Customer Reviews

Songs of Faith & Praise Shape Note Hymnal

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is an excellent blend of traditional and contemporary songs, sensibly organized, with good organization (including several useful indexes, such as scripture verse, topic, alphabetical and first line). It has over 1000 entries, some of which are readings, but still far more music than most songbooks. It has shaped notes -- helpful for those that need them, unobtrusive to those who don't. The pre-arranged medleys are also useful for contemporary "praise and worship"-type services, where several songs are sung without pause. Recommended.

This hymnal is the best one available with a good mix of contemporary songs from Sandi Patti, Dennis Jernigan as well as classics of the Christian faith. It is suited for worship services as well as home devotionals. I highly recommend it. I have 8 copies for home devos.

This hymnal contains an excellent range of hymns for groups of all sizes.

An earlier reviewer commented that the arrangements were different or distracting--that is because these arrangements come from a tradition of a capella (unaccompanied) singing that is practiced in few churches--the Churches of Christ and the Mennonite churches, most notably. Once you have heard this style of singing, you will be able to appreciate the lushness of these arrangments and to read them more easily as you sing. :-)

For those seeking standard arrangements of classic hymns, I would strongly recommend "The Hymnal For Worship And Celebration", which is available at Amazon for a very modest price.

This hymnal really reaches out to all ages. There are plenty of the old time hymns and many new praise and worship songs, too. As a pianist and choir member, I found it very easy to read and follow. It has many medleys and is arranged logically. The book I have has traveled with me for several years, now and is still holding up well. Each song has a scripture verse, also. It's the best hymnal, I have seen thus far.

This is a truly wonderful book with a fantastic selection of both old and new hymns. I am particularly fond of the older ones but am growing to love the newer ones. I have but one complaint. The book has over 1,000 songs in it and two of my favorites are not among the collection. "Night with Ebon Pinion" and "'Tis midnight and on olive's brow". How you can collect 1,000 songs and not have those two is totally dumbfounding to me.

This is a wonderful Christian song book. Classic hymns and newer praise songs are combined to give a worshipper many choices. I highly recommend it!

As a church musician who grew up in the non-instrumental Churches of Christ, I'm overjoyed to see a hymnal like this. The "exclusive language" contained in other C of C hymnals is not present here, but the hymns' original words are restored. This is the first C of C hymnal that gives Jesus Christ his proper place in worship. It is one of the closest things to "perfect" for all churches of all denominations, whether or not they subscribe to the Campbellite/Restoration Movement tradition

As a worship leader i would with no hesitance reccomend this tool of worship to anyone of any denomination especially those of the churches of christ. The wide variety of songs hymns and a range of old to new make a much more enjoyable and spirit filled worship experience. Way to go Howard publishing!

The indexes are helpful and there are a wide range of songs, but many of the old familiar tunes have been re-arranged. This was an unforgivable act, and it makes old favorites difficult to sing when some try to follow the arrangement and others try to sing the way the song was supposed to be sung.

For some unknown reason, the editors and compilers of this hymnal thought it necessary to "tamper" with long-established wordings or musical arrangements. This rearranging of long-established tunes is especially troublesome to churches that have sung hymns in a particular way for generations. The addition of descant parts to so many hymns is often visibly confusing. This hymnal seems best suited to very large and musically sophisticated congregations who are open to innovations in their hymnody. Small and/or musically unsophisticated churches will find the book very confusing.