Rupert Murdoch is offering a new service through his HarperCollins imprint, which will take one of the most popular hymnbooks "Mission Praise," and offer it in digital form on a website of the same name.
The hymn book was developed in conjunction with popular evangelist Billy Graham and his 1984 crusade. It in a combination of newer worship songs blended with traditional hymns.
Ian Metcalfe, editorial director for Collins Bibles, said: "Mission Praise was the first hymnbook to combine traditional hymns with newer worship songs and now it is the first hymnbook to go online, making it as easy as possible for churches to use this great collection of old and new hymns."
The website is set up to offer churches or individuals the opportunity to download the words, audio backup tracks and sheet music for a yearly subscription price of £60 for an individual and £80 for an organization. At the current exchange rates, that would be about double for the U.S. dollar.
There are over 1,800 songs available, and will be especially useful for those places where large screens are substituting for hymn books.
HarperCollins plans on adding other materials to the site that can be used for Sunday school, along with other bible readings and content from bible study books.
HarperCollins is owned by News Corp. (NWS-A), which has also branched off into other religious areas with Fox Faith and BeliefNet.
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