Celebrating the Trinity Psalter Hymnal

This article originally appeared in Christian Renewal magazine.

I am excited for the impending release of the Trinity Psalter Hymnal in the summer of 2018, or TPH, as it’s coming to be known.

Contrary to the spirit of the age, our churches believe that conservatism in worship is a good thing. We don’t go rushing about for the latest fad, and we don’t believe that novelty or contemporaneity is itself a virtue. There is good reason why many of our churches may be less than energized about adopting new hymnals when the old hymnals are serving our purposes just fine, thank you very much.  

So perhaps it runs against type a little bit for confessionally Reformed folks to get excited about a new songbook. But I am, and I think we should. I understand that not everyone will adopt this new songbook immediately, but I think we should all pray for its success, and pray that the great cost and labor that has gone into its production will be used for the greater glory of God. 

So, why should constitutionally conservative worshipers be excited about a new psalter hymnal?

We should be excited for its use on the mission field, both at home and abroad. As a church planter, the vast majority of those who have worshiped in our church in Washington, DC over the years have had little or no previous experience with the United Reformed Churches. Our prioritization of psalm singing has been a new experience, and many of the tunes that our churches have treasured for generations are foreign to them. 

In short, our special mix of worship has numerous obstacles baked in for newcomers. Without changing any of our historic commitments, the TPH removes or mitigates many of those obstacles. I am not a musicologist by any stretch of the imagination, but in my experience over the last number of years, the music of the TPH represents a much broader historic swath of Christian hymnody, both geographically and chronologically While many of the most beloved tunes of our tradition remain in the book, there are a whole host of tunes that are more accessible to a broader audience. 

Buying the TPH was a no brainer for our church in DC, as we’ve never owned any hymnals before, singing from photocopied bulletins each week. We are thrilled to be able to put an attractive new psalter hymnal in our pews that immediately sends the message to guests and visitors that we are not only committed to the best of historic Christian hymnody but also committed to the continued maintenance of that tradition for the coming generations. That’s the implicit message this songbook will send. 

I am just a single data point, but I represent a believer who didn’t grow up in the URC and never stepped into a Reformed church until I was out of college. The psalm tunes in the TPH are hands down more inviting, more accessible, and easier for me to sing than the psalm tunes in the blue psalter hymnal. By making that claim, I am in no way judging the blue songbook as musically inferior, nor am I demanding that longstanding URC members give up the music that they love to sing. Indeed, I believe much of it can be found in the new book. But I am speaking as an outsider to the Reformed tradition, and I see a great opportunity for our churches to introduce a new generation of believers to the riches of singing the psalms. 

For the sake of mission, all of our churches should think seriously about adopting this book. 

I’m also excited for the partnership between the United Reformed Churches of North America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Obviously, it is this very partnership that has given the book a musical appeal beyond any one reformed tradition, drawing upon the best of Presbyterian and Reformed worship. But it is also an excellent example of sister churches working together in a practical fashion. This is the best of ecumenism in action, pooling resources to address a need in our churches. A joint OPC-URCNA hymnal doesn’t mean that our churches will merge any time soon, or that they should. But it certainly increases the likelihood that we will grow closer together. 

While OPC and URC folks are often justifiably proud of our rich theological heritage, I think we sometimes to forget just how small we are. Membership in our two bodies is around 60,000, combined. We could have a joint worship service for all of us in a decent sized college football stadium (conveniently, they are free on Sundays). For the sake of comparison, two of the biggest churches in America — Lakewood and Second Baptist, both in Houston — boast more members than all our congregations combined. 

In many ways, we are a cultural and statistical blip. 

Given our small size, and how much we share in common, as well as the shared independent seminaries that many of our ministers have in common, it would be malpractice for us not to work together on a project of this nature. And I praise God that in his providence the men in charge of these projects in their respective churches were led to that same conclusion and joined forces to make the cooperative effort work. 

We live in an increasingly liquid, mobile society. Members of our churches change jobs and change cities with some regularity. Our children are educated in distant cities. We often visit each other churches when moving about, and we often consider joining a church in this small fraternity, before looking at others. It may seem a small thing, but it is a good thing if you can pull a familiar book out and sing from it in an unfamiliar church. It is another bit of glue that can help us all stick a little closer together — and help us keep from losing our wandering flocks — in a time of great fragmentation. 

The sooner we adopt these songbooks, and adopt them widely, the sooner we can enjoy this fruit of growing together. 

Finally, I am excited to have a hymnal in our church pews which contains both the Three Forms of Unity and the Westminster Standards. There are few novelties in the publishing world, so I am sure such a book exists, but to my knowledge this is the first hymnal to contain the confessional standards of continental and English speaking reformed churches in a single volume. While I am decidedly partial to the Three Forms — what URC minister isn’t — the Westminster standards complement them beautifully and form a delightful counterpoint. Stretching over eighty years and four languages, the combined confessional collection speaks from a wide diversity of social and political circumstances, and reflects a breadth of our tradition that each one on its own lacks. The warmth of Heidelberg is supplanted by the precision of Westminster. The Belgic was written by a persecuted martyr, Westminster by an assembly commissioned by parliament. 

It is a delight for the members of both our churches to be more frequently exposed to the other church’s confessional documents. For ministers and teachers to refer to them. To grow in our understanding and appreciation of global Calvinism, as these standards have spread across the world and embrace believers on every continent. I’m not usually a proponent of formally adopting additional confessions for one’s church — I think this ecumenical effort often results in overload, such that no single confession is truly used or appreciated. But having them present in our hymnals is a great opportunity for our churches to learn, and grow, and grow together. 

Our conservatism in worship is a good thing. It has kept us faithful through many years, and it is unique in our age of faddish worship. But I hope that conservatism doesn’t stand in the way of every church giving serious consideration to adopting the new TPH. By gathering the very best of the Presbyterian and Reformed worshipping tradition in a single volume, I believe this songbook has the potential to pass down to a new generation our commitment to biblical worship, while at the same time making it more inviting to newcomers. May the Lord establish this work of our hands, and use it to adorn his bride with song.