Two song books? Many of us are still around who, perhaps with some fondness, remember the days of the Songbook and the very Canadian “Songs of Faith”. There was no problem then with two books. Bandsmen carried the old red Tunebooks and the Blue “Songs of Faith”. The “Songs of Faith” contained many of the beautiful hymns of the church along with some uniquely Army contributions. Much of what was contained therein made its way into the “new” Songbook.

The deeply contemplative spirituality embodied in many of our songs ( not to mention those unique to our Army heritage) MUST be maintained if we are to maintain, as a denomination, any sense of distinctiveness. A new Songbook largely containing nothing but today’s so called “Praise and Worship” choruses runs an even greater risk of being as vapid as the current one might be considered a bit dated.

Power point has its value, but screens can be hard on the eyes, with over lighting and moving backgrounds, not to mention dodging from side to side to read around a taller person. Nothing like having your own song book in which to make notes and record dates, as a spiritual journal. Younger people may not consider this important, but later in life may find there are songs that have held deep meaning at crucial points in their lives. If I had to save one item from my burning home, it would be my combination New Testament/Songbook! Of course, now I may have to save two of them!

I think in the sense that those “beat the drum” songs make people feel part of something bigger than themselves, then they still have value. But if those were the only songs we sang, that would be problematic too. And I do hope the new songbook includes more songs about corporate holiness.

I have often heard people complain about the high keys some songs are written in, to the point that they just don’t join in singing.( We don’t have the high voices that our British friend have)

I hope the newer “worship” songs don’t crowd out any of the great hymns of the church. To quote one of our leading Army composers who says, “My heart sinks when we are invited to sing the so-called “worship songs”…the crudeness of so many and the appalling so-called ‘music’ to which we are invited to sing these word is beyond description”.

As R. Mason says, ” Let us pray that those who do the final selecton will be guided by the Holy Spirit”. I possess five of the SA song books that have been used, back to one which is called, “Salvation Army Song Book formerly called The Christian Mission”, all a product of their time, and I trust this one will be the inspiration that the others have been.