A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

language transition beginning in the 1930's in the United States, and two decades later in Canada, it was inevitable that English hymnals would soon be introduced into the churches. The result was that a variety of hymnals appeared, again mostly of the gospel song type. Tabernacle Hymns No. 3 seemed to be the most widely used. The first mention of the possibility of the Mennonite Brethren Church compiling its own English hymnal came during the General Conference in 1945. The church membership felt that the English hymnals brought into churches from other sources were not adequately meeting their needs. There was also a growing awareness of the fact that the younger generation was on the verge of losing the heritage that was part of their culture. The first official action taken on the compiling of a hymnal was the introduction of the following resolution: The Pacific District Conference has formulated the resolution that the General Conference investigate the possibility of publishing an all purpose hymnal which could be used in all departments of our churches; that this hymnal should include many of the gospel songs and hymns found in the hymn books used by our various churches, as well as some of the older choral numbers, which, although not used as frequently today, have genuine value and should be translated into the English language and preserved for this and future generations. 12 Interest in this project was immediately evident. The General Conference accepted the recommendation of the Committee of Reference and Counsel "that we proceed energetically with the production of a song book with notes to satisfy the needs of our churches." 13 It also recommended that the hymnal should be produced both in the English and German languages. The following men were appointed to this committee: Ben Horch, Winnipeg; F. C. Thiessen, Abbotsford; Herbert C. Richert, Hillsboro; Cornelius Wall, Mountain Lake; and H. D. Wiebe, Bakersfield, with Richert serving as chairman. Soon several problems began to emerge. One was that the Canadian Conference was in the process of publishing its own hymnal in the German language. The committee members felt that it would be an unnecessary duplication to publish a German and English hymnal along with the Canadian German hymnal. The 1948 General Conference decided to "recognize the German hymnal of Canada and proceed with arrangements of an English song book." 1,1 Herbert C. Richert was then authorized to appoint persons to assist him in publishing the hymnal. He chose P. C. Hiebert and L. J. Franz, the former serving as Aids to Worship Editor, while Richert served as Music Editor. Thus it became a United States project. During the next three years the songbook committee compiled a list of seven hundred hymns and gospel songs which was published 244 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH in the Christian Leader. As interested individuals and groups evaluated t