Lutheran Hymnal With Supplement - The 'Lutheran Hymnal'

The 'Lutheran Hymnal'

The first meeting of the Committee that was to produce this new Hymnal, was held on the 23rd of August, 1951, in Adelaide, South Australia. The Committee was composed of members of both Churches, all pastors, with Dr. M. Lohe of the U.E.L.C.A. elected chairman. In 1966, after over a decade of work, the Committee had prepared new Orders of Service, using similar Orders to those found in the Missouri Synod of the United States, but with musical settings adapted from those in use in the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany. Orders of Divine Service with and without Holy Communion, Matins and Vespers were prepared. These became official in 1966, though the Hymnal they were to appear in had not yet been produced at that time.

In June, 1973, the hymnological material had been prepared, and the 'Lutheran Hymnal' was published, by the Lutheran Publishing House, in Adelaide. At this time, the Australian Lutheran Hymn Book became obsolete. It is from this 'Lutheran Hymnal' that the 'Lutheran Hymnal with Supplement' is revised. The 'Lutheran Hymnal' contained 729 hymns, in addition to the Orders of Service noted above, with the propers for the Christian year, Morning and Evening Prayer, and lists of suggested hymns. It was a conservative hymnal, and continued to use the now-dated forms of 'Thou' and 'Thy' instead of 'You' and 'Your' when referring to the Trinity. Such usage was reflected in the hymns, again mainly of German origin, but with a higher proportion of Anglican hymns, and several composed by Australians. This book remained in use for the next decade, and is referred to by many Australian Lutherans as the 'Black Hymnbook' because it came only in one colour, black.