Throwback Thursday: How to Make the Good Book Better
Note: This did not originally appear in Gottesblog, but was published by Dr. Stuckwisch on August 24, 2008 at his own blog, Thinking-Out-Loud. ~ Ed.
No, not that Good Book, but the excellent Lutheran Service Book could have been even better. The Reverend Dr. Paul Grime, who served as the project director for LSB, has quipped that work on the next new hymnal has already begun; not formally or officially, of course, but in the ongoing use and evaluation of the Lutheran Service Book. In that spirit, I offer a few basic ways in which it could have been a better good book, and maybe someone will take notes for posterity.
One simple thing: The response to the salutation throughout the book should have been, "And with your spirit." Not establishing that consistency was a mistake, which we'll have to live with and regret for the next couple decades now.
There shouldn't be any hymns in the electronic edition that aren't in the pew edition. The few Biblical canticles and the several good hymns (see below) that were relegated to the electronic edition only should be in the book, while the rest of the electronic-only songs should have been lost in some place where they would never be heard from again.
The entire Psalter should have been included in the pew edition. That was actually the first official decision of the Lectionary Committee (but we were men under other authorities).
The Collects for all of the Sundays and Festivals of the Church Year should have been included in the pew edition. My impression is that everyone realized that within months of publication.
In order to make room for the Collects and the missing Psalms, I recommend removing the following 100 hymns and replacing them with forty-eight other hymns that should have been included (below).