With One Voice - Leaders Edition

With One Voice has been prepared as an additional volume of resources for Lutherans at worship. Several premises underlie the preparation of this collection. With One Voice is oriented primarily to the principal weekly assembly of God's people. These new liturgical settings, hymns and songs are offered to assist those who gather around the Word and Sacraments, and to support the lectionary as it unfolds the saving story through the seasons of the Christian year.

The title suggests another focus of the volume. The letter to the Romans contains the exhortation to "live in harmony with one another...that together you may with one voice glorify...God" (Romans 15:5-6). A quick glance at this resource will reveal that to sing "with one voice" does not imply uniformity of expression. The "one voice" of the Church represents an amazingly diverse fabric, many songs of many cultures in many styles, woven together by the one Spirit. The size of With One Voice allows only a sampling of these many songs, but the breadth represented here is a witness to the Church’s unity in diversity and an encouragement to communities to cultivate a variety of expressions when they gather, rather than dividing themselves by style of worship or music.

The many songs gathered together in the hymn collection of With One Voice includes a large number that have already found their way into the repertoire of many Lutheran assemblies. In addition to well-loved hymns from several traditions, there are contributions from the diverse cultures of North America as well as a representative sampling of materials from other parts of the world. Songs that center around a repeated refrain stand alongside the lively poetry and new melodies of the "hymnic explosion" of the last two decades. Strong and singable melodies have been prized in every genre represented.

May With One Voice be a useful instrument so that "joined together in harmony and having received the godly melody in unison, you might sing in one voice through Jesus Christ...that you might always partake of God." (Ephesians IV, Ignatius of Antioch, c. 35-c. 107 A.D.)

Binding: Paperback