50th Anniversary of the "red hymnal"

This past Sunday, it occurred to be that this year – 2024 – marked the 50^thanniversary of the hymnal we use in the Armenian Church of the Martyrs in Worcester, MA and most likely as well in  most, if not all the Armenian Evangelical churches in North America. The Armenian Evangelical Union of America initiated the task in 1974 and the hymnal was published in 1976. The “red hymnal”, as it is often, called is 410 pages long. Along with English and Armenian hymns, it lists “Worship Aids”, such as the Lord’s Prayer, Creeds and Statements of Faith, litanies, offertory prayers, benedictions and more. I reproduced the preface the hymnal committee wrote below. Vahe H Apelian

“In 1974, the Executive Council of the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America, commissioned the Hymnal Committee to publish a new bilingual hymnbook on the occasion of its Seventy-fifth Anniversary celebration in 1976. (see the note)

The publication of a hymnbook is a special event in the life of any church or denomination. It embodies the spiritual experience of a particular people. Next to the Bible, the most loved and used book is the hymnal. It is with that view in mind the Hymnal Committee has made such selections with love and care.

The Armenians are a singing people. We have been singing our Christian faith since the fourth century A.D. We love it. We have sung in joy, and we have sung in sorrow. We have sung in our homeland and we have sung when we were refugees in foreign lands. We have found joy in suffering, comfort in sorrow, and strength in weakness by singing the songs of our faith.

The publication of this hymnal was undertaken to enhance the singing faith of our congregations to worship and to strengthen the bound of unity among them.

The Hymnal Committee members, composed of ministers and lay persons, are well versed in church life and church music. They have been part of our singing and worshiping congregations all their lives. They know the heart and the soul of our people and what they love to sing. They have done extensive research and consulted persons knowledgeable in church music in making the selections.

Our main concern has been to produce a hymnal that will uniquely serve the Armenian Evangelical Churches of North America. We have aspired to include the best hymns of the past and present.

All tunes were actually tried before they were adopted and we believe all of them are within the voice range of any congregation.

It is earnestly hoped that congregations will enjoy singing, not only familiar hymns, but will also enjoy learning some new and beautiful ones which we have taken great care to include in this edition.

The Sharagans, hymns taken from the liturgy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, were prepared especially for this edition with notes and transliteration words to assist English speaking worshippers to enjoy singing them as part of our Armenian heritage.

Solos, duets, quartets, and anthems have been omitted from this hymnal. They are readily available from other sources. Soloists, and choir directors know where to find them. To include them in this hymnal would have increased the bulk and cost considerably.

We would have loved to include many other contemporary hymns in this collection, but copyright permissions were either very expensive or impossible to obtain from publishers who want to sell their own copyright publications themselves. However, such hymns are available from the publishers in sheet form. They can be purchased by congregations and posted in the hymnal. Provision has been made for that.

Attention is directed to the section on Worship Aids. The spiritual experiences of a congregation can be enriched greatly by participating in the readings and the litanies. Contemporary language has been used to enable youth and adults to worship meaningfully.

We express our appreciation and gratitude to those individuals and publishers who granted permission for use of their copyrighted music and words, many with nominal and some with no change. Every effort has been made to trace the ownership of all copyrights. Any omission we might have made we regret. 

Special acknowledgment is made to the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East for granting us permission to use the Armenian hymns from their “Hokevor Yerker” (Hymnal), 1971 edition.

We wish to record our special appreciation and gratitude to Marion M. Meyer, Senior Editor of the United Church Press, for her valuable assistance in tracing many hymns to their sources, and for her many helpful suggestions. 

To the people of our churches in North America, we present the fruit of our labor of love, hoping that all who use this hymnal will magnify the Lord and sing praised to His name

THE HYMNAL COMMITTEE includes: Peter Amirkhanian, G.H. Chopourian, Dicran Kassouny, Louise Meacham, Harry M. Missirlian, Chairmanss, Lydia Missirlian, Dorothy Benzi,  Grace Tashjian, Ida Tellalian.

 Note: According to a plaque placed in the Armenian Church of the. Martyrs, by the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America, the Armenian Church of the Martyrs is the birthplace of the Armenian Evangelical Union,