That left the committee in a bind, Bringle said. is cooperating fully and is taking steps to make the correction in all distributed copies of the song, including the Celebrating Grace Hymnal." "We respect our songwriters and the integrity of their lyrics, and the intent of our request was to ensure the song retains the original lyrics as written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend," Capitol said in a prepared statement. Neither Getty nor the Celebrating Grace publisher was available Friday for comment.
When it asked for permission to use the song, the committee learned that the song's authors hadn't approved the change.Ĭapitol CMG Publishing, which manages rights for "In Christ Alone," said it is working with the hymnal's publisher to fix the problem. "We had every reason to think that this was an authorized text because it appeared in a recent hymnal," Bringle said. They assumed the songwriters already had agreed to the change. It was complicated by a foul-up with the rights for the song.Ĭommittee members had found a version of the hymn with the alternate text in the Celebrating Grace Hymnal, a Baptist hymnal published in 2010. The decision to drop the hymn wasn't made lightly, said Mary Louise Bringle, a religion professor and hymnwriter who chaired the hymnal committee. Instead, the problem is the word "satisfied," which the committee says refers to a specific view of theology that it rejects.ĭebate over "In Christ Alone" is a mix of church politics, the touchy subject of updating hymn lyrics and rival views of what Jesus' death on the cross meant. The committee says there's plenty of wrath in the new hymnal. So the committee voted to drop the song.Ĭritics say the proposed change was sparked by liberals wanting to take God's wrath out of the hymnal. The song's authors, Stuart Townend and Nashville resident Keith Getty, objected. The original lyrics say that "on that cross, as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied." The Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song wanted to substitute the words, "the love of God was magnified." The committee putting together a new Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) hymnal dropped the popular modern hymn "In Christ Alone" because the song's authors refused to change a phrase about the wrath of God. Fans of a beloved Christian hymn won't get any satisfaction in a new church hymnal.
0 kommentar(er)
