Hymnals in many churches went the way of VCRs and cassette tapes, in favor of big screens and downloading worship songs through licenses with liturgical music publishers. Now, however, books of classic hymns and scripture songs are seeing a resurgence.
These songbooks for worship help “the church rediscover its voice and its heritage as a singing people,” says Don Jones, chief publishing officer and Bible publisher for Crossway. The publisher has invested in the trend back to print, releasing the Sing! Hymnal this past fall in conjunction with Keith and Kristyn Getty, Grammy-nominated hymn-writers and proprietors of the Getty Music company.
Crossway and the Getty Music team "shared a deep desire to create a hymnal rooted in Scripture and gospel truth,” said Jones. Sing! Hymnal is designed for corporate worship and personal use, according to Jones, with nearly 500 hymns paired with 400 prayers and liturgies from church history and across cultures.
J. Michael McMahon, executive director of the Hymn Society, says that while hymnal publishing has been largely stalled for decades, Christian denominations have been releasing supplements to older hymnals with new works and updates. “Singing is something we do together,” McMahon said. “We are the actors in the act of worship.”
Hymns for All Ages and Times
Hymns have long been used as symbols of social movements such as the Civil Rights Movement (“We Shall Overcome”) and other justice movements (“We Will All Resist”). McMahon is now seeing hymns affirming the LGBTQIA+ community, either reclaiming hymns such as “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” or updating hymns with more inclusive language. The hymns of Amanda Udis-Kessler, for instance, include “Queerly Beloved,” with the lyrics “Queerly beloved, we have assembled, joining in wonder, singing in praise / Lifting our eyes, raising our voices, trusting in hope, in love and in faith.”
“Putting those words on their lips helps people come around to a more gospel-oriented faith,” said McMahon. “It does something for the community and the larger church.”
Singer-songwriter Randall Goodgame sees a movement away from screens and “a resurgence of interest in physical hymnals.” In 2024, he produced the Scripture Hymnal: A Songbook of 100+ Bible Verses Set to Music for Congregational, Family, and Personal Worship (Rabbit Room), a gift book of Scripture songs with illustrations and easy piano accompaniment.
The Scripture Hymnal, Pew Edition releases in March 2026 with Rabbit Room and features full soprano, alto, tenor and bass clefs for congregational singing. Goodgame says preorders are going strong for the pew edition from churches, prison ministries, and Bible study groups. The edition also adds 30 traditional hymns along with the songs based solely on Bible passages from a variety of translations.
“We are in danger of losing some of those traditional hymns such as Holy, Holy, Holy and Great is Thy Faithfulness,” said Goodgame. “Adding them is a way of continuing the tradition of hymnals and creating a musical legacy.”
Hymns for Kids
Goodgame’s Sing the Bible: 52 Bible Verses for Kids to Learn & Sing releases in February 2026 with Harvest Kids, an imprint of Harvest House Publishers. Also releasing in February via Harvest Kids is Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, the newest addition to the Hymns for Little Ones series. The board book series also includes the titles Amazing Grace, It Is Well with My Soul, Nothing But the Blood of Jesus, and Holy, Holy, Holy.
Harvest associate editor Heather Green says, “Kids love to sing. They learn so much through song such as the ABCs, days of the week, etc. Our hope is that by putting hymns in these board books, children will learn and love and repeat these beautiful lyrics. Hymns teach timeless truths about God and his character." The house has plans to release even more titles, including the Christmas classic O Holy Night in October 2026.
Other new and forthcoming print hymnals include Making Melody to the Lord: A Robert Buckley Farlee Hymnary (Augsburg Fortress, out now), a collection of hymn tunes by Farlee, a modern hymn-writer who is also the music director for Christ Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. Meanwhile, Hymns—For Home and Church by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will release in mid-2027 with hymns for both adults and children.
