“O Healing River” Is Not Public Domain

Many of you have probably used the song, "O Healing River." It has been used at a number of events of The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts (FUMMWA), as well as at events of Discipleship Ministries. Many of us first heard this song at the North Central Jurisdictional gathering of FUMMWA at Simpson College in Iowa, where it was credited as being of unknown African-American origin and in the public domain. We sang it in a printed version that had been included in the World Council of Churches’ publication, Worshipping Ecumenically. The free use of this song has also been promoted by its inclusion in GIA's hymnal, Gather (page 242), where it was credited as a "Traditional Baptist Hymn." GIA used an arrangement by Michael Joncas that they copyrighted in 1982.

I discovered week that "O Healing River" was composed in 1964, with lyrics by Fran Minkoff and music by Fred Hellerman. Despite the initial "O" of the opening line, the correct title is "Healing River." It was copyrighted in 1964 and renewed (thus it remains under copyright protection today) by Appleseed Music, Inc., which is not covered by the CCLI, GIA, or LicenSing music licenses.

If you wish to reproduce copies of this hymn, you must contact the following:
Appleseed Music
c/o Sanga Music, Inc.
Harold Leventhal Management
ATTN: Judy Leventhal
250 West 57th St #1218
New York NY 10107
Telephone: 212-586-6553
Fax: 212-459-9035

This means that any reproduction of the text or music of this song, whether from Worshipping Ecumenically, the Gather hymnal, or any FUMMWA worship materials, is against the law, even if you own one or more of the music licenses form CCLI, GIA, LicenSing, or others. I have spoken with Judy Leventhal at Appleseed Music, and that company has a very liberal policy for churches wishing to use this song in worship if you contact them.