The Source: Full Music Edition [Hardcover]

"the source" is a collection of 600 hymns and worship songs, compiled by Graham Kendrick. The publishers claim that it "includes the most popular traditional hymns, the enormous outpouring of worship songs of the last twenty years, and much new material destined to become tomorrow's favourites."

Ten per cent of the songs are classic hymns such as Amazing Grace, And Can It Be, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say, Love Divine All Loves Excelling, O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus and The Lord's My Shepherd. It even includes Abide With Me and Nearer My God to Thee. (I can't help wondering if this was influenced by a certain recent disaster film!)These songs have been well chosen and would be greatly appreciated by young and old.

One minor quibble concerning the presentation of the older hymns in the book: in a few cases, there are some rather curious harmonisations. Have a look at "Be Thou My Vision," for instance.

the source also contains a selection of popular Christmas songs [with a few new ones] and some of the well-loved children's hymns, such as All Things Bright and Beautiful. Ian Smale's 5 0 0 0+ Hungry Folk is fifteen years old,but new to me! This looks like a fun song for a children's service.

You will probably find most of the favourites of the past 10 years included here in one handy volume. And the musical arrangements and engravings of the songs are usually first class.

The book only has a very small number of the older Scripture in Song choruses, and I would be interested to see if anyone plays "This Is the Day" the way it is printed in the book.

Of course the book contains a lot of songs by Graham Kendrick, the compiler. But at least half of these 100+ songs are already well-known and loved by Christians all over the world. For those who want their songs to be biblically accurate and saturated with Scripture, Graham is your man! In the UK, the Church Copyright Licence listings show how popular his music is. Nine of the top twenty-five, and eighty of the top five hundred songs sung weekly in a cross section of UK churches are Kendrick compositions.

I think you would find that there are at least 200 to 250 useful songs in the book, which is a much greater proportion of useful stuff than is found in many songbooks, sacred or secular. And the songs are mostly copyright free, if you have paid your Church Copyright Licence. The front cover has a sticker which boasts "Photocopy this songbook legally!"

There are some great new songs in the book. The pick of these may be Stuart Townend's "How Deep the Father's Love For Us": a simple but effective song,which sounded magnificent when performed by orchestra and singers in Katoomba, Australia, recently.

The songs are printed in singable keys, with guitar chords [sometimes transposed to easy guitar keys] and a number of useful indices such as you would find in a traditional hymnbook. There is an enormous Scripture index,as well as an index of songwriters and a thematic index.

The book is excellent value when you consider the number of songs it contains. You may find that it won't fit on some piano or keyboard stands, but this would also apply to other large hymnbooks.

Conclusion: an excellent production, containing hundreds of great songs. The book would be useful in many different types of churches. This is the best collection of old and modern hymns I have seen. Highly recommended.

. The River Is Here
5000+ Hungry Folk
A Living Sacrifice
A New Commandment
Abba Father
Abide With Me
Above The Clash Of Creeds
Acts Chapter 2, Verse 39
All Hail King Jesus
All Hail The Lamb
All Hail The Power Of Jesus' Name
All Heaven Declares
All Heaven Waits
All Honour, All Glory
All I Know
All I Once Held Dear
All I Want
All Over The World [Hardy, Francoise]
All People That On Earth Do Dwell
All The Earth Shall Worship
All The Glory
All Things Are Possible
All Things Bright And Beautiful
All To Jesus I Surrender
Alleluia, Alleluia, Give Thanks
Almighty God
Almighty God, My Redeemer
Amazing Grace
Amazing Love
Amen
Among The Gods
An Army Of Ordinary People
Ancient Of Days
And Can It Be
And He Shall Reign
And His Love Goes On And On
And That My Soul Knows Very Well
Anointing Fall On Me
Arms Of Love
Army Of God
As I Come Into Your Presence
As The Deer
As The Deer Pants
As We Are Gathered
As We Lift Up Your Name
As We Seek Your Face
Ascribe Greatness
At The Cross
At The Foot Of The Cross
At The Name Of Jesus
At This Time Of Giving
At Your Feet We Fall
Away In A Manger
Awesome God
Awesome In This Place
Be Bold, Be Strong
Be Free
Be Glorified
Be Magnified
Be Patient, Be Ready
Be Still And Know
Be Still, For The Presence Of The Lord
Be Still, My Soul
Be Thou My Vision
Beauty For Brokeness
Because Of The Lord's Great Love
Because Of You
Because Of Your Love
Before The World Began
Behold His Love
Behold The Lord
Beneath The Cross Of Jesus
Better Is One Day
Bind Us Together
Bless The Lord, My Soul
Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine
Blessed Be The Lord God Almighty
Blessed Be The Name
Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord
Blessing And Honour
Blessing, Honour, Glory To The Lamb
Break Dividing Walls
Breathe On Me, Breath Of God
Broken For Me
By His Grace
By Your Side
Called To A Battle
Can A Nation Be Changed?
Can I Ascend
Can We Walk Upon The Water
Can You See What We Have Made
Cast Your Burdens
Celebrate
Celebrate Jesus
Celebrate, Celebrate
Champion
Change My Heart, O God
Christ Is Risen (O, What A Morning)
Christ Is Risen! (In The Tomb So Cold)
Colours Of Day
Come And See
Come Down, O Love Divine
Come Let Us Return
Come Let Us Worship Jesus
Come On All You Singers
Come On And Celebrate
Come To The Light
Come, Lord Jesus
Come, Spirit, Come
Contents: Source 1
Creation Creed
Cross Every Border
Crown Him With Many Crowns
Day Of Favour
Days Of Elijah
Dear Lord And Father Of Mankind
Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?
Distant Thunder
Do Something New, Lord
Don't Let My Love Grow Cold
Down The Mountain
Draw Me Closer
Earth Lies Spellbound
Enemy's Camp
Eternity
Every Nation, Pow'r And Tongue
Exalt The Lord
Faithful God
Faithful One
Far And Near
Father God I Wonder
Father God We Worship You
Father Here I Am
Father In Heaven How We Love You
Father Me
Father Of Creation
Father Of Creation (We Come Into Your Presence)
Father Of Life, Draw Me Closer
Father We Adore You
Father We Love You
Father, Hear Our Prayer
Father, I Come To You
Father, I Place Into Your Hands
Father, I Want You To Hold Me
Father, We Adore You, You've Drawn Us
Father, You Are My Portion
Fill Us Up And Send Us Out
Filled With Compassion
Fire
Fire Of God's Glory
Firm Foundation
First Lines
For All That You've Done
For All The People Who Live In Earth
For I'm Building A People Of Power
For The Joys And For The Sorrows
For This I Have Jesus
For This Purpose
For Thou, O Lord, Art High .
For Unto Us A Child Is Born
Fountain Of Life
Freely, Freely
From Heaven You Came
From The Ends Of The Earth
From The Sun's Rising
From Where The Sun Rises
Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart
Gloria
Glorify Your Name
Glory
Glory To God
Glory To The King
Glory To The King Of Kings
Glory To The Lamb
Go Forth In His Name
God Be Gracious
God Forgave My Sin
God Is Good
God Is Good All The Time
God Is Great
God Is Here, God Is Present
God Is Light
God Is Working His Purpose Out
God Of All Comfort
God Of Glory
God Of Glory, We Exalt Your Name
God Of Grace
God Of The Poor
God Will Make A Way
God With Us
God's Not Dead
Good To Me
Great And Mighty Is He
Great Is The Darkness
Great Is The Lord And Most Worthy Of Praise
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Great Is Your Mercy
Great Is Your Name
Great Love
Hail Jesus, You're My King
Hallelujah My Father
Hallelujah! Jesus Is Alive
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallowed Be Your Name
Hark, The Herald-angels Sing
Have Faith In God
Have You Got An Appetite?
Have You Heard The Good News
Have You Not Said?
He Brought Me To His Banqueting Table
He Has Clothed Us With His Righteousness
He Has Fire In His Eyes
He Has Made Me Glad
He Has Risen
He Is Exalted
He Is Here
He Is Lord
He Is The Lord
He Is The Mighty God
He That Is In Us
He Walked Where I Walked
He Was Pierced
Heal Our Nation
Hear Our Cry
Hear, O Lord, Our Cry
Hearts On Fire
Heaven Invites You To A Party
Heaven Is In My Heart
Heaven Shall Not Wait
Here I Am
Here I Am, Lord
Here In Your Presence
Here Is Bread, Here Is Wine
Here Is Love
Here We Stand In Total Surrender
He's Given Me A Garment Of Praise
Higher, Higher
His Banner Over Me Is Love
His Love
History Maker
Hold Me Closer To You
Hold Me Lord
Holiness Is Your Life In Me
Holiness Unto The Lord
Holy And Anointed One
Holy Is Your Name
Holy One Of God
Holy Spirit Come
Holy Spirit, We Welcome You
Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty
Holy, Holy, Lord, You're Worthy
Hosanna
How Can I Be Free From Sin?
How Can I Not Love You?
How Deep The Father's Love
How Firm A Foundation
How Good And How Pleasant
How Great Thou Art
How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place
How Lovely On The Mountains
How Majestic
How Sweet The Name Of Jesus Sounds
I Am A New Creation
I Am So Thankful
I Am Standing Beneath Your Wings
I Am The God That Healeth Thee
I Believe In Jesus
I Believe The Promise
I Bow My Knee
I Bow My Knee Before Your Throne
I Cannot Tell
I Could Of Your Love Forever
I Could Sing Unending Songs
I Cry Out For Your Hand
I Exalt Thee
I Give Thanks
I Give You All The Honour
I Give You My Heart
I Have Come To Love You
I Have Made You Too Small
I Heard The Voice Of Jesus Say
I Just Want To Be Where You Are
I Just Want To Praise You
I Know A Place
I Know It
I Lift My Eyes Up To The Mountains
I Lift My Hands
I Love To Be In Your Presence
I Love You, Lord, And I Lift My Voice
I Love You, Lord, With All Of My Heart
I Love Your Presence
I Need You More
I Reach Up High
I Really Want To Worship You, My Lord
I Receive Your Love
I See The Lord
I Sing A Simple Song Of Love
I Sing Praises
I Stand Amazed In The Presence
I Stand Before The Presence
I Stand Before Your Throne
I Stand Complete In You
I Stand In Awe
I Surrender All
I The Lord Of Sea And Sky
I Walk By Faith
I Want To Be A Tree That's Bearing Fruit
I Want To Be Out Of My Depth In Your Love
I Want To Serve The Purpose Of God
I Was Made For This
I Went To The Enemy's Camp
I Will Be Yours
I Will Build My Church
I Will Change Your Name
I Will Dance, I Will Sing
I Will Enter His Gates
I Will Lift My Voice
I Will Never Be The Same Again
I Will Offer Up My Life
I Will Praise You All My Life
I Will Seek You
I Will Seek Your Face, O Lord
I Will Serve No Foreign God
I Will Sing Your Praises
I Will Wave My Hands
I Will Worship
I Worship You (I Give You All The Honour)
I Worship You, Almighty God
I Worship You, Eternal God
I Worship You, O Lamb Of God
If You Are Encouraged
I'll Love You More
I'm Accepted, I'm Forgiven
I'm Coming Up The Mountain, Lord
I'm Gonna Click
I'm So Secure
I'm Special
I'm Standing Here To Testify
I'm Your Child
Immanuel, O Immanuel
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
In Christ Alone
In Every Circumstance
In Heavenly Armour
In Moments Like These
In My Generation
In My Life, Lord
In The Morning When I Rise
In The Presence Of A Holy God
In The Secret
In The Tomb So Cold
In Your Hands
Is Anyone Thirsty? Read more ›

A wide range of styles from traditional to happy-clappy. Some really beautiful pieces too. I was recommended to buy this book by a friend and have been really pleased with it since. Only one drawback - the pages are very thin indeed and so although this makes the hymn book lighter in weight than it would otherwise have been, it's difficult to turn pages in a hurry without ripping them.