I wish I had been there. . .

Choosing a Hymnal
by Amos B. Hoover

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I wish I could have witnessed the meeting in about 1801 which led to the development of two brand-new American Mennonite hymnals. Two Franconia brethren met with several Lancaster leaders in Martin Mellinger's home east of Lancaster city. Martin Mellinger favored one universal hymnal, but since the Franconia people had already collected more than enough for one hymnal, it was decided that each group would publish its own hymnbook.

I share Mellinger's concern that there should have been only one hymnal. I would have tried to convince the group to go for a larger, common hymnal using thinner paper. A common hymnal would have helped build community between the Franconia and Lancaster groups. Hymn singing was very common when visitors came from the various settlements as is still done today by the Old Order Mennonites.

Even so, the Lancaster hymnal entitled Unparteyisches Gesangbuch has enjoyed a longer useful life span than any other American Mennonite hymnal-- nearly two centuries. It has gone through 40 editions, but is presently out of print.
There is more information extant of the early developments of these hymnals than one would suppose. The Mennonite Encyclopedia, (Vol 2, p. 879) gave me the first clue of the developments of these first hymnals.

I also had the opportunity to study the original sources, including the Martin Mellinger letters still extant in the Peter Weber Collection in Weirhof, Germany. The correspondence of printer Billmeyer of Germantown also sheds light on the early formation. These letters show that the Franconia hymnal, Die Kleine Geistliche Harfe, an edition of 4000 copies, came on the market in September of 1803. One month later, on October 7, 1803, Martin Mellinger pleaded with his own Lancaster Conference that they should be satisfied with the Franconia hymnal, so that when distant communities come together to sing the people can all sing the same songs. But a letter from western Pennsylvania was read that day before the conference, saying, "We are all young people with little experience in music and we need at least one tune with music given that can be sung on every hymn in the book. Therefore we can not accept the Franconia hymnal (which has music for Psalms only)." This reading swayed the conference, so the Lancaster churches proceeded in publishing their own hymnal in 1804.

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Mennonite Historical Bulletin, January, 1996