Office Bearers

GS 1974 ARTICLE 159 – Church Book (11)

Advisory Committee I presents some Final Recommendations on Agenda C I a, which are adopted. The whole Report on the Church Book and the adopted Recommendations read thus:

A: Presentation of the Book of Praise

MATERIAL:

Agenda C I a – Report of the Committee on the Church Book, appointed by General Synod New Westminster, 1971, and Enclosure: Book of Praise.

CONSIDERATION:

The completion of Book of Praise according to the mandate given to the Committee on the Church Book by General Synod New Westminster, 1971, Acts Article 28 sub Ba, is of great significance for the life of our Churches.

RECOMMENDATION:

On this ground this Advisory Committee recommends: Synod decide to give the Committee on the Church Book appointed by General Synod New Westminster, 1971 the opportunity to officially present to this Synod in plenary session “BOOK OF PRAISE” as an Enclosure to their Report.

B: Privilege of the Floor

MATERIAL:

Agenda C I a – Report of the Committee on the Church book, appointed by General Synod New Westminster, 1971, recommendation No. 3.

CONSIDERATION:

In their Report the Committee on the Church Book make the following Recommendation: “Synod grant the privilege of the floor of Synod to one of the members of this Committee”.

RECOMMENDATION:

Synod decide to grant the privilege of the floor of Synod to one of the members of the Committee on the Church Book whenever Synod so desires.

C: Psalm-Section

MATERIAL:

  • Agenda C I a – Report of the Committee on the Church Book, appointed by General Synod New Westminster, 1971, Psalm-Section.
  • Agenda C I b – Letter of the Church at Smithers.
  • Agenda C I c – Letter of the Church at London.
  • Agenda C I h – Letter of the Church at Burlington West.
  • Agenda C I j – Letter of Die Vrye Gereformeerde Kerk Te Pretoria (chairman Dr. C. Van Der Waal).

OBSERVATIONS:

  • 1. As the mandate of the Committee, “to complete the Book of Praise”, your Advisory Committee notes with thankfulness, that all 150 Psalms have been rhymed in English metrical version that can be sung to Genevan melodies of the sixteenth century.
  • 2. As to the contents of the rhymed Psalms, your Committee likes to express its appreciation for the fact that they are closer to the original text than those in the previous edition and that a unity of translation can be found throughout the Psalm-Section, as for instance is evident from the consistent use of the expressions: “the LORD, the God of the Covenant” (in stead of: “Jehovah”). “a new song”, and “His steadfast love endures”.

CONSIDERATIONS:

  • 1. Seeing that not any criticism has been submitted by the Churches with respect to the Psalm-Section, and since your Committee was not able to scrutinize all the versions, your Committee deems it advisable not to consider the Psalm­ Section as finalized yet, but to keep it open for further improvement.
  • 2. Your Committee likes to submit the following critical notes:
    • Verse 8 of the unrhymed Psalm 72 does not have any rendering in the stanzas 3 and 4 of the rhymed version; while the “name” and “fame” of the kind as well as the “name” of the God of Israel receive emphasis at the end of Psalm 72 (verses 17 and 19), we find the name of the king only mentioned in a subclause in stanza 9 of the metrical version; the names of “Moses, Aaron, and Samuel” of Psalm 99:6 are rendered in the rhymed version by “Priests and prophets all” (Psalm 99 stanza 3).

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Synod decide:

  • 1. to receive the Psalm-Section of the Church Book with great appreciation for the work which was done by the Committee on the Church Book and give utterance of this appreciation to those who have contributed to the rhyming of the Psalms.
  • 2. to continue the Committee on the Church Book, giving it the mandate:
    • a. to invite the Churches again to submit their possible remarks on the Psalm­ Section to the Committee;
    • b. to remain diligent with respect to a possible improvement of this section of the Church Book.

D: Hymn-Section

MATERIAL:

  • Agenda C I a – Report of the Committee on the Church Book, appointed by the General Synod New Westminster, 1971, Hymn-Section.
  • Enclosure: “Book of Praise”, Hymn-Section.
  • Agenda B 8 – Rapport inzake de herziening van de bundel Enige Gezangen, aan de General Synode van De Gereformeerde Kerken Kampen, 1975.

OBSERVATIONS:

  • 1. The Committee on the Church Book, appointed by the General Synod New Westminster, 1971 is the continuation of previously appointed Committees, which were given the following mandates concerning the Hymn-Section:
    • a. by the Synod Homewood-Carman, 1958: “een Psalmbundel samen te stellen in de Engelse taal, met, zo mogelijk, ook andere liederen der Schrift, naar de richtlijnen van bet Rapport Depp. 1954, en bij de samenstelling daarvan gebruik te maken van hetgeen in the Psalter van de Chr. Reformed Church en eventueel andere Psalters geboden wordt, in zover de berijming Schrift­ getrouw is en de melodie aan kerkmuzikale normen beantwoordt”;
    • b. by the General Synod Edmonton, 1965: “(be authorized) to include in the “Book of Praise” beside the Psalms also hymns that are scriptural, preferably rhymings of parts of Scripture, especially of poetic character, “which are considered suitable”, and “to try to have certain parts of the confession, either rhymed or not rhymed, set to music and to include them in the “Book of Praise”.”;
    • c.  by the General Synod Orangeville, 1968: “to delete from a new edition of the Book of Praise . . . those hymns which are not thoroughly Scriptural in contents”; and “to continue the work of previous deputies in such a way that as far as the hymn-section of the Book of Praise is concerned, the decision of Synod Edmonton, 1965, Article 192, 3d, be remembered”.
  • 2. A number of Churches have made submissions regarding the Hymn-Section of “Book of Praise”, the brief contents of which are the following:
    • a. The Church at Smithers reminds Synod of the  mandate given to the Committee appointed by the General Synod Edmonton, 1965, and observes “that this mandate expresses preference for rhymed passages of Scripture”. This is the ground of the Consistory’s first request that Synod appoint “new deputies for the Hymn-section of our Book of Praise; to include in their mandate that deputies look for more Hymns taken directly from Scripture to be included in this Hymn-section; to compile, and make public, a list of Scripture passages suited to be rhymed and tone-set as hymns; to invite sub­ missions of proposals resulting from these passages; to accompany this invitation with the guidelines set for such hymns by Synod Orangeville, 1968, Acts Article 87, 7b 1, 2, 3.”
    • The Consistory of the Church at Smithers further discusses several hymns, and comes to the conclusion that six of them should be deleted, namely Hymns No. 3, 16, 27, 38, 48, and 55.
    • b. The Church at Burlington West refers back to the report “Op Weg naar een Engelse Reformatorische Psalmbundel” submitted to the General Synod Homewood-Carman, 1958, in which – as this Church formulates it – “the deputies state their concern about the type of hymns on this continent and the style of music. The objective was to provide songs on music appropriate and consistent with what our Churches have expressed to be the “verheven Psalm stijl, “en geen Versjes”.” The Church at Burlington West then supplies a List of Hymns which they want to bring to the Synod’s attention. Your Advisory Committee has checked this list, and came to the conclusion that some of the criticism is acceptable, some inacceptable, and another part unclear while no proof is given.
    • c.  The Church at London is more positive in its criticism. It makes a remark on the printing of the word “thy”, comes to the conclusion that certain hymns must be omitted, others changed, and that a number of hymns has no Scriptural background. The Consistory also points to eventual technicalities of changing the wording of hymns.
    • d. The Consistory of Die Vrye Gereformeerde Kerk te Pretoria (chairman Dr. C. van der Waal) responded to a request from our Churches for their comments with the passing on of a report tabled by a study committee, which has much praise for the work of our Committee on the Church book, is of the opinion that the Psalm-Section is of a high quality, but pleads for a better set-up of the Hymn-Section, regarding which they refer to the Cantica which John Calvin wanted to re-introduce, in order that we will remain in the historical line of the ancient Christian Church and the Great Reformation; they also draw our attention to the credal songs of the New Testament; are afraid that hymns – as considered to be “new testamentic” – will easily replace the Psalms which are considered as being “old testamentic” -; and further point to the fact that in many hymns the language of the covenant is lacking; they put the finger at the fact that in Hymn 31 – which is a certain metrical version of Psalm 139 – the end of the Psalm has been omitted (“Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate Thee?”), which they deem to be a serious ommission.
  • 3. The Free Reformed Churches of Australia have appointed deputies for a Church Book, who deal with the same material, e.g. the question which hymns can be used by their Churches in their worship services. Their findings have been sent to the Committee on the Church Book, which in their report to this Synod state that they were “unable to evaluate these remarks and report on them”.
  • 4. From the Report of the Committee on the Church Book it appears that no criticism from the Churches has been received by them.

CONSIDERATIONS:

  • 1. It was impossible for your Advisory Committee to scrutinize all the hymns, their text and tunes.
  • 2. In the criticism that has been tabled, there is enough reason for the continuation of the mandate of the Committee on the Church Book.
  • 3. Scripture teaches us that Church singing shall have for its theme the praise of the Covenant God: “O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever” (I Chronicles 16:34, 41; II Chronicles 5:13; 7:3, 6; according to “the ordinance of David”, Ezra 3;10, 11; Ephesians 5:19, 20; Colossians 3;15).
  • 4. John Calvin’s example should be seriously considered; he wanted to re-introduce the “Cantica”, songs which we find in the Scriptures outside the Book of Psalms, as e.g. The First Song of Moses (Exodus 15), The Second Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32), The Song of Hanna (I Samuel 2), The Song of Mary (Luke 1).
  • 5. Attention should be given to the “credal fragments” and in particular to the “credal songs” which we find in the New Testament (e.g. I Timothy 3:16).
  • 6. It is desirable that the “Deputaten voor de herziening van de bundel Enige Gezangen” of the Dutch Sister-Churches and the Deputies for the Church Book appointed by The Free Reformed Churches of Australia be kept informed about the progress of the work and be requested to send in their constructive criticism.
  • 7. A thorough evaluation of the “Rapport inzake de herziening van de bundel Enige Gezangen, aan de General Synod van De Gereformeerde Kerken Kampen, 1975” was impossible, since this Report was. tabled at the beginning of the Synod.

RECOMMENDATION;

Synod decide;

  • 1. To receive the Hymn-Section of the Church Book with great appreciation for the work which was done by the Committee on the Church Book;
  • 2. To give the Committee on the Church Book to be continued the following mandate:
    • a. to further improve the Hymn-Section of “Book of Praise”; and for this purpose evaluate the remarks and criticism which have already been received and may be received, along the lines set out in Considerations 3, 4, and 5 of the Report of Advisory Committee I, Hymn-Section, and those set out in the mandates given by General Synod Edmonton, 1965, and General Synod Orangeville, 1968;
    • b. to compile, and make public, a list of Scripture passages suited to be rhymed and tone-set as hymns; to invite submissions of proposals resulting from these passages; to accompany this invitation with the guidelines set out for such hymns by Synod Orangeville, 1968, Acts Article 87, 7b, 1, 2, 3;
    • c. to keep the “Deputaten voor de herziening van de bundel Enige Gezangen” of De Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, and the Deputies for the Church Book appointed by The Free Reformed Churches of Australia informed about the progress of the work and request them in their constructive criticism.

E: Four-Part Music Edition

MATERIAL:

  • Agenda C I d – Letter of the Church at Neerlandia, dated April 8, 1974.
  • Agenda C I e – Endorsement of the Overture of the Church at Neerlandia by the Church at Toronto.

RECOMMENDATION:

As to the letter of the Church at Neerlandia, dated April 8, 1974, and the Endorsement of this Overture by the Church at Toronto, in which Synod is requested “that the Committee for the Anglo-Genevan Psalter be given the mandate to prepare a four-part music edition” of the entire Book of Praise, Synod decide not to grant this request.

Grounds:

  • a. the preparation of such an edition is not the task of this Committee.
  • b. to make such an edition the task of this Committee would not speed up matters.
  • c. harmonizations of the tunes in Book of Praise are available (see page VII of Book of Praise).

F: Tune of Hymn 45

MATERIAL:

Agenda C I k – Letter of the Church at Edmonton.

RECOMMENDATION:

As the letter of the Church at Edmonton, dated October 7, 1974, in which this Church requests with respect to Hymn 45 “to consider the adoption of one of the other melodies, preferably that of Strassbourg, instead of, or, as an alternative to the one at present published in the Book of Praise”, Synod decide to pass on this request for consideration to the Committee on the Church Book to be continued.

G: Finances

MATERIAL:

  • Agenda C I a – Report of the Committee on the Church Book, re: Financial Statements.
  • Agenda C I g – Financial Statement of the Committee on the Church Book.
  • Agenda C I i – Audit Report of the Church at Burlington West.

OBSERVATIONS:

  • 1. The Committee on the Church Book in its Report states that its Financial Statement shows a balance of $87.63. The attached Financial Statement itself shows a balance as per September 30, 1972, of $84.63.
  • 2. The Committee on the Church Book reports that “after having requested from the Churches a last financial contribution for the remuneration of authors all obligations were met”.
  • 3. The Church at Burlington West has audited the books of the Committee on the Church Book and found them in good order.

CONSIDERATIONS

  • 1. The difference between the Committee’s Report and its Financial Statement is a typing error in the Report of the Committee on the Church Book.
  • 2. It is a reason for thankfulness that all financial obligations have been met.

RECOMMENDATION:

Synod decide:

to thank the Committee on the Church Book for the work done with respect to the financing of the Book of Praise, and to discharge this Committee as far as the financing of the copyrights of Book of Praise is concerned; to thank the auditing Church at Burlington West.

H: Letter Mr. D. Westra

MATERIAL:

  • Agenda C I f – Letter of Mr. Dewey westra with protest and complaints.

OBSERVATIONS:

  • 1. Mr. Dewey Westra states:
    • a. that the terms of the contract with the “Publication Committee of The Canadian Reformed Churches” have been violated.
    • b. that he has not been rewarded properly.
    • c.  that the source of the used material is not mentioned in the Book of Praise.
    • d. that some of his numbers have been dropped or substituted.
    • e.  that he never received a word of thanks.
  • 2. The contract was drawn between Mr. Dewey Westra and the “Publication Committee of The Canadian Reformed Churches”, and not with the Committee on the Church Book.
  • 3. Agreement for payment per published line was reached.
  • 4. The contract mentions the following terms:
    • “(e) A notice shall be printed as part of each edition of said Psalter to indicate which lyrics were prepared by said DEWEY WESTRA and each lyric shall be accompanied by his initials.
    • (f) Any desired change in the text of said lyrics shall be made by the PUBLICATION COMMITTEE in consultation with said DEWEY WESTRA so long as he is alive and of sound mind, and with mutual consent of both parties thereof’.

RECOMMENDATION:

Synod decide:

to charge the Committee on the Church Book to be continued to investigate as soon as possible the above mentioned complaints of Mr. D. Westra; and if it appears that certain terms of the contract have been violated, to find “some form of restitution and satisfaction for the injustices incurred”.

I: Second Half of Church Book

MATERIAL:

  • Agenda C I a – Report of the Committee on the Church Book.
  • Agenda C II a – Letter of the Committee for the Second Half of the Church Book, October 16, 1974, with the enclosures:
    • 1.  Letter of the Committee for the Second Half of the Church Book to the Committee on the Church Book, dated December 31, 1971.
    • 2.  Request of the Committee for Correspondence with the Churches Abroad, dated January 15, 1974.
    • 3.  Request of the  Church at London, dated February 18, 1974.

OBSERVATIONS:

  • 1. The Committee for the Second Half of the Church Book received the following mandate (Article 28, Recommendation 3, Acts General Synod 1971):
    • “a. to remove all printing errors;
    • b. to scrutinize the text of the Creeds (and introductions) as to correctness of translation.”
  • 2. From the correspondence between the Committee on the Church Book and the Committee for the Second Half of the Church Book it appears, that there was a difference of opinion as to the meaning of the mandate of the latter committee.
  • 3. On November 8, 1971 this Committee sent the first result of its work (a corrected text of the Belgic Confession) to the Committee on the Church Book.
  • 4. The Committee on the Church Book did not make use of the work of the Committee for the Second Half of the Church Book, because it felt not free without the approval of a General Synod to publish what in its opinion was “to a large extent, a revision of the text of the Confessions,” and as such an exceeding of the mandate given to this Committee.
  • 5. After the Committee on the Church Book had written in a letter of December 17, 1971, that it itself “would take care of minor corrections in the text”, the Committee for the Second Half of the Church Book concluded that it had “no choice but to discontinue its work, and report to the next General Synod why it was prevented from fulfilling its mandate”.
  • 6. In its letter of October 16, 1974, the Committee for the Second Half of the Church Book brings to our attention:
    • a. that the corrections adopted by General Synod 1962 (Article 184, sub 3) have not been applied to the text of the Confession of Faith in the Book of Praise;
    • b. that the Committee on the Church Book has inserted the word “Christian” in Article IX of the Apostles’ Creed;
    • c. that the Church at London requested “to include the footnoting of Bible text references to the Belgic Confession”;
    • d. that the Deputies for Correspondence with Churches Abroad asked for 8 copies of the report of the Committee for the Second Half of the Church Book.
  • 7. General Synod 1971 did not stipulate, that the Committee for the Second Half of the Church Book should report on their activities to the next General Synod.

CONSIDERATIONS:

  • 1. General Synod 1971 did not clearly define the task of the Committee for the Second Half of the Church Book with respect to “including new Forms” and scrutinizing “the text of the Creeds (and introductions) as to correctness of translation”.
  • 2. General Synod 1971 did neither express itself explicitly on the relation between the “separate Committee” and the Committee on the Church Book, nor on the time of reporting in connection with the completion of the Book of Praise.
  • 3. Since a revision of the Creeds and Forms concerned would require a new mandate of the General Synod, the Committee on the Church Book was right by not including the study-results of the Committee for the Second Half of the Churchbook in the first printing of the Book of Praise.
  • 4. Since the correction of the texts belonged to the task of the Committee for the Second Half of the Church Book, the Committee on the Church book should not have inserted the word “Christian” in the text of Article IX of the Apostles’ Creed.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Synod decide:

  • 1. to approve the work of the Committee on the Church Book which it has done for the second half of the Book of Praise (except for the insertion “Christian”).
  • 2. not to include revised or corrected versions of the Confessions, Creeds, Forms, and Church Order in the next edition of the Book of Praise before the texts thereof shall have been finalized.
  • 3. a. to thank the Committee for the Second Half of the Church Book Forms, appointed by Synod 1971, Acts Article 96, 3 II, for the start it made in fulfilling its mandate as described in the same Acts Article 28, sub 3.
    • b. to continue this Committee, as “The Committee for the Doctrinal and Liturigical Forms” with the mandate: to scrutinize the text of the Doctrinal and Liturgical Forms as to correctness of translation from the, by Synod 1954 adopted, Dutch Version, the latter compared with the original languages.
    • (N.B. The Heidelberg Catechism is excepted from this mandate) Grounds:
      • 1. Synod 1954 stated that The Canadian Reformed Churches are bound to these Forms in the Dutch version;
      • 2. Following Synods have repeatedly busied themselves with parts of the Doctrinal and Liturgical Forms without completing this work;
      • 3. No General Synod of The Canadian Reformed Churches has yet declared an English Version of the Doctrinal and Liturgical Forms adopted;
      • 4. Such a declaration can be made only after the scrutinizing of all these Forms has been completed and adopted by a General Synod.
    • c. To mandate this Committee to submit the result of their work to the next General Synod, while informing the Churches on the progress of their work.
  • 4. to add to the mandate of the Committee on the Church Book:
    • a.  to check the second half of the Church Book on printing errors;
    • b.  to remove the word “Christian” from the Apostles’ Creed, Article IX;
    • c.  to include in the Confession of Faith the corrections adopted by General Synod Hamilton, 1962, Acts Article 184 sub 3;
    • d.  to add the Scripture references to the Confession of Faith.

J: Final Recommendations

MATERIAL:

Agenda C I a – Report of the Committee on the Church Book appointed by General Synod New Westminster, 1971.

OBSERVATIONS:

  • 1. Regarding the mandate given to the Committee on the Church Book by General Synod New Westminster, 1971 under Ba in Article 28 of the Acts, the Committee informs Synod about the separate publication of a booklet containing the text of The Three Forms of Unity by the Publication Committee.
  • 2. Regarding part b of its mandate, the Committee has fulfilled this by availing itself of the assistance of a Publication Committee.
  • 3. Regarding part e of its mandate the Committee strongly advises Synod “to continue the Committee to remain diligent in the matter of the Church Book, to keep control over the contents of the Book of Praise and to execute the decisions of General Synod in connection with the Church Book”.
  • 4. According to the decision made by General Synod New Westminster, 1971 and mentioned under No. 4 Acts Article 28, the Church Order has not been included in the first printing of the complete Book of Praise, since its revision has not been finalized yet.
  • 5. As for the desire, expressed by General Synod New Westminster, 1971, “that Scripture references be placed with the hymns” (Acts Article 28 sub 7) the Committee on the Church Book reports that this mandate has been fulfilled to a certain extent.
  • 6. The Committee on the Church Book did not feel free to grant the Committee for Correspondence with the Churches Abroad its request to send them a number of copies of their Report to Synod 1974, since it deemed it to be in the province of the General Synod to decide on this matter.
  • 7. The Committee on the Church Book under II b of its Report informs General Synod about the decisions made by the Synod 1972 of The Free Reformed Churches of Australia, and the request received from the Deputies on the Church Book of these Australian Sister-Churches concerning the printing of a special edition of the Book of Praise for The Free Reformed Churches of Australia.
  • 8. The Committee further informs General Synod that it received the Report of the Deputies on the Church Book appointed by The Free Reformed Churches of Australia which contained a list of remarks and criticism, adding that they were unable to evaluate these remarks and report on them.
  • 9. The Committee on the Church Book reports that it “did not officially receive any remarks from any Church or from any individual Church-member”, “in spite of the fact that reactions were invited”.
  • 10. Regarding the mandate given to the Committee on the Church Book by the General Synod New Westminster, 1971, mentioned under Ba in Article 28 of its Acts, the Committee prays “that the use of the complete Book of Praise may be to the glory of God and to the Upbuilding of the Body of Christ”.

CONSIDERATIONS:

  • 1. Synod has to give approval to the actions undertaken by the Committee on the Church Book and mentioned under Observations No’s 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
  • 2. Synod has to express itself on the recommendations made by the Committee on the Church Book in its Report and repeated above under Observation No. 3.
  • 3. Synod has already decided (Acts Articles 103 sub 2a and 110 sub 2a) to charge the Committee on the Church Book to be continued to again invite the Churches to submit their possible remarks on the Psalm-Section and the Hymn-Section of the Book of Praise.
  • 4. Synod will fully agree with the prayer expressed by the Committee on the Church Book at the end of its Report.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Synod decide:

  • 1. to approve the actions of the Committee on the Church Book appointed by General Synod New Westminster, 1971, as mentioned under Observations No’s 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
  • 2. to add to the mandate of the Committee on the Church Book the following:
    • a.  to take such measures that the Churches retain full control over the contents of the Book of Praise.
    • b.  to be the address for remarks and criticism.
    • c.  to execute all and any decisions General Synods make with regard to and in connection with the Church Book.
    • d.  to make such an agreement with the Publication Committee that the latter promises in writing to accept and have printed in the next edition of the Book of Praise all the changes, additions, etcetera, the Churches in General Synod will make.
  • 3. to include in the next edition of the Book of Praise the text of the Church Order after the completed revision has been accepted by the Churches.
  • 4. to warmly thank the members of the Committee on the Church Book for the work they have done for the completion of the first printing of the complete Book of Praise.
  • 5. to express its full agreement with the prayer of the Committee on the Church Book at the end of its Report, “that the use of the complete Book of Praise may be to the glory of God and to the upbuilding of the Body of Christ”.