Read the latest updates on WELS’ newest hymnal as it celebrates its fifth birthday.

The Synod in Convention adopted Christian Worship: Hymnal (CW21) in the summer of 2021. It’s already five years old!

CW21 is more than just a hymnbook; it is a suite of more than 20 volumes. Here are some thoughts on commonly asked questions about our latest hymnal.

What is the adoption rate?

Approximately 80 percent of WELS congregations report using these new resources. The other roughly 20 percent report using only the previous Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal (CW93) resources. Those still using CW93 are mostly smaller congregations, with an average of 39 people in worship on Sunday mornings. Only six churches that have more than one hundred people in worship on an average Sunday report using only CW93 resources. The largest one wrote, “We were unable to use the new hymnal because we use HymnSoft with a module that plays our pipe organ. The new hymnal resources did not offer the same software, so we remained with CW93.” The electronic resource for CW21 is called Christian Worship: Playlist.

What are some successes?

The variety of musical styles in the hymnal and Christian Worship: Psalter (settings for all 150 psalms) is allowing congregations to find abundant resources that work for their local situation. Congregations that prefer the hymn style of The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) have discovered that CW21 has more of those settings than CW93 did. Congregations that prefer to accompany their services with piano and other instruments have noticed how many hymns have helpful arrangements in the new Christian Worship: Accompaniment for Hymns volumes and in the electronic Christian Worship: Musician’s Resource page on the Northwestern Publishing House (NPH) website. Christian Worship: Service Builder, a tool for producing bulletins and slides, is saving worship planners several hours each week for other ministry tasks. With individual guidance, small congregations are finding that they can use Playlist as well as they used HymnSoft. Lutherans outside of WELS also have begun to make good use of the Psalter resources.

What are some regrets?

The initial plan was to introduce the new hymnal resources during the 2023–24 school year, precisely five hundred years after the introduction of the first Lutheran hymnal, the Achtliederbuch. When the introduction date was changed to 2021, hymns and psalm settings had been field-tested, but liturgies had not. Some congregations still are struggling with the new liturgical settings. Because the introduction of the resources happened during the pandemic, the video-based introduction tools were often not enough to help those congregations. A more robust face-to-face introduction program after liturgical field-testing would have helped to avoid many of the current liturgical struggles. The next National Conference on Worship, Music, and the Arts, scheduled for June 15–18, 2027, will make a special effort to help people manage liturgical settings.

Accompanists struggled at first with the size and binding style of the three Christian Worship: Accompaniment for Hymns volumes, but many have come to appreciate the larger print and the extra settings.

Are there any new resources available?

Playlist and Musician’s Resource options continue to grow. Soon NPH will publish Christian Worship: Guidebook and Christian Worship: Musician’s Manual, the last volumes of the set.

Learn more about the suite of resources for Christian Worship: Hymnal.

Author: Paul Prange
Volume 113, Number 06
Issue: June 2026