Melody and Words, 978-1-853-11614-8, £16 Large Print Words, 978-1-853-11612-4, £20 Words only, 978-1-853-11832-6, £12 CH4 - the Church Hymnary 4th Edition - is, like any denominational hymnbook, an exercise in compromise. It is clear from reading the introduction that the compilers recognise the problems and pitfalls of the task, and the ever-widening diversity of hymns and songs used in worship. One third of the previous edition has been discarded, but the book is by no means all modern or ephemeral. In catering for its constituency (broadly speaking, the Church of Scotland) it includes some of everything, from traditionally chanted psalms (as well as metrical ones, of course) through to new hymns, songs from the Global Church, songs with a beat, and so on. Fans of Shirley Erena Murray are particularly well provided for - there are 22 items included! The book comes complete with about 90 pages of indexes, much of which is taken up with a very comprehensive and useful Biblical cross reference, which lists which verses of a given hymn or song match each reference. (Unfortunately, like so many such indexes, it only lists numbers and not first lines.) If you're involved in any serious way with church music and you're a member of the Church of Scotland, there's no question that you'll want one. But is it useful to those outside its main audience? I'm in no doubt that it is. I'd even recommend it to leaders of guitar-based worship bands. There are modern big hymns that will work well with any kind of accompaniment as long as it's loud enough, and there are some very useful short songs from Europe and from the Global Church which I'd not come across before. I'm also finding some very useful new hymns for particular occasions through the Biblical index, though I confess I don't always run with the recommended tunes. It's a book well worth exploring, whatever your tradition.