Product Description

For every tradition, for every generation

Recognizing the multifaceted nature of Christian churches today, this exceptional collection of 600 hymns offers an outstanding worship resource for any congregation. From classic anthems to beloved gospel standards, and from the most popular hymns of the major Christian denominations to new worship favorites particularly suited to congregational singing, it features the best of the best for every tradition and every generation. High quality bindings ensure decades of use by congregations, small groups, and individuals.

• Includes core "must-have" hymns from the major Christian denominations

• Seven helpful indexes including the most thorough topical index available

• 600 classic anthems, beloved gospel standards, and new worship favorites

• The most extensive seasonal selection available

• Attractive bindings complement any sanctuary décor

• Some music publisher-produced hymnals bulk up on lesser-known songs for which they own the rights. Hymns in The Christian Life Hymnal were chosen because they represent the best of the best throughout the years and across the Christian spectrum.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #270184 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 684 pages

From the Publisher
Hendrickson Worship In keeping with our desire to develop quality resources for the Christian church, we are pleased to announce the Hendrickson Worship line. From a new series of music collections to The Christian Life Hymnal, they’re intended to help individuals and congregations grow stronger in relationship with God through worship.

Customer Reviews

Just about ideal for a hymn sing
I own dozens of hymnals, mostly fairly recent (meaning published in the last forty years), and I love singing hymns. I would have to say that this is one of the most attractive collections I've seen for use in a hymn sing, and many congregations would probably find it a good choice for a pew hymnal. It has almost all of the "old favorites" that a Baptist or Methodist is likely to want to request at such a singing, as well as almost all of the old standby hymns of mainline American protestantism, and no specific sectarian bias that I can detect aside from a general conservatism. Most of the texts are not appreciably modernized or gender-neutralized (though it does give "Good Christian *Friends*, Rejoice"). Where there are two common tune traditions for a given text current in American protestantism, both are often accommodated (e.g. "O Little Town of Bethlehem" to both Forest Green and St. Louis; "Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus" to both Hyfrydol and Stuttgart). Among the roughly 600 songs, there are 16 by Fanny Crosby, 24 by Charles Wesley (who turns 300 this year) and 20 by Isaac Watts. Recent hymns are fewer, but there are several by Keith Getty, Hillsong's "Shout to the Lord", and some others of the type. Almost nothing from the mainline hymnic "explosion" of recent decades, though: 1 by Fred Pratt Green, 0 each by Wren, Troeger & Dudley-Smith... To my surprise, only one Gaither piece, no Andraé Crouch, and no "Victory in Jesus" or "I'll Fly Away"! So it's only 5 stars, not six. But then, my six star dream hymnal would have to be at least twice as thick and twice as costly.

Nice Variety, including the old standards
My family wanted several (matching!) hymnals for our family devotional time, and so my internet search begun. I wanted a hymnal that had all of the old standard doctrinally-rich ones, such as "A Mighty Fortress is our God," "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise," "The Church's One Foundation." It's amazing how many hymals I found that did not contain all three of these! I also wanted other favorites of ours that are common, but not quite as high up there on the list of standard hymns that most Christians (at least before the last decade or so) know, such as "Day by Day," "Be Thou My Vision," and "And Can It Be."

This hymal was a perfect fit for us. It contained all of those. It also has a few newer ones that are broadly known such as, "As the Deer" and "In Christ Alone" by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. All of them, however, could be considered "hymns" with depth to them. In other words, there are none of the ones that are pure praise choruses.

Each hymn does have a verse cited at the top, and the translation used varies. We don't care for some of the translations used, but that's not a deal-breaker for us. We can always look it up in our New King James version.

We've been very happy with our set of hymnals. They're great for using within the family, having a hymn sing with friends, or in a church setting. Note that when there are several potential musical selections for a particular hymn, they are often all presented.

The Christian Life Hymnal
We purchased this hymnal for family use in conjuntion with the hymn study book, "Then Sings My Soul." The hymnal contains most of the songs we have studied. I appreciate that the editor did not change original words on hymns like "Come Thou Fount," as seen in most contemporary hymnals. The songs will be familiar to most Christians in Baptist, Bible, Community, and other similar churches. A solid hymnbook.