Our Hymnal!
We take this opportunity to tell you about our hymnal and the process for its selection.

The Process
The music ministry, in consultation with the liturgy committee, parish pastoral council and finance council evaluated our musical resources for the parish, spurred by the need to replace our copies of Breaking Bread in December. With the expiration of copyright licenses for the Breaking Bread contents on December 1st, and a publisher reorder date of July 15th, a recommendation needs to occur as soon as possible. Materials printed after 1988 have been evaluated.

The method of evaluation took into account several major factors:
• What music do we currently use?
• What will be the musical/liturgical demands in 5-10 years, in light of the direction of the Church, and its liturgy?
• The need to recover some repertoire of our musical tradition while moving into the future at the same time.
• What impact does the new Lectionary and proposed new Sacramentary have on permanent worship aids?
• What are the musical and physical qualities of the publication?
• A genuine concern for stewardship of the community’s financial resources.

The Recommendation
To purchase a new hymnal, Gather Comprehensive, for use by our parish. Coordinated accompaniments, choral editions and supporting materials also need to be purchased.

Financial considerations
While the purchase of a new hard-bound book is a major one-time expenditure, it is very cost effective in the long run. Comparing Gather Comprehensive with annual Breaking Bread during a 10 year period, Gather Comprehensive will pay for itself shortly after the 2nd year of use, while Breaking Bread would be purchased every year. We discovered that Gather Comprehensive will save the parish thousands of dollars in the 10 year period.

What is in the book?
Gather Comprehensive is foremost a hymnal, not a missal. It contains almost 900 pieces of music, including:

What about the readings?
The revised Lectionary readings for Sundays and holydays of the entire three-year cycle are included. Presidential prayers (such as the opening prayer, prayer over the gifts, eucharistic prayers, prayers after communion) are not included. In a renewed Liturgy of the Word, emphasis is placed on the act of the Word, that is, God communicating with His people through the dynamics of proclamation (lector/priest) and active listening (by each member of the assembly). More on this will be coming in future bulletins. However, for those who really need or really desire to have the Scriptures in their hands, we will purchase hymnal editions with the readings.

Will there be a large print version?
Unlike Breaking Bread, Gather Comprehensive does not have a large print edition, as it is a hardbound book. However, because of pastoral need, we will continue to purchase 100 large print editons of Today’s Missal. These missalettes will be used in the chapel on weekdays, and made available via the ushers for Sunday mass.

Memorial Donations
To help defray the expense of Gather Comprehensive, we present the opportunity to donate a hymnal in:

Donor bookplates will be pasted to the inside cover of the hymnals. Donations are $20 per book. Donation envelopes, as well as samples of the hymnal are located in the back of the church., or click here for a form to print and submit to the parish office.