After three years' efforts, the Beijing-based Yanjing Theological Seminary has completed its audio recording project for the supplement of the Chinese New Hymnal, a publication that contains 200 songs. The audio files are available on the website of the seminary.
The seminary stated that since the summer of 2015, more than 50 theological students, teachers, workers, and believers took part in the ministry. A pastor of the seminary told that the ministry was to provide singing samples for the Chinese grassroots church, some of whom were unfamiliar with the songs in the supplement that failed to be widely circulated in China.
He said that the lyrics of the supplement and its predecessor The New Hymnal that was published in 1983 and includes 400 hymns had a stronger theological foundation than some popular worship and praise hymns.
During the recording, a seminary student shared his weakness like feeling his sound unattractive and a fear for studying music. The school's choir teacher encouraged the participants to do their utmost because the recordings would be very helpful to the worship of local churches.
As of 2008, over 15 million copies of the New Hymnal were distributed, which made the hymn book predominantly most used at the worship of the Chinese Protestant church. In 2009, the supplement was published with 61 local compositions in it.
The whole album is available online here.
- Translated by Karen Luo
