New website helps introduce upcoming hymnal

To help introduce WELS members to the hymnal and additional resources coming out in late 2021, the WELS Hymnal Project and Northwestern Publishing House have developed a new website, christianworship.com. Named after the title of the new hymnal, the Christian Worship site highlights features of the upcoming worship book as well as the suite of resources that will accompany it.

According to Rev. Adam Mueller, director of the WELS Hymnal Introduction Program, the website follows the outline of Christian Worship Preview, a booklet received by all congregations in February. This booklet shares more information about the contents of the new hymnal, including sections on Scripture, the service, Psalms, hymns, technology, and artwork.

The site also delves into the roles of a WELS member in a congregation—whether worshiper, planner, leader, and musician—and emphasizes what the new Christian Worship family of products offers to each person.

An exciting tool for worship planning is also featured on the website. Christian Worship: Service Builder provides worship planners a quick, easy way to plan a service and produce the worship folders. Online video previews offer an opportunity to see the service builder in action.

To assist congregations as they plan for the upcoming release, christianworship.com includes budgeting tools for the new suite of products, a list of tentative pricing for the hymnal and its accompanying resources, and some tips for funding. “Now is the time for congregations to start thinking about the new hymnal and its value for the church as they are creating their budgets for the next few years,” says Mueller.

Explore more at christianworship.com. There you can also sign up for updates on the release of the hymnal.

Learn more about the new Christian Worship in the February edition of WELS Connection.