home > recent articles > PRESS RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE for immediate release
A Landmark in Mission:
First Hymn and Worship Book
Published for Churches of Methodism in Cambodia

Contact:

Office of Public Relations
Lesley Crosson

475 Riverside Drive
Room 350
New York, NY 10115

Tel: (212) 870-3916
Fax: (212) 870-3748

E-mail:
lcrosson@gbgm-umc.org


See Also

The Making of the
  Khmer Language
  Methodist Hymnal
NEW YORK — Cambodian Methodist congregations in Cambodia and around the world now will be able to sing and worship from a hymnal written in the Khmer language and composed mainly of songs that reflect their culture.

Published by the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, it is the first ever hymnal written in Khmer, the national language of Cambodia.

The announcement that the eagerly-awaited Christian Hymn and Worship Book is off the press was made by Dr. S T Kimbrough, Jr., associate general secretary of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, who chaired the hymnal committee.

The new volume, which Kimbrough calls "a landmark in mission," is the result of a three-and-a-half-year cooperative effort by The United Methodist Church, the Korean Methodist Church, The Methodist Church in Singapore, The Methodist Church in Malaysia, and The Wesleyan Church.

It contains 194 hymns and will be used by the 140 congregations of Methodism in Cambodia and by United Methodist Cambodian congregations in the United States, France, and Switzerland.

The Cambodian hymnal is unique in several respects:
  • With fifty-seven percent of the hymns coming from Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and other Asian countries, it is the first hymn book in the history of Methodism to include more indigenous hymns than hymns from Europe and North America.
  • It is the first hymn and worship book that is the result of cooperative efforts by several autonomous Methodist churches.
  • It contains hymns and songs from Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
  • It includes new compositions by young Cambodian authors and composers.
According to Sarin Sam of Australia, a Cambodian who composed many of the songs in the hymnal, Cambodian Christian hymnody dates back only to the 1970s, when Cambodian Christian hymns and songs reflecting Cambodian culture were composed by Cambodians living in refugee camps or in other countries. Their compositions were published in 1985. Before then, Christian Cambodians sang hymns and songs translated from Western countries.

Sarin Sam, a Cambodian living in Australia, who served as editor and who is thought of as the "father of Cambodian Christian hymnody," has said, "A few of the hymns and songs were composed already in 1975, but most of the others were written beginning in 1983. These are indigenous Cambodian songs with many tunes familiar to Cambodians which come from their own culture."

The Christian Hymn and Worship Book also contains the regular and occasional liturgies of the church, such as Sunday Service, Praise and Prayer, Holy Communion, Marriage, Death and Resurrection, Baptism, and reception into church membership.

Other members of the committee responsible for producing the hymnal are Dr. Carlton R. Young, musical consultant to the General Board of Global Ministries, United States; Lim Swee Hong, Singapore; and Mary Yoke Thue Gan, Singapore.
General Board of Global Ministries
United Methodist Church
475 Riverside Drive - New York, New York 10115
1-800-UMC-GBGM