Looking Back, Forging Ahead – A Letter From the Editor

January offers a natural time to reflect on the past year. At NPH, as we look back on music and worship, we are deeply thankful for all the ways God allows us to serve our church leadership, church musicians and worship coordinators, and congregation members. In 2019:

• NPH published eight children’s choral anthems in 2019. Every single one was recorded by a volunteer choir, making audio samples and score videos possible.
• NPH published five adult choral anthems in 2019. Easier voicing and flexible performance options make these anthems accessible to a wider range of choirs.
• NPH published three keyboard collections, including another installment in the popular Creative Hymnodist series.
• NPH published two seasonal worship kits: the Lent worship kit Three Words of Truth and the Christmas worship kit See What Great Love. Both included coordinating bulletins, Powerpoint backgrounds, and suggestions for flexibility to be adapted at the local level.
• NPH partnered with WELS Congregational Services to make available for purchase music specifically related to its various initiatives. As much as possible, if Congregational Services recommends a resource for purchase, it’s available from or through your synod publisher.

January also is a time to look ahead with great anticipation. What’s coming in 2020? Here are just some of the new releases planned:

• New choral music for adult and children’s choirs, including some based on the popular hymnody of the Gettys.
• A new collection of hymn-based piano settings by Zach Unke.
• Volume 8 in the Creative Hymnodist series: Morning and Evening Hymns.
• The long-anticipated release of Hymns for Life, a robust school curriculum on hymns.
• Annual Lent and Christmas kits (the 2020 Lent Kit, The Son of God Goes Forth to War, is already available).
• And much more! Some of the planned publications will begin to introduce materials associated with the new WELS hymnal.

Check out what you may have missed from 2019, check out what’s new in 2020, and see the best curated materials from other sacred publishers, all on www.nph.net.