NASHVILLE, TENNESSEELifeway Publishing, the official publishing house of the Southern Baptist Convention, announced today the release of a new edition of "The Baptist Hymnal" for 2012. The hymnal will feature a number of updates and improvements including over 40 new songs, a number of key changes, and extra instrumentation. In addition, the hymnal will feature most hymns with all but the first and last verses or the first, second and last verses eliminated.
"Most song leaders and music ministers only sing the first and last verses or the first, second and last verses," said Jerry Todd, director of publications for the hymnal. "To keep people from getting too confused we decided to just save time and go ahead and eliminate them."
Music ministers around the country expressed delight when learning of the new hymnal.
"This will really help," said Larry Moony, a music minister from Macon, Georgia. "We haven't sung a third verse in over 30 years at our church."
