In a work of this magnitude, hundreds of decisions, from the significant to the seemingly insignificant, determine the quality of the final result. An uncompromising commitment to excellence has guided every step of the creation of The Celebration Hymnal™. The first step was to put together a leadership team with a vision for making The Celebration Hymnal™ truly innovative and exceptional. Tom Fettke, Senior Editor of The Celebration Hymnal™, has been a composer, editor, arranger and producer of music for the church for over three decades, and served as Senior Editor of the highly regarded The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration. His love for music of the church, his desire to equip worship leaders, and his determination for excellence made him uniquely qualified for the ambitious undertaking of creating The Celebration Hymnal™. Tom studied closely the needs of worship leaders, monitoring carefully the songs being used widely in today's evangelical church, and thoroughly researching new hymns and songs that will be sung by congregations in the years to come. Camp Kirkland, Instrumental Editor for The Celebration Hymnal™ has been a major force in the development of instrumental music in the church over the last two decades, and is considered one of the foremost arrangers and orchestrators of our day. He has served as consultant and orchestrator on three previous hymnal projects. For two years, he and a team of twenty orchestrators have invested themselves in perfecting the orchestrations created for The Celebration Hymnal™. The involvement of a distinguished group of musicians, pastors, worship leaders, editors, and Bible scholars combining their experience, expertise, and enthusiasm has resulted in an exceptional hymnal of unsurpassed quality. A diverse group of consultants and advisors from a broad range of denominations participated in a rigorous process of design and song selection surveys, assuring that The Celebration Hymnal™ will provide the most beneficial features and the most usable collection of hymns, gospel songs and contemporary praise & worship songs. Dr. Kenneth Barker, former Executive Director of the NIV Translation Center, served as Scripture Editor, ensuring the utmost integrity in the use of Scripture throughout The Celebration Hymnal™. The nearly 700 songs included in The Celebration Hymnal™ were chosen on the basis of textual integrity, musical interest, and universal usage by today's evangelical church. As a non-denominational hymnal, the compilation was developed with the sole purpose of providing the strongest possible collection of songs and hymns for today's congregations. Hundreds of songs were evaluated carefully by this broad spectrum of advisors and consultants.