What hymnal(s) do you use?

That's a shame. Why would you want to avoid the great hymns of the faith? I love hymns and I have four hymnals. It's one thing to incorporate some contemporary music, but to go all out with a rock band, etc. is not a good idea and it makes your worship flat and one dimensional.

 

I never said anything about going "all out rock band" (that would be my preference though:thumbs

I'm quite certain that the lyrics don't loose their meaning when put to a different style of music. The thing to keep in focus is that NO HYMN was inspired by the Holy Spirit. So even if they were all shelved our newer contemporary would quickly become "hymns of the faith"

For me music is preference.

 

It's a fallacy to assert that all "new" music is devoid of rich theological content. Perhaps more than anything it shows that one is not awfully familiar with the robust nature of many of our recently written songs.

Frankly, as I think of some of the hymns we would sing as I grew up there were moments of scary theology (and shallow theology) in some of them.

 

I wouldn't say that the old hymns are always rock solid on theology, but here's one thing they have over newer music in general - they are focused more on God than man.

 

I am sure they held the same position over songs in general of their time. That's why they are still sung. 100 years from now some of today's "New" stuff will survive over time and be held in the same position we hold the hymns today.

The questions I have are
1. Why do people assume if you have a projector you do not sing hymns?
2. Why does everyone want to make it a one or the other choice? can we not use the best of both.
3. When did God quit inspiring music? I klnow a pastor who openly states that only the hymns are inspired and anything modern is not of God. He then proceeds to use a hymnal that has close to a third of the songs written by Bill Gaither. Did God die sometime in the 70's?

 

One need only examine the work by some good artists in the scene to see there is a quality and robustness in their music that is deeply theological.

Really really good questions...especially the last one!

 

Actually, the new music issue is problematic because it is driven by a music industry, which was unheard of until recent years. Because of this, "worship" music is written with a mindset of consumerism. It's big business.

This is not true of all new music, and whatever the case, there are some good new songs being written. Some of the songs by Getty and Townend, for instance, are great songs with solid theological basis.

You are right that some of the "new" stuff will survive and be adopted into the ranks of hymnody, but let's face it, many of the churches I've visited sing only new songs...and by new, I mean within a couple of years. The top WOW songs make up an overwhelming percentage of what is being used.

So, if that kind of unfortunate setting continues to exist, practically nothing sung now will be used in 5 or 10 years, much less 100.

Likewise,

 

Generally, you're right. Older songs tend to reflect a "top-down" theology and newer songs, and more specifically, modern styles, have a tendency to take a "bottom-up," narcissistic view of things. In other words, the feeling is that "I worship God solely because of what God has done for me and how God makes me feel."

Again, this is a generalization.

Most of the standard vein of traditional hymnody is Christ-focused and steeped in theology. But when gospel hymnody entered the scene, especially when it picked up in the mid to late 1800s and beyond, this was not the case.

For instance, "In the Garden" doesn't say anything in particular about God. In fact, it's pure experiential in nature, which isn't altogether bad, but there is nothing remotely theological about the song.

 

Oh, and though I take issue with some of the current trends, these are good questions.

There are some, mostly fundie weirdos, that think God did stop inspiring Christian poetry, which is obviously not true. But, generally, look at the standard vein of hymnody (not gospel hymnody [I'll Fly Away, When the Roll is Called Up Yonder, etc.]), which is mostly pre-1900 European, you'll see a difference in tone and focus. It has shifted (generally, again, not exclusively) from songs about an imminent and transcendent God to songs about how God makes me feel and what God has done for me (not others, but first person me).

And still, there are some today that realize this and are doing their best to buck that trend. See the songs of Getty and Townend for examples.

 

I agree with part of this. I agree that it is a mistake to go ALL contemporary. There are a host of theologically rich hymns that were instrumental in getting us to where we are today. To throw them out is a mistake.

I personally love Isaac Watts and Augustus Toplady, etc...

I will say however that I am thrilled that there are some contemporary songs coming out that are also theologically rich. For example, How Deep the Father's Love for Us and In Christ Alone.

I like the projector screen as long as we put the old ones up with the new ones.

 

Bingo.

And folks are confusing style with content. It is quite possible to retain the richness of the great hymns of the faith, while doing so in a contemporary format. We do it every week.

(We have a contemporary and traditional service; but both contain new, old, and ancient songs)

 

The 1991 Baptist Hymnal, and we also use Heavenly Highways. We have no projectors or screens, and we sing only traditional and Southern gospel hymns. Our music leader is also one of the leaders of the Texas Southern Gospel Music Association.

 

91 The Baptist Hymnal - Convention press
92 Songs for Praise and Worship - Word Music
08 The Worship Hymnal - LifeWay


Projector - sometimes
Words in bulletin - sometimes
Hymnal(s) - Almost always

 

One church I attend uses powerpoint only.

Another church I am affiliated with uses powerpoint 99 percent of the time, but they have some hymnal stored back somewhere to use whenever they are in rooms that don't have powerpoint if they sing out of that hymnal.

 

Great...another BB acronym:

"PowerPoint Only": PPO
"PowerPoint Preferred": PPP
"Hymnal Only": HO
"Hymnal Preferred": HP

 

Actually, if you have dual monitor capabilities, PowerPoint will show in "presenter mode," which allows you to jump around.

Not quite as good as other programs, but it's quite workable.

 

What hymnal(s) do you use?

None. We have the Baptist Hymnals in the racks, but never use them. Wait... once, when the projection system wasn't working, approximately 8-9 months ago, the song director picked one up and was obviously about to begin some hymns. The pastor said, "What is that thing in your hand?"