Description
Though research pertaining to Christian hymnals published in the late twentieth century is substantial with much of the work focusing on cultural issues, statistical comparisons, textual concerns, and denominational legislation, a significant examination of the decision-making process used by editorial boards to compile Roman Catholic hymnals is lacking. For the many Christian churches that create their own denominational hymnals there are reports and committee minutes within an official legislative record that detail the compilation process. In the case of the Roman Catholic Church, where the main publishers are unattached to the official church, fewer details are in the public record. This study examines the challenging process of issuing a hymnal specifically for use in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States during the hymnal explosion of the 1980s, focusing on the decisions made by GIA Publications' editorial committee to provide parishes with a collection of songs sensitive to the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the effects of the twentieth century's global ecumenical movement, the call for increased theological relevance pertaining to issues of ecology, poverty, urban life, hunger, and peace, and contemporary concerns about language that might require the creation of new, more appropriate texts, the revision of older texts, or the elimination of now inappropriate texts. Through a series of interviews with the still-living members of the editorial board of GIA Publications' Worship: A Hymnal and Service Book for Roman Catholics, third edition (1986), an examination of the marketing literature produced by the publisher encouraging potential customers to purchase the hymnal, and articles written in support or in review of the hymnal in professional journals, there emerges a clear picture of a decision-making process informed by the Second Vatican Council's directives for liturgical reform, ecumenical sensitivity, musical excellence, and congregational participation, tempered by the reality of publishing within a corporate, for-profit environment.
