First-ever French United Methodist songbook

Recently the first-ever French-language United Methodist booklet of hymns entitled «Mille voix... pour Te chanter» (A Thousand Tongues to Sing to You) has been published. French-speaking Methodists in the USA, Europe and Africa have a desire to sing their hymns and songs of the past and present as they worship and witness to Christ and the church. Hence, the new booklet of hymns was conceived by a group of persons from those continents. The European members have been Rev. Claire-Lise Meissner-Schmidt (France), Superintendent Daniel Nussbaumer (Switzerland), Jane-Marie Nussbaumer (Switzerland), Rev. Peter Siegfried (Switzerland) and Bishop Dr. Patrick Streiff (Switzerland).

The new booklet includes hymns of Charles Wesley (some of them have been translated for the first time and appear in their first printing), lively hymns from a number of countries in Africa and rather new hymns and songs from French-speaking Europe - among them the official hymn of the meeting of the Annual Conference Switzerland/France 2005, written and composed by Rev. Claire-Lise Meissner Schmidt.

Bishop Dr. Patrick Streiff writes in the preface: «This collection encourages Christians, United Methodists and others, to sing the gospel, to be transformed by the sung message, to grow in "the faith that acts by love" and to celebrate God on this earth.»


Urs Schweizer, Assistant to Bishop Dr. Patrick Streiff