Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Hymns

Bob Kauflin at WorshipMatters.com considers the use of hymns in worship. Some churches have essentially abandoned them, and in others they have become less and less important. There are many reasons this has happened - not least among them the growing musical illiteracy in the culture, and the failure of both school and church to teach singing. Kauflin values the good ones and lists some questions that should affect how they are used in worship. Similar thought should be applied to every other aspect of worship, too.
I've often heard people suggest that we "do a hymn." I usually interpret that as a good suggestion. There are many reasons we should value and take advantage of the rich hymns that history has handed down to us. Many of them contain biblically rich lyrics that develop substitutionary atonement (And Can It Be), God's sovereignty in suffering (God Moves in a Mysterious Way), God's attributes (Immortal, Invisible), the Trinity (Come Thou Almighty King) and countless other themes. The melodies to most hymns are singable and memorable. Plus, hymns remind us of our connection to the communion of saints who have gone before us. There is a great joy in singing hymns.

But there is not a great joy in singing any hymn on any occasion. ....

Hymns aren't a category of worship song that is above critical evaluation. They aren't divinely inspired songs that we can just insert into a slot. So I've come up with a few questions we can ask when thinking about "doing a hymn."

1. What do the lyrics actually mean? Is the emphasis more on biblical truth or aesthetic beauty? ....

2. What do the lyrics actually say to people? Is it overly familiar? Do people understand all the words? Do people like the hymn for the sound or the truth? ....

3. What context will surround the hymn? Hymns are generally weighty compositions lyrically speaking. Is there time before or after a hymn or group of hymns to reflect on the truths that you've sung?

4. What is the emotional effect of the hymn? Some hymns are triumphant, others reflective. Some are somber, others jubilant. Hymns can express everything from repentance to joy to God's holiness to God's mercy. .... [more]
Source: WORSHIPMATTERS.COM

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