The 1940 Hymnal is a curious bird. Also known as “The Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America 1940”, this volume, as one might expect, was the main one used by the Episcopalians since 1940, right up until the time it wasn’t.1 Don’t get me wrong; it still can be found in many pew backs in parishes. But when the Episcopalians wanted to put things like “this fragile earth, our island home” as a Eucharistic Prayer circa the 1979 BCP, well, that type of move required a new hymnal, too.2 In 1982, the Hymnal 1982 (surprise title, no?) made its debut. Honestly, it isn’t terrible (at all!) compared to its contemporaries, but it does have the regrettable fingerprints of the Jesus People and Liturgical Renewal on it. In terms of hymnals, it isn’t an out-and-out 70s Leisure Suit, but the cut of the fabric still suggests it somewhat.
Still, let us not concern ourselves with anything as recent as a “Me Generation” hymnal. Let us look at the 1940 Hymnal, which was proudly in use through the decades by all sorts of Anglicans: Anglo-Catholics, High Church, Low Church, Evangelicals, Indifferentists (who would have just as gladly read the ingredients from a deviled ham package), and Theological Liberals (who would argue deviled ham would never be allowed by a loving god).
Now, if you’ve never had the pleasure of thumbing through, or better yet, trumpeting forth in congregational hymnody from the 1940 Hymnal, you are in for a treat. That is, unless you like Advent. By the time you get to Hymn 12 in the 1940, Advent is over. We start on #1 with “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, and by #11, we conclude with “The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns”, which apparently is as close as the next page over. By then it’s time for Adeste Fideles –barely enough time for a credible creche.
Still, brief penitential season beginning aside, there’s a lot to love in the 1940 Hymnal. One of my favorite features of the 1940 is the fact that one can use the hymnal and remain entirely with hymns from the early church, or concern themselves with the “48 new tunes from American composers”, as the preface proudly claims. In seeking “catholicity”, the compilers also ensured there were hymns from staunch Anglo-Catholics, but also Evangelicals, as well as sources both during and before the Reformation. This has sometimes led to some awkwardness over the singing of certain hymns such as “A Mighty Fortress”--Mr. Luther being seen somewhat differently by various wings of Continuing Anglican churchfolk. There is also a fair bit of late 19th/early 20th century pietism, though the infamous “Andy” hymn (“I Come to the Garden Alone”) is not present.3
Not every hymn in the 1940 is a particularly good or enduring hymn—but that’s fine. Not all hymns are, or should be, recalled from generation to generation. Some disappear for a while, only to be rediscovered with new arrangements. Sometimes Chris Tomlin gets ahold of one and builds bridges on it like he’s at the River Kwai. Others, humanly speaking, fade from view—down here, anyways. Devotion is not measured in earthly popularity.
What we do have in the 1940 is simply interesting. It’s a product of committees, and probably committees on committees, trying to do their best to synthesize a collection of hymns and holy songs at a time where, like now, churchmanship was all over the place. Allow me to flip to four pages at random to prove my point:
#117, Sing of Mary, Pure and Lowly
A beautiful Marian standard from the early 20th century
#350 Rejoice, the Lord is King!
A Charles Wesley stalwart, of course
#557 Onward, Christian Soldiers
Salvation Army ears perk up; the back of the Hymnal has some Protestant “bangers”, as the kids say
#163 O Blest Creator of the Light
Lucius Creator. An translation from the 6th century Latin
We may have just as easily pulled out some Anglo-Catholic flavor from F.W. Faber, one of John Mason Neale’s translations, something dating back to St. Ambrose of Milan, a Rippon Baptist entry, or something even further afield.
Yet even in its quirkiest, one has to remember this is the 1940 Hymnal, so it is therefore, all things being equal, a civilized tome. This means although it inexplicably does not contain “All Creatures of Our God and King” (but check #599), that means “Shine Jesus Shine” or other unbearable crimes against hymn-manity are also nowhere to be found.4
Our parish’s copies are well-loved; not just a bit yellowed, with some of the covers faded in a strange half-pattern from catching the sun through the nearby window for decades on end. Some are rescues from an old Episcopal church that degenerated into interpretive dance and spoken word pieces, and are a bit newer, but not by much. Due both to the sheer number produced and changing attitudes in Episcopalian singing, it is perhaps one of the cheapest, easiest hymnals to procure, but that makes it no less dear. The Anglican Catholic Church, part of the G-3 Continuing Anglican crowd, says in its Constitution:
The Book of Common Praise of 1938 (Canada), The Hymnal, 1940, and The English Hymnal (New Edition, 1933) should be the primary musical standard for Public Worship.
Every once in a while, someone will suggest either expanding the list or coming up with a new hymnal; while I’d love to see the Anglican Continuum take on that project together, I get that it would need to make sense from a resources and use standpoint. But when that day comes, I think there is good rationale for starting with the 1940 Hymnal as a textual basis. While it can feel a bit uneven, at its core, I believe it has accomplished the goal put forth over 80 years ago. Returning to the Preface, we read:
We send this book out with the prayer that God may bless it to his service, and that it may truly serve the needs of our people and help them to voice ever more fittingly their praise and adoration of him.
Amen!
The Episcopal Church has had something to the tune of seven official hymnals—one for each gender they recognize.
Probably much to the relief of the 1940, one has to think.
Note: “Shine Jesus Shine” *is* found in the 2008 Baptist Hymnal. Another strike against the Radical Reformation.