Service Book and Hymnal (SBH): 41 Years later

Oct 22, 1999 - © James Gerhardt Sucha

Plainsong is an artform, but chorale was invented to make harmony and to add to the service.

This particular setting never caught on with other ALC/LCA churches when produced, except for the German Lutheran congregations in the Ohio and Pennsylvania regions. Most congregations who used it dropped it over the years only to use the two settings in the SBH. Similar fate has happened with Setting Three in the LBW, with the first two settings being the most used.

MATINS, VESPERS AND OTHER ORDERS OF WORSHIP

The Commission with the help of Harold Gilbert completed these services. They included introits, responses, and an order for Burial for the Dead. Much of this music was already featured in past hymnals, and slightly updated without making too many changes. However, for the Lutheran Church of America (LCA) Regina Fryxell published a separate set of music for seasons, introits, and a book for weddings- all published by Fortress Press. These were very successful books that wound up being used in ALC churches as well.

HYMNS

One of biggest successes of the SBH was the choice of hymns that the Commission compiled. In case there was an overlapping hymntext, widely used by many branches of the Lutheran churches participating in the hymnal, the Commission saw to it that up to three tunes were used for the text to cross-marry and meet congregation's repertoires.

The Commission was careful to be multi-ethnic even back in the 1940's when making their lists for the hymnal. Hymns never used in Lutheran hymnals found their way into the SBH and were very successful. American hymns were added to enrich the worship experience of people who were immigrants and first generation ethnic-Americans. This was the first time that a Lutheran hymnal would be truly Americanized from a variety of historic ethnic-rich sources. The Commission made sure that the best harmonies and texts from a variety of sources were in the SBH. Hymns from Greek, Spanish, French, English, Irish, German, Dutch, Bohemian, Romanian, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, and Scandinavian countries were included. Many of the American hymns in the SBH came from Episcopal, Baptist, and Methodist sources, and featured gospel-related texts. The Commission made sure the best harmonizations were used to insure that the average churchgoer could sing it.

The inclusion of over 20 Johann Sebastian Bach hymns enriched the SBH greatly, and helped Lutherans discover the greatest Lutheran composer ever. Suggestions on singing the hymns were given

The copyright of the article Service Book and Hymnal (SBH): 41 Years later in Lutheranism is owned by James Gerhardt Sucha. Permission to republish Service Book and Hymnal (SBH): 41 Years later in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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