Home Worship Planning History of Hymns Why are There Sometimes Minor Changes and Differences in Hymn Texts Between Hymnals?

Why are There Sometimes Minor Changes and Differences in Hymn Texts Between Hymnals?

Who makes these changes?

Why do the changed texts appear in the hymnal as if they are by the original author?

Changes to hymn texts are made for many reasons: the language or metaphors used become unfamiliar, obscure, or confusing; the language is archaic; the language reflects a political or social reality very different from that of the modern day; the selection of a new tune that requires rhythmic alteration; and others. One example is the Christmas hymn "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." In the 1935 Methodist Hymnal, there were four stanzas. Stanza three was deleted in the 1966 Methodist Hymnal, resulting in a three-stanza hymn. This is a common change between hymnals. One familiar example of this practice is with "O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing," which appears in all Methodist hymnals in various combinations of verses. That hymn has never appeared in any Methodist hymnal with all of its stanzas, including our present 1989 hymnal.

Another change to "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" was in the phrase, "When with the evercircling years comes round the age of gold." This was changed in 1966 to "When with the evercircling years shall come the time foretold." Changing "comes round the age of gold" to "shall come the time foretold" results in replacing the "age of gold" metaphor, whose meaning is probably lost to most mid- to late-20th century worshippers, with "time foretold," which is easily understood within the framework of the birth of Jesus as a fulfillment of the ancient words of the prophets. The change makes the text more understandable, does not alter the true meaning of the original, and also maintains the poetic rhyme and meter.

These kinds of changes would have originally been the work of the subcommittee on texts, although there is no way of knowing specifically who suggested the change. Most such changes occur first at the subcommittee level and are then affirmed by the full hymnal committee and sent on to General Conference for adoption.

When minor changes to texts are made, there is usually no credit noted for the changes. They simply become part of the new text of the new hymnal and remain uncredited and unattributed. This was the case for the change above to "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear." When a change is more significant, either in the quantity of text altered or in meaning or theology, it is common to note the alteration and include it as a text adaptation. This is the case with John Wesley's alteration of Isaac Watts' original opening line of "Our God, our help in ages past" to "O God, our help in ages past." Wesley's change resulted from a particular theological disagreement with Watts' opening. He did not agree with the inference by using "Our God" that we could ever experience God so intimately that we could contain and possess God. Another example is George Whitefield's 1743 alteration of Charles Wesley's original 1739 version of "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing." Wesley's original read, "Hark how all the welkin rings," the meaning of which must have escaped singers even 260 years ago. Hymnal committees and editors of all hymnals make these alterations, both major and minor. When the change is substantial, resulting in a largely new or different text or meaning, an attribution is included. Sometimes these changes can even result in a new copyright.

It is illegal, of course, for hymnal editors and committees to change copyrighted texts without the permission of the copyright holder, which is sometimes the original author and sometimes the publisher. For instance, when we were putting together The Faith We Sing, we requested permission of numerous authors to make minor changes that would result in more inclusive, less male-dominated language. We also sought to change some language to bring it more in line with United Methodist theological standards. Sometimes these requests were approved and sometimes not. When they are not, then the choice for the committee is whether to include the hymn without the requested changes or to leave the hymn out of the collection.

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