French Hymns for the United Church of Canada

Last week, I wrote about this question: How can anglophone churches sing in French?


This week, I am writing specifically for anglophone (or allophone) churches in my own denomination, the United Church of Canada.

The United Church of Canada

Nos voix unies

Did you know that the United Church of Canada has a French language hymn book? It is called "Nos vois unies." It is an excellent hymn book, filled with songs to praise God. This could be a great resource for your church!

Les coups de coeur de "Nos voix unies"

Lambert is a Quebec musical group who have made a CD out of some songs from Nos Voix Unies. It is available on Spotify and many other platforms. You can learn more at https://egliseunie.ca/prieres-et-liturgies/chants/

"Voices United" and "More Voices"

It is possible that "Nos voix unies" might be a good fit for your church. At my church, we have had more success with singing French songs from "Voices United" and "More Voices."

Why?

1. There are plenty of great French-language hymns in these hymn books. For our mostly anglophone congregation, these are all we need right now.
2. The hymns in these books are at our fingertips. I don't need to print out dozens of copies and figure out copyright every time we sing a new song.
3. We can sing, in French, hymns that we already know and love in English.

Again, I am speaking here to anglophone or allophone churches who are just starting to sing in French. For churches who are more comfortable singing in French, I know that Nos voix unies is very popular. In our church, we use it occasionally for special music.

Did you know that both "Voices United" and "More Voices" have a French index?

This is a fantastic tool when you are looking for a hymn in French.

This is the index for Voices United: https://egliseunie.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Chants-en-français-dans-Voices-United.pdf

This is the index for More Voices: https://egliseunie.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Chants-en-français-dans-More-Voices.pdf