NEW FRENCH HYMNAL PRINTED. What a fine product this turned out to be. Our first Nazarene hymnal in French! Here's part of a write up from Keith Swantz, one of the editors for the project:

When Dany Gomis packed his bags to attend the Fall 2005 intensive two-week modular session at Nazarene Theological Seminary (NTS), he included more than personal items and study materials. Dany placed in his luggage several copies of the recently printed Sainteté à l’Éternel!: chants pour le peuple de Dieu [Holiness Unto the Lord: Songs for the People of God].

Several people in the United States eagerly awaited Dany’s arrival. Months before a flash drive with the computer files had been sent to a printer in Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. The words-only edition had been printed in time for General Assembly in June 2005, but the songbook edition took several more weeks to print and bind.

Sainteté à l’Éternel! is the first French hymnal to be printed by the Church of the Nazarene. The dream started in the 1980s when Dr. Paul Orjala began discussing the need for a hymnal to be used in the francophone countries of Europe, Africa, North America, and the Caribbean. The project got a boost in 2002 when then missionary John Seaman led a group that translated the song "Holiness Unto the Lord" into French. The French Literature Advisory Committee (FLAC) of the World Mission Literature Ministries began working on the hymnal project soon after. NTS alumni serving on FLAC included Steve Doerr (director of World Mission Literature Ministries), John Haines, Trevor Johnston, and Scott Stargel.

Dr. Keith Schwanz, Assistant Dean and lecturer in church music at NTS, served as the editor for this hymnal project. "This was a great challenge," Keith recalls, "since I don’t read French. My job was to manage the whole process and make sure those who knew the language completed the many tasks required when putting together a hymnal."

Stéphane Tibi served as the primary French editor and completed the initial theological review of the selected songs. Stéphane is a current NTS student in the Master of Divinity program and is originally from France. He also teaches at NTS as the instructor of Hebrew.

Rev. Dany Gomis is the pastor of the Bawobab Church of the Nazarene in CITY, Senegal. He serves as the French Literature Coordinator in Africa and is a member of FLAC. His role with Sainteté à l’Éternel! included guiding the printing process. Dany is an In-service Master of Divinity student at NTS.

As Dany considers the cooperation required to produce the hymnal, the fact that Africans, Europeans, and North Americans worked together, he gets excited. "That’s how the body of Christ should work," Dany said.

"In Africa we use a lot of ‘ditties’ (short choruses)," Dany commented. "We need something with a deeper presentation of our doctrine. This hymnal provides that." "Hymns are a building block of the theology we communicate and teach our congregations," Stéphane adds. Both men believe that Sainteté à l’Éternel! will result in stronger Christians and healthier congregations.

French-speaking Nazarene congregations have been using songbooks from other publishers. Most of these volumes have not included songs from the Wesleyan/Holiness movement. "There is a great, great need for hymnals that give a perspective closer to our holiness doctrine," Dany remarked.

Scripture readings, most printed in a responsive format, were placed throughout the hymnal. Dany especially likes this feature. "The Bible readings are great. No other hymnal in Africa has this. This book will help with more than singing, but will also help develop a liturgy for our people."

FLAC is already discussing an expanded second edition of Sainteté à l’Éternel!. Stéphane says, "My hope is that in the future we will translate Charles Wesley hymns into French." Very few Wesley hymns have been translated to date. Dany wants to include songs written by Africans if a second edition is published. "As far as I’m concerned, I firmly believe that if Africans don’t write their own songs, they will never feel fully part of the church. When they write songs from their own experience of holiness and in their musical style, they no longer consider it as a foreigner’s church."

Even as he looks to the future, Dany is pleased with the progress that has been made. Gazing at the hymnal, Dany says, "I’m so proud of this." And NTS is pleased to see students and alumni make a significant contribution to the ministry of the Church.