A historic church in Massachusetts will be auctioning off one of their two hymn books that date from the 17th century.

Old South Church in Boston, a 300-plus year-old progressive congregation belonging to the United Church of Christ, voted Sunday to sell off one of their Bay Psalm Books, which were published in 1640.

The Board of Trustees for Old South will be auctioning off the Book and 19 colonial era silver items to help fund improvements to their present building as well as aid their nonprofit efforts.

Given that it is one of the first books to be published in North America, the Psalm Book is expected to bring in somewhere between $10 million and $20 million.

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Even before it was published, “Love Wins” caused a sensation. The word went out that a prominent megachurch leader had rejected Hell, thereby embracing heresy. The outcry helped make the book a best-seller, even though a number of Christian bookstores refused to stock it. The central message of “Love Wins” is that the church needs to stop scaring people away, and, in publishing the book, Bell hoped to spark a movement toward a more congenial, less punitive form of Christianity. He knew that some Christian leaders would object, but he didn’t foresee how much. His detractors stated their case on blogs, from pulpits, and, eventually, in books. “Love Wins” appeared in March, 2011, and by summer there were half a dozen rebuttals in print, including “God Wins,” by an editor at “Christianity Today,” and “Erasing Hell,” by Francis Chan, a fellow-pastor. John Piper, a prominent theologian and minister who expounds the value of “objective Biblical truth,” posted a terse message on Twitter: “Farewell Rob Bell.

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I recently had lunch with Dr. Randall Bayne and was excited to hear about the upcoming National Praise and Worship Institute which is starting next year. It will be based in Nashville at Trevecca Nazarene University.

I’m all for contemporary training – my own church music degree was filled with classical training. Yes, the classics gave me a sound foundation but that’s all I had, and that hasn’t helped me much these days working with distorted guitar and synth pads. I hear they have some major talent on board since they’re in Nashville and have access to more music industry pros than the average university.

Dr. Bayne explained that the program is a two year, year-around, for credit certification program designed in a conservatory format where each student participates in a worship band. Their curriculum will be divided equally between theology, practical ministry application, performance and songwriting.

The program is designed for the person who desires a fast-track intensive preparatory program to become a worship pastor, for the person who has a degree but is now hearing the call to be a worship pastor and for the person who is serving in the church but needs to be re-tooled in the art and discipline of praise and worship.

Check out their website to learn more: NPWI.com.