Customer Reviews

With One Voice: A Lutheran Resource for Worship

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am puzzled by the other reviewer's complaint that this book is not diverse or balanced, because the book is clearly meant only as a supplement for worship, never as a primary resource. The Lutheran Book of Worship is its primary hymnal, evidenced especially by WOV's hymn numbering, which begins exactly where LBW leaves off. Our congregation has very much enjoyed the additional hymns; we sing about half our hymns from it, the other half from LBW. There was no intention for this to be the only worship hymnal; thus diversity is not a goal, but adding dimensions that were not present in LBW was important. Therefore, its emphasis on covering some of the missing "bases" left out of LBW is very welcome. New songs from new traditions such as praise songs, songs from other cultures and traditions, and old hymns such as "Blessed Assurance" that had not "made the cut" for LBW all are very helpful for our congregation. We love WOV!

Also, I agree that speaking of "mass" in connection with a Lutheran hymn book is very odd, since I am not aware of any Lutheran synod using that term to speak of worship (of course, there are some smaller, quite different branches of Lutherans as well!). This does cast some doubt on whether that reviewer is speaking from a mainstream Lutheran point of view.

I love this hymnal. It has a beautiful communion service with a lovely Kyrie. I defy you sing the hymn "I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry" without joy. There are many lovely hymns in it that our congregation loves to sing.

I ordered this book after using it one Sunday while visiting my Mother in Law at her Episcopal Church in CT. It was exactly as it said it would be and I have already enjoyed singing several of the songs.

Used at our church. Contains many hyms, responses, Apostle`s Creed, babtism statements, songs, and many prayers. Very great book!!!!!!!

While I think the other hostile reviewer has gone over the top in his irrational criticisms of this hymnal, I have many objections to this book as well. Some might say it's a matter of opinion or personal taste, but I think it goes deeper than that and actually reflects some potential differences in theology and worldview. I appreciate the inclusion of songs from different musical traditions, especially the ones from Latin America. However, this volume actually seems overall more uniform and less diverse than the old hymnal.

The old hymns have a rich spiritual language, and they also have a rich harmonic texture, full of tension and darker, more complex sounds. With the complexity comes a diversity of harmonies and religious topics. The majority of hymns in this book, however, have simpler words which reflect a simpler theological viewpoint, and they have simpler harmonies which have less tension. The book is definitely oriented towards only singing the melody--the congregation doesn't even have the option of singing in harmony. The overall aesthetic of the music in this volume is that of Christian popular music--simple, happy-sounding harmonies, words that have some meaning, but much less richness than older hymns, poetry, and scripture.

I think this hymnal is a move in the direction of fundamentalism and right-wing Christianity--simplistic thinking, with a complete lack of depth. It does not matter that this book has tried to move "left" in its use of words in some of the hymns--the specific politics of the words are irrelevant: the important fact is that they have been watered down. As I pointed out above, I feel that the attempt to include music from different cultures in this volume is superficial: there is little diversity in the musical aesthetic of this hymnal. Just as fundamentalist Christanity wrongly tries to make it "easy" to follow Jesus by ignoring most of his teachings, this hymnal makes it "easy" to sing hymns by taking some of the musical and spiritual depth away from them.

I simply do not recommend purchasing or using this hymnal.

This book has about five good hymns in it. Any self-respecting church music director or Lutheran priest should instruct congregation to take these unpleasant volumes out of the pews, stack them in the street outside the church, dowse them with kerosene and light them ablaze. Would lead to some excellent Lutheran fellowship. Make sure to speak to the fire marshall before hand. The title of this committlee-made book is supposed to make the congregation comfortable in all singing melody. Of course this was always an option under the regime of the green and red hymnals anyway. Most of the new liturgy of this book is ugly and it seems padded with spirituals. Spirituals are fine for church camp and perhaps once a year in regular mass, but If I wanted to be baptist I would switch denominations. This hymnal contains a few excellent old hymns, which should be torn out, stapled together and inserted in the back of the real hymnal, before the W.O.V. book burning. This tasteless hymnal is a metiphor for the general assumption of leadership in the Lutheran Church by cowardly numbskulls.