Our Hymns, Our Heritage: A Student Guide to Songs of the Church

In general, I like this book. I used to teach music history and choir and have played piano all my life. I love the history of each hymn this includes. It does a good job presenting it quickly, making it interesting, and showing God through it. I dislike the music itself, just because hymns in my mind should be in 4-part harmony. I wish this included at least 2-part harmony. I also ordered the piano accompaniment book from their website, and am pleased with it. It is probably intermediate difficulty, has interesting arrangements, but is true to the original hymn. Definitely worth ordering if you play piano! They are coming out with recordings of the accompaniment that you can order, but it wasn't available yet when I looked.

Great book about the history of our favorite hymns. Thank you.

Our Hymns, Our Heritage is a new edition of the Hosanna, Loud Hosanna Student Hymnal by David and Barbara Leeman. This newer version is slightly smaller than the original and is weighs less; I imagine that it will be easier for younger hands to hold. This edition does not contain the color reproductions of art. But the cost of the book is less.We have used the original hymnal for several years in our home. I am purchasing the newer edition for each of my children to have their own copy.I highly recommend either edition. The grouping of the hymns by topic and liturgical year adds to its usefulness and the notes provide just the right amount of background information. The "As you sing this hymn..." section prompts deeper reflection and personal application. A lovely and useful resource!

This hymnal is such a fantastic resource, and so important in passing down the great hymns of our Christian faith to children and grandchildren. We particularly love the 'backstory' about the composers and poets who created these great works-- a terrific way to encourage young people that like these 'ordinary' people, perhaps they, too, could put their faith into words and music. And the suggestions for how to approach the singing of each hymn brings out the rich content of these musical pillars, beyond just praise and worship, as expressions of the Gospel and the foundations of our faith. We're purchasing several copies to give to our own kids and grandkids, and feel so good about making sure the next generation(s) carry on these incredible , time-tested professions of adoration and Biblical truths. Hallelujah!

This is a great resource to teach your kids the hymns! I love that it’s divided into themed sections. I also love that it gives you a little history on each hymn. My kids are pretty young so we don’t spend too much time on the history and we only learn the main stanza of the hymns, but I can see this growing with our family through the years as they get older so we can dive deeper into the history and learn all the verses of the hymns.

Bought one to enhance my devotional time... I'm "an older guy" and wanted to gain insight into cherished hymns. What an excellent resource! Just bought two more for my kids / grandkids! Let's not let future generations down by keeping these hymns to ourselves. Hymns are such a big part of our shared heritage. Sing them. Enjoy them. Share them.

This is our second of these hymnals, and I'll probably get more so that our whole family can use them. I appreciate the background to the text and tune, as well as the devotional section. It's a good selection of favorite hymns, in a book that's easy for the kids to use. Our church hymnal is vast and heavy - this has fewer hymns but in the best way for our elementary ages kids. A great addition to our homeschool!

I have the original edition but really appreciate this new smaller, less-expensive student guide. It is extremely accessible and I am excited to introduce this to our congregation as a tool for family worship and teaching some of great hymns of the Christian faith. Use the handy topical index, follow the church year contents, or go through one at a time. The hymn stories and "as you sing this hymn" segments are especially challenging and helpful.

This is a wonderful resource. Good blend of old and new hymns. The brief sections on the history and application of each hymn to the Christian life are superb. Despite its subtitle, I've been using it for family worship, and it's been a delight to use. Recommended.