What's New?

The 2014 Book of Praise replaces the 2010 Authorized Provisional Version (APV). Synod Carman 2013 mandated a significant number of changes to the Book of Praise. Read on for more details on what has changed in this edition.

1. Changes to the Psalms

The Acts of Synod Carman, Article 148, outline in detail the changes that were adopted with respect to the text of the Psalms. The changes can be summarized as follows:

  1. In about 20 stanzas in the psalm section some words, or a couple of lines, have been changed as compared to APV 2010.
  2. In Psalm 17 significant changes were made to the text of stanza 5.
  3. In Psalm 25 stanza 6 was replaced with entirely new text.
  4. Psalm 81 stanza 6 was also replaced with entirely new text.
  5. In Psalm 90 the first stanza has been changed back to the 1984 version and stanza 2 has been deleted. Consequently this Psalm is significantly different than in the APV 2010.

2. Changes to the Text of the Hymns

The Acts of Synod Carman, Article 169, outline in detail the changes that were adopted with respect to the text of the Hymns. The changes can be summarized as follows:

  1. In about 5 stanzas in the hymn section some words, or a couple of lines, have been changed as compared to APV 2010.
  2. The lyrics of Hymns 58 and 77 have received significant and substantial changes.

3. Changes to the Melodies of the Hymns

When the Committee, in the APV, proposed to return the melodies to those originally written, many churches objected to this change. The Committee, being sensitive to these objections, in its report to Synod (and the churches) and not wanting the music of the Book of Praise to be a divisive issue, recommended some of the changes to be undone. Synod in turn adopted these recommendations and added others as well. We think it is worthwhile to highlight what these changes are. The changes in the music of the Hymns as mandated by Synod Carman (Acts – Article 170) are as follows:

  1. Hymns 2 and 12: the 1984 notation of old Hymns 1b and 8 respectively is reinstated (but without breath marks).
  2. Hymn 8: the brevis under the word “Ghost” is changed to a whole note.
  3. Hymn 18: the 1984 melody of Hymn 14 is reinstated but the rest after line 5 (1984) is moved to line 6.
  4. Hymn 30: the melody is reverted to the Augment Hymn 4 version.
  5. Hymn 31A: is deleted.
  6. Hymn 31B is renumbered as 31; the 1984 notation (old Hymn 26) is reinstated (but without breath marks).
  7. Hymn 37: the 1984 version of the melody (old Hymn 29) is reinstated.
  8. Hymn 40: the fermatas at the end of lines 3 and 6 are reinstated.
  9. Hymn 47: the 1984 notation (old Hymn 36) is reinstated (but without breath marks).
  10. Hymn 48: the 1984 version of the melody (old Hymn 37) is reinstated.
  11. Hymn 49: a breath mark is inserted at the end of line 2.
  12. Hymn 53: the fermatas at the end of lines 2, 4, and 9 are reinstated.
  13. Hymn 65: the 1984 version of the melody (old Hymn 48) is reinstated.
  14. Hymn 73: as APV but fermatas are inserted after lines 2, 4 and 6.
  15. Hymn 74 as APV but fermatas re inserted after lines 2 and 4.
  16. Hymn 78: line 1, measure 3; line 2, measure 3; line 3, measures 3 and 4: these have been changed to 3 quarter notes rather than a dotted quarter, an 8th and a quarter note.

Also note that for Hymn 28 the rests are now at the beginning of lines 3, 5 and 6 (as opposed to at the end of lines 2, 4 and 5). This does not affect the music but only a notation correction.

4. 'Compatibility' with the 2010 Authorized Provisional Version?

We note that consistories do well to make it clear to their members that once a church has decided to adopt the 2014 for use in the worship services, it will not be possible for members to continue using their 2010 Authorized Provisional Version. As is evident in points 1 – 3 above, there are significant changes to the text of the Psalms and Hymns as well as to the melodies of the Hymns that make it impossible to use the two versions together without creating mass confusion in the worship service. As an example we highlight again the changes to Psalm 90, where stanza 1 was reverted back to the 1984 version with archaisms removed, and stanza 2 was deleted completely. Further, due to content and formatting changes in the 2014 Book of Praise, the page numbering in the two editions is no longer the same.

Additionally, it should be noted that Synod Carman decided in Article 186.4.1.2 "to authorize the SCBP to publish the final edition of the Book of Praise as the Authorized Version for use by the churches..." The Committee understands this to mean that now that the 2014 Book of Praise has been completed, it should be used by the churches as the only Authorized Version.