' Little Lamb.

09 Dec 2010 At the suggestion of Trevor King, I've added some files which one expects to see in open source efforts. In the updated abc zip file, you'll now find: AUTHORS, COPYING, COPYING.public_domain, COPYING.other, and README. The Open Hymnal is a bit different from other open source projects, so I had to deviate a bit from the norm, but I think it's helpful.

07 Dec 2010 Modified the translation used for Despair Not, O Heart. Updated the abc, midi, and gif zipfile downloads appropriately.

03 Dec 2010 Updated the abc, midi, and gif zipfile downloads for 2010.

02 Dec 2010 Updated the Easter Edition for 2010. The update to the topical index for 2010 is about halfway complete.

01 Dec 2010 Added the Visitation Edition. When you go to visit the sick, homebound, infirm, or dying, it helps to bring God's Word via hymns. But bringing an armful of hymnals can be heavy, awkward, and costly. With the Open Hymnal Visitation Edition, you can print as many copies as you need and easily carry them (it's only 58 pages; half that when printed duplex). You can also simply drop the MP3s onto a cell phone or MP3 player to assist as accompaniment. Find it in the "Downloads" section.

29 Nov 2010 Added the two hymns Day of Wrath, O Day of Mourning and Rock of Ages. These will be the last hymns added for the final 2010 edition. Work continues now on updating the topical index

23 Nov 2010 Added the hymn The People That in Darkness Sat. Also updated Christmas Edition for 2010.

22 Nov 2010 Added three hymns Built on the Rock, Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending, and While O'er Our Guilty Land, O Lord.

15 Nov 2010 Added two hymns Jerusalem the Golden and O Lord of Heav'n and Earth and Sea.

11 Nov 2010 Added the hymn Take Thou My Hand and Lead Me. This arrangement has been graciously entered into the public domain by Donna Snell. Thanks, Donna!

07 Nov 2010 Added the hymn Lord of Glory, Who Hast Bought Us

29 Sep 2010 Added a mobile-phone optimized version of the website.

28 Sep 2010 A bunch of changes to the layout of the general index to hopefully make finding things easier for folks.

14 Jul 2010 Minor fix to find some hymns that had somehow gotten lost in the html

06 Jul 2010 Minor fix to improve rendering on Chrome

02 Jul 2010 Added the hymn The Lord's Prayer (new) written by Brian Penney from Heart and Voice. Thanks!

01 Jul 2010 Added three hymns Breathe on Me, Breath of God, He Was Not Willing, and Salvation Unto Us Has Come.

17 Jun 2010 Added two hymns O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus and I Know Whom I Have Believed.

07 Jun 2010 Added three hymns A Great and Mighty Wonder, Come, Your Heart and Voices Raising, and Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming.

21 Apr 2010 Added the hymn Now Rest Beneath Night's Shadow.

16 Apr 2010 Added the hymn Awake My Soul, An Offering Bring written by Brian Penney from Heart and Voice. Thanks!

14 Apr 2010 Added the hymn My Jesus, As Thou Wilt.

13 Apr 2010 Added two hymns As With Gladness Men of Old, and Jesus, In Thy Dying Woes.

16 Mar 2010 Added two hymns At The Lamb's High Feast, and Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing.

08 Feb 2010 Added the hymn It Is Well With My Soul.

04 Feb 2010 Added the hymn The Old Rugged Cross.

29 Jan 2010 Added the hymn Far, Far Away On Judea's Plains. Interesting side note, this was the oldest standing hymn request, dating back to December 2006. It was tough to find a documentably public domain arrangement.

14 Jan 2010 Added the hymn And Can It Be.

12 Jan 2010 Finished update of the MIDI files to include introductions. The Choral pieces were excluded, as was the Doxology ("Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow") because it wouldn't fit their typical usage. Mp3's are being generated and uploaded.

04 Jan 2010 Starting somewhere in 2008, I began including a little introduction to each MIDI file. This makes it easier to sing along with. This means that the MIDI files were inconsistent: old ones had no intro, while new ones did. I've started updating them all to include introductions. All hymns starting with A-N are complete and uploaded, the rest are on the way. Also, a few hymns were still a bit squished on a single page. I couldn't fix this for the 2009.12 edition without adding quite a number of hymns (it would throw off the pagination). I've fixed them and they'll be easier to read for 2010.

A large number of requests have been coming in, and I've been starting work on a number of them as new hymns for 2010.

25 Dec 2009 Merry Christmas!

22 Dec 2009 Final pass on the topical index is complete; and the finalized full-hymnal pdf is uploaded. Updated online topical index. Included the recent layout fixes in the Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter editions as well as zipfiles for ABC and GIF files. Also update the SWORD module.

21 Dec 2009 Made a number of fixes to layouts or fixed typos in scores. I've updated both the individual pdf/gif/abc files as well as the full-hymnal pdf. Getting close to final 2009 website updates.

18 Dec 2009 Completed the first pass on the topical index, and updated the full-hymnal pdf. Now I have to proofread the hymnal before updating the topical index on the website and the SWORD module. I've also started to make a few small improvements at the website.

14 Dec 2009 Fixed some layout errors in pdf files. Updated both Christmas Edition and full-hymnal pdf. Topical index is about 2/3 done.

09 Dec 2009 The update to the topical index is halfway done; the results are in the full-hymnal pdf.

04 Dec 2009 The full-hymnal pdf 2009.12 edition is now available as an alpha release. The topical index is simply the 2008.12 edition's index. It is being updated currently. Also updated the Lent/Easter Edition.

02 Dec 2009 The 2009.12 edition is now available as Abc and Midi files.

01 Dec 2009 A number of hymns have been tweaked in their typesetting; and the 2009.12 edition is now available as Gif files.

24 Nov 2009 Added the hymn "Author of All Life", by me.

23 Nov 2009 Added the hymn "Come Down, O Love Divine"

20 Nov 2009 Added two new hymns: "In His Temple Now Behold Him", "Rejoice, My Heart, Be Glad and Sing". Also added "In His Temple Now Behold Him" and "Magnificat" to the Christmas Edition. Two more hymns will be added this year, then the huge task of updating the topical index will be undertaken.

18 Nov 2009 Added a new hymn "Magnificat", written by Brian Penney from Heart and Voice. Thanks!

17 Nov 2009 Corrected arrangement for "Abide With Me". Thanks to August Elletson for the report! Also looked through the site error logs to find website link errors to three hymns. I can't emphasize enough ... I want to fix bugs if you see them! Send them along!
Also, The Christmas Edition for 2009 is now available!

16 Nov 2009 Added three new hymns "God that Madest Earth and Heaven", "Lord Thee I Love With All My Heart", and "Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty". Planning for the cleaned-up, fully indexed, nicely paginated, end-of-the-year revision is now underway. It looks like maybe four more hymns will be added this year.

08 Oct 2009 Added a new hymn "O Be Glad All Nations on Earth", written by Brian Penney over at Heart and Voice (see Links Page).

07 Oct 2009 Added the hymn "Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor"

06 Oct 2009 Added a new hymn "The Cloud Received Christ From Their Sight", written by yours truly.

04 Sep 2009 Added a link to Heart and Voice .. worth checking out

16 Aug 2009 Finished with the Luther hymns, adding two where he has only passing connection with the English version. "O Trinity Most Blessed Light", and "The Star Proclaims the King is Here", both are worth adding of their own value. Also added "To Shepherds As They Watched By Night" which Luther wrote.

10 Aug 2009 Added the enormous Te Deum ... "Lord God, Thy Praise We Sing". This will end up in the Choral section of the hymnal; it's intended to be sung responsively between a choir and the congregation.

20 Jul 2009 Nearing the end of the Luther hymns with four more ... "If God Had Not Been on Our Side" (2 tunes), "In These Our Days So Perilous", "Isaiah, Mighty Seer, In Days of Old", and "Our Father Thou in Heaven Above".

24 Jun 2009 Five more Luther hymns ... "God the Father Be Our Stay", "In Peace and Joy I Now Depart", "We All Believe in One True God", "We Now Implore God the Holy Ghost", and "Wilt Thou, O Man, Live Happily".

04 Jun 2009 Four more Luther hymns ... "Happy the Man Who Feareth God" (2 tunes), "May God Bestow on Us His Grace", "O Lord We Praise Thee", and "Though in the Midst of Life We Be". This gets me half-way through the Luther hymns.

03 Jun 2009 Tune sources/composers, etc. for the Luther hymns were updated based on additional research.

22 May 2009 Another batch of Luther hymns. Today 5 hymns are added: "Come, God Creator, Holy Ghost", "Come Holy Spirit, Lord Our God", "Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Savior" (2 tunes), "Jesus Christ Who Came to Save", and "That Men a godly Life Might Live"

03 May 2009 Work continues on the Luther hymns, and I'm learning as I go. Some of Luther's hymns aren't really made for congregational use, so not all of them are likely to end up in the Open Hymnal. An example is "By Help of God I Fain Would Tell", which is more of a history lesson than a true hymn. Nonetheless, three more are added today, "All Praise to Jesus' Hallowed Name", "Now Praise We Christ, the Holy One" (translated by Luther), and "Out of the Deep I Cry to Thee" (2 tunes)

22 Apr 2009 A collaboration has begun between the Open Hymnal Project and module developers for the SWORD Project. A task has been underway to gather all of Martin Luther's works in the public domain (the module called "LuthersWorks" is hosted at ftp.xiphos.org). The Open Hymnal Project will be contributing all of Luther's hymns (he wrote 36) using the melodies that were in use during Luther's lifetime. The first three hymns are added here today (they'll be added into the SWORD module later), "Dear Christians, One and All Rejoice" (2 tunes), "Look Down, O Lord, From Heaven Behold" (2 tunes), and "The Mouth of Fools Doth God Confess". To check out the SWORD project, I suggest Xiphos as a great frontend. Check out Xiphos.org!

24 Mar 2009 Added hymn "My Song Shall Be of Jesus" with a new tune, written by Kenneth Paxton. It includes two versions of the piece; one for simple congregational/home use, and one for use with a choir. Thanks, Ken!

12 Mar 2009 Added hymn "Now The Light Has Gone Away". Final arrangements are being made to release the Hymn "My Song Shall Be of Jesus" with a new tune. Maybe all arrangements will be worked out in a week or two.

The Open Hymnal's servers will have a changeover this weekend; approx. 11pm EDT Sat March 14th. Some hiccups might occur.

29 Dec 2008 Released final version of 2008 (2008.12). Topical index is up to date in pdf and on the web. Sword module is updated. Direct link to each abc file on "lyrics" page.

22 Dec 2008 Added two hymns "Gentle Mary Laid Her Child" and "See Amid the Winter's Snow". Also added both to Christmas/Advent Edition. The carol "Good King Wenceslas" isn't really a hymn. It has been removed from the main edition, but left as a "bonus carol" in the Christmas Edition. Sword Module updated.

20 Dec 2008 Added hymn "Comfort, Comfort Ye My People". Also added this to Christmas/Advent Edition.

17 Dec 2008 Added two verses to "Jesus Wants All of His Children".

16 Dec 2008 The mechanism to get the updated topical index into the web site is overhauled. Most current update now avilable both in pdf and on web.

09 Dec 2008 Topical index is 1/3 updated. Current progress is added to the pdf version.

08 Dec 2008 Added 3 new hymns ... "Jesus Grant That Balm and Healing", "Take My Life And Let It Be", "The Gospel Shows The Father's Grace". "Jesus Grant That Balm and Healing" added to the Easter Edition

05 Dec 2008 Direct access to lyrics added to site via general or new hymn indices.

02 Dec 2008 Added new hymns ... "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus", "Jesus Came, the Heavens Adoring", "O Lord, How Shall I Meet Thee", "The Advent of Our God". Added all four to the Advent/Christmas Edition.

25 Nov 2008 Added a new hymn ... "Holy Spirit, Ever Dwelling". Work has begun to merge new hymns into main repository. The scores are now all found in the main pdf, but new hymns are not yet integrated into the topical index.

16 Nov 2008 Added a new hymn ... "Lord, Keep Us Steadfast In Thy Word".

14 Aug 2008 Added a new hymn ... "Today Thy Mercy Calls Me".

12 Aug 2008 Added two new hymns ... "I Come, O Savior, To Thy Table" and "Be Still My Soul".

27 Jun 2008 On 30 June 2008, Issues, Etc. will return to the airwaves and web! Same host, same producer, new management. Check them out at The NEW Issues, Etc.

23 Jun 2008 Added a new hymn "Be Thou My Vision".

11 Jun 2008 Altered setting on "Jesus Thy Boundless Love To Me" to one which I can solidly prove is in the public domain.

02 Jun 2008 Finished Id3 tags to all MP3s to allow easier sorting on MP3 players.

20 May 2008 Added Id3 tags to most MP3s to allow easier sorting on MP3 players. There are some (18) hymns which don't yet have ID3 tags; they are mostly the oldest hymns in the hymnal and are being brought to the same internal format as the rest of the hymns before being tagged. That internal update is 55% complete.

18 May 2008 Added a new hymn ... "Nearer, My God, to Thee".

16 May 2008 Added a new hymn ... "My Faith Looks Up To Thee".

20 Mar 2008 Non-hymnal news:
This last Tuesday, 18 March, was a dark day. The radio show/podcast Issues, Etc. was canceled without either warning or justification. There is an online petition to get Issues Etc. back on the air. Please click here to sign the petition.


17 Mar 2008 Updated Easter/Lent Edition.

04 Mar 2008 Added two new hymns ... "A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth" and "Beneath The Cross Of Jesus".

28 Feb 2008 Added two new hymns ... "All Praise To Thee, My God, This Night" and "Lord Who Throughout These Forty Days".

14 Feb 2008 Added a new hymn ... "Savior When In Dust To Thee". Also added to Lent & Easter Edition.

12 Feb 2008 Added a new hymn ... "Christ The Lord Is Risen Today". Also added to Lent & Easter Edition.

11 Feb 2008 First crack at an Edition for Lent & Easter. This is expected to grow before Easter.

10 Feb 2008 Added a new hymn ... "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence"

03 Feb 2008 Added a new hymn ... "Christ Jesus Lay In Death's Strong Bands"

31 Jan 2008 Added two new hymns ... "Abide With Me" and "O Lord My Soul Convicted"

22 Jan 2008 Added two new hymns ... "Lord Jesus Think On Me" and "Blessed Assurance"

21 Jan 2008 Added preliminary KJV language guide.

15 Jan 2008 Continued update to the web site. Lots of behind-the-scene cleanup, simplification, and automation.

04 Jan 2008 New look to the web site, hopefully things will be easier to find now. Updated SWORD module added. Links to score added to general index.

02 Jan 2008 Web topical index updated.

27 Dec 2007 Major release (Edition 2007.3) today, belated Merry Christmas to all! The updated web topical index and the updated sword modules will be released soon.

17 Dec 2007 Updated addendum and Christmas Edition. All hymns that will be in the next major release are now here.

13 Dec 2007 Minor web updates to make downloads section more visible.

05 Dec 2007 Updated addendum and Christmas Edition (appropriate addendum scores were added to the Christmas Edition). General index (on Web page) now includes addendum pieces, with links to MIDI and Mp3s.

02 Dec 2007 Updated addendum. Work has begun to merge the addendum into the main project.

28 Nov 2007 Updated addendum

14 Nov 2007 Updated addendum

08 Nov 2007 Updated addendum

06 Nov 2007 Added topical index to web site and added Sword module. For info about the Sword project, see The SWORD Project

02 Nov 2007 Added the Christmas Edition, for those who simply want sheet music of Christmas music. Also added a zip of all scores as GIF images. This is useful for those who want to insert the scores easily into word processors.

01 Nov 2007 (Happy All Saints Day) Site updates and some bug-fixes to the pdfs, Mp3s, and Midis. Added the "addendum" (see right). The addendum is a pdf of hymns which will be included in the next release, but have not yet been integrated into the indices and have not been fully checked for errors. They should be perfectly appropriate for most uses. A sword general book module is likely to be available soon.

18 Oct 2007 Thanks very much to ossguy who has very kindly arranged web hosting for this project! This will allow lots of new features. Individual mp3s and MIDI files are available now for the first time. Soon more editions and content will follow!