Take Up the Song
After 43 Years, Your Congregation Needs to Hear the Incredible Voices That Have Been Writing for the Church
A Hymnal Supplement That Saves You Hours While Giving Your Congregation the Best of 21st-Century Hymnody
David Schaap, President of Selah Publishing and Canon for Music at Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh
Here's the reality every church musician faces:
It's been 43 years since The Hymnal 1982 was finalized. Two full generations. While our current hymnal remains excellent, we've missed decades of remarkable hymnody that speaks to contemporary concerns and celebrates the voices of today's church.
You need more Advent and Lenten hymns. You need hymns addressing social justice and mission. You need fresh resources for baptism and Holy Eucharist. You need hymns that help your congregation connect their faith to environmental stewardship, climate change, and the challenges we face today.
But here's the problem: You could spend hundreds of hours searching through dozens of supplements, single-author collections, and new hymnals to find quality hymns that fit the lectionary readings and work for your congregation. You'd have to research composers and authors, check theological accuracy, figure out licensing, and determine what's actually singable.
Your time is precious. That’s why Selah is stepping up.
Introducing Take Up the Song -
The Hymnal Supplement That Eliminates the Guesswork
For over 35 years, I've been collecting, evaluating, publishing, and programming the best new hymnody available. Take Up the Song gives you over 300 carefully curated hymns with complete lectionary indexing - so you can find exactly what you need in minutes, not hours.
This isn't just a random collection of new hymns. We've carefully selected texts and tunes from the best contemporary hymn writers -- people like Carl Daw, Richard Leach, Susan Palo Cherwien, Mary Louise Bringle, and Rae Whitney, set to music by composers like David Ashley White, John Bell, the Taizé Community, and Alfred Fedak. These are writers and composers who've been creating significant hymnody for decades, but much of whose work came too late for our 1982 hymnal.
What Makes This Collection Different
Complete Lectionary Integration
Instead of wondering "Is there a good hymn about creation care for the Third Sunday of September?" you'll simply look it up and find excellent options, complete with licensing information and programming suggestions. We've done all the research and organization work for you.
Contemporary Concerns, Timeless Faith
Our creation and providence section alone includes powerful hymns for Earth Day, Season of Creation services, outdoor worship, and any time you want to help your congregation connect their faith to environmental challenges. These aren't just "nature hymns" - they're theologically rich texts that weave together scripture, contemporary concerns, and timeless truths about God's providence.
Most people learn their theology through what they sing, which makes careful hymn selection so important.
Practical Organization
- Comprehensive lectionary index - find hymns by Sunday, season, or occasion
- Over 700 scriptural references - locate hymns by Bible passage
- 1,200+ topical references - search by theme or need
- Metrical and tune indexes - find hymns by musical requirements
- Author and composer indexes with first lines and tune names, not just numbers
The Real Value: Your Time Back
As Canon for Music at Trinity Cathedral in Pittsburgh, I know any resource that can help me in my planning is a gold mine. We've designed this collection to be exactly that for you.
This collection eliminates the guesswork and saves you countless hours of preparation time. Instead of spending your valuable time researching and hunting through multiple resources, you can focus on what matters most - leading your congregation in meaningful worship.
Your time is precious, and your congregation deserves the best. "Take Up the Song" gives you both - the finest contemporary hymnody, perfectly organized for immediate use.
Quality You Can Trust
Selah has always been known for being at the cutting edge of hymnody since 1989, and that hasn't changed. We've also been known for our clean and attractive hymn typesetting, and this book will be no exception. We spend significant time perfecting every detail - precisely adjusting syllables and spacing to make each hymn look its best.
You'll be able to use these hymns immediately:
- Digital images available for service booklets in a variety of formats
- Useable with OneLicense and CCLI
- Print copies available for entire congregations
Try Before You Buy - Free Samplers Available
We're so confident you'll love this collection that we're offering free samplers.
Summer Sampler: 19 hymns with complete lectionary suggestions for June, July, and August - we've done the programming work for you.
Creation & Providence Sampler: Nearly 20 hymns showing the depth and quality of just one section.
Download both samplers today and experience the difference quality curation makes.
Limited-Time Pre-Order Opportunity
Church budgets are tight, and this pre-order pricing makes it easier to say yes to a resource that will save you countless hours every week.
You will get a pew edition (6”x9”, soft-cover, full accompaniment), accompaniment edition (includes 9’x12” spiral-bound landscape format to reduce page turns, will also include some introductions, codas, alternative accompaniments, and descants with the hymn and for reprinting for choir, and full indexes), and PDF Leader’s edition (8.5” x 11” with melody lines for reprinting, and a folder of PDF, JPG, PNG, and TIFF images of each hymn, along with lectionary usage, scriptural references, and topics on each hymn page, complete indexes, and descants as individual PDFs)
Pre-order the set now for $89.99 and save 38% - that's $55 off the regular price!
This offer ends June 19, 2025, and honestly, we won’t offer this discount again. We don’t really do sales, just very rare special offers like this.
This gives you the pew edition for the pre-publication price of $15 ($25 retail), Accompaniment version for $40 ($60 at publication), and PDF Leader’s edition for $24.99 ($60 at publication). A $55 savings!
Take Up the Song’s official publication date is September 30, 2025, and shipments will be sent just as soon as it arrives from the printer.
Two Ways to Order
1. Order Online: Go to the order page
2. Order in Cincinnati: If you're attending the American Association of Musicians conference in Cincinnati, visit our booth to see the current proof and place your order in person.
The pre-order discount ends Thursday, June 19, 2025 - the last day of the AAM conference.
When People Sing Together, They Participate in Something Greater
These new voices will remind your congregation that our faith is truly a living one. When we sing new hymns alongside historic ones, we join our voices with both the communion of saints and the living church of today.
Your congregation deserves to experience the vibrant hymnody that's been written since 1982. Take Up the Song makes that possible - easily, affordably, and immediately.
Don't spend another Sunday wondering if there's a better hymn out there. Get the resource that puts the best of contemporary hymnody at your fingertips.
PRE-ORDER NOW - SAVE 38%
Questions? Contact us directly at customerservice@selahpub.com or 412.-886.1020.
David Schaap
President, Selah Publishing Co., Inc.
Canon for Music, Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh
Author of The Art & Craft of Typesetting Hymns
P.S. - Download the free samplers today and try these hymns with your congregation this summer. I'm confident they'll enhance your services and give everyone a taste of the incredible hymnody that awaits in the complete collection.
P.P.S. Just a sampling of the authors and composers included:
Mary Louise Bringle
Patricia B. Clark
Carl P. Daw, Jr.
Susan Palo Cherwien
Edith Sinclair Downing
Ruth Duck
Timothy Dudley-Smith
Delores Dufner, O.S.B.
Sylvia Dunstan
Mary Frances Fleischaker
Fred Pratt Green
Gracia Grindal
Richard Leach
I-to Loh
Jane Marshall
Shirley Erena Murray
Joy F. Patterson
Victoria Sirota
Herman G. Stuempfle, Jr.
Taizé Community
Adam M.L. Tice
Thomas Troeger
Desmond Tutu
Bill Wallace
Rae E. Whitney
John Bell
Jacques Berthier
Jack Warren Burnam
Marty Wheeler Burnett
Carson Cooman
Gary Davison
Richard Wayne Dirksen
Alfred V. Fedak
Harold Friedell
Sandra Gay
David Hurd
Amanda Husberg
Scott Hyslop
Gary James
Joseph A. Kucharski
Robert Lehman
Sarah MacDonald
Jane Marshall
Joel Martinson
Jefferson C. McConnaughey
Patrick Michaels
Kenneth Miller
Sally Ann Morris
Ken Naylor
Bruce Neswick
Joy F. Patterson
Thomas Pavlechko
Craig Phillips
William Bradley Roberts
William P. Rowan
Taihei Sato
Russell Schulz-Widmar
K. Lee Scott
Robert Sirota
Stephen Tappe
Richard Webster
David Ashley White
Janet Yieh
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