A further focus on the church’s traditional use of hymns to communicate doctrinal and creedal teaching will return the hymnal to its essential role in catechesis: that is the nuanced role of singing the truth of Scripture in public worship.

Our methodology for establishing the core selections was the examination and comparison of the hymn title and first lines indexes of the hymnals of the most current hymnals of the Church of the Nazarene (1973), the Free Methodist Church (1951), the Wesleyan Church (1951), the Salvation Army (1949), The United Methodist Church (1989), and The Celebration Hymnal (a commercial hymnal published in 1986 by Word Publishing) which contains a special Free Methodist supplemental section. The previously published Asbury Hymnal will also provide a solid core of hymns from which to start the selection process.

The result is a comprehensive collection of  hymns that span both the centuries in time as well as the rich diversity of Wesleyan worship experience. It may be that in the decades ahead there may be a drawing together of some of the various “tribes” of the people called Methodist in North America. Our Great Redeemer's Praise represents a marvelous opportunity to offer some of the favorites from across the Wesleyan spectrum to sister churches in our various denominational traditions. A sharing of worship traditions will be be a beautiful foreshadowing of other forms of unity which may occur in the years ahead.