At the June 2023 meeting of the College of Bishops, Archbishop Foley Beach named, and the College confirmed, a 2030 Hymnal Commission. An official hymnal for the Anglican Church in North America is to be prepared for College of Bishops approval and provincial use not later than the quinquennial Provincial Assembly of June 2029.
To the Commission were named the following:
- The Most Rev. Robert Duncan, Chair, Archbishop Emeritus
- The Right Rev. Charles (Chip) Edgar, Bishop of South Carolina (Liturgy Task Force)
- The Right Rev. Andrew Williams, Bishop in New England
- The Venerable Dr. Darrel Critch, Archdeacon of Eastern Canada
- The Rev. Dr. Jonathan Kanary, Christ Church Waco, TX, and Baylor University (Liturgy Task Force)
- The Rev. Rick Milliorn, Principal Musician, St. Clement’s, El Paso, TX
- Mr. Simon Dixon, Principal Musician, The Falls Church Anglican, Falls Church, VA
- Mrs. Dixie Hall, Principal Musician, St. David’s Anglican Church, Post Falls, ID
- Mr. Terry Fullerton, Principal Musician, St. John’s, Vancouver, BC
- Mrs. Kathy Fox Powell, Choirmaster, St. Mark’s, Arlington, TX
- Mr. Mark Snow, Principal Musician, Christ Church, Plano, TX
- Mr. Chris Walchesky, Principal Musician, St. Phillip’s, Charleston, SC
As initially conceived, the Hymnal Commission will do its work in four sub-committees:
- Hymns of the Anglican Patrimony (esp. ref. 1940, 1982, and 2017 Hymnals)
- Hymns of Ecumenical and Global Significance
- Hymns, Choruses, and Spiritual Songs of the Last Half-Century
- Service Music for the BCP 2019 (both ordinary and traditional language texts)
Led by members of the Hymnal Commission, these sub-committees will engage many other members of the Province – clergy, musicians, and a panoply of respected lay leaders – in an effort representing the breadth and musical needs of the whole Province.
As with the development of the Book of Common Prayer 2019, regular reports and a wide-open feedback loop – hymnalcommission@anglicanchurch.net – will allow the whole Church to contribute to the development of this ACNA Hymnal.
As the Hymnal Commission is announced, the congregations of the Province are also advised that a hymnal under the title “Sing Unto the Lord” is being widely advertised. “Sing Unto the Lord” is not an official or authorized ACNA Hymnal. Indeed, much of its Communion Service music remains service music written for the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and there are unauthorized borrowings from the ACNA Altar Book. Moreover, its articles do not have instructional authority in this Church. Substantial portions of “Sing Unto the Lord” are already available in the Reformed Episcopal Church Hymnal of 2017, The Book of Common Praise. The publisher of this hymnal, Anglican Music Publishing, is an independent initiative and has no official or ministry partner relationship with the Anglican Church in North America.
