Do People Still Use Hymnals?
Apparently so, since "music legends" and leaders are gathering in Nashville for a "hymnal summit."
You can read all about it here.
First of all, when you're in Nashville, you should be careful throwing around the term "music legend." That tends to be reserved for people like Hank Williams and Patsy Cline. But hey, that's me.
My question is, does compiling a new hymnal really seem relevant in the 21st century? The last time Broadman and Holman published a hymnal was 1991. Do you have any idea how many songs have been published in the last sixteen years? I'm not sure anyone really knows. Think about all the worship songs that are considered standards in the church-- Shout to the Lord, I Could Sing of Your Love Forever, The Heart of Worship, etc., all written since the last hymnal was published. How many standards will be published in the next sixteen years?
What is the point? Spending money to produce a hymnal seems like a waste. A hymnal is so permanent, and we live in a society that is increasingly becoming flexible. It is one more indication that the Southern Baptist Convention is out of touch with the direction of the church (Broadman and Holman is a subsidiary of the SBC).
My favorite quote to come from the Hymnal Summit comes from John Davis, professor of music at Southeastern Seminary: "...I believe this new hymnal/worship resource will be a revolutionary development for my seminary students. It will allow them maximum flexibility in their worship ministry, enabling them to be more effective, and will allow them tremendous new opportunities to involve others in the worship ministry." (emphasis added). Revolutionary development? Its a HYMNAL. Maximum flexibility? It is BOUND. Permanently. Tremendous new opportunities? Are you familiar with the internet?
Mike Harland, Director of Worship Music Group for Lifeway (another SBC subsidiary), said that the new hymnal "reaches back to our history, and reaches forward to our future." That's a lot of reaching. But, it is his job to sell hymn books. Maybe the Baptist Hymnal is like the King James version of the Bible.
But, if they are going to do it, maybe they will take some suggestions from me.
- Put "God of Earth and Outer Space" back in. It was a classic, and it is sorely missed. You could also put the Kurt Kaiser classic "Pass It On," a real 70s pew burner. Why not?
- This time, do not put 666 hymns in the book. How creepy is that? This time, don't do that.
- Be sure to print most of the copies in the Large Print Edition. I have a feeling you're going to need them.
So what do you think? Are hymnals a thing of the past?
Maybe they will put out an expandable 3 ring binder hymnal so as new "classics" come out, they can just email them to us.
And what about those hymnals that were given in memory of Aunt Peg... who will remember her now?
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I'd like to see Deliriou5? and David Crowder in a Hymnal! Weird, wild stuff. Hey, there is a huge subsection of more traditional churches that would still go for a hymnal I'm sure. CBB
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A three ring binder. Now that would be funny to see! Good one, Tom.
Nathan, I agree with you that it would be fun to see some of the more contemporary artists in the hymnal. No doubt that it must have been interesting to see Mylon LeFevre in the '75 hymnal, although it wasn't a controversy until about seven or eight years later.
The problem with contemporary songs in the hymn book is that they are picking the songs now, it won't be printed until 2008, and distribution won't commence until closer to 2009. So what is contemporary now will be passe by the time the hymnal hits the pews. Then, it will be another 15-20 years until a new book is released. Those David Crowder and Delirious songs could be pretty dorky sounding by 2030. That's the thing about music. You never know what songs are going to stand the test of time, and what songs are going to be the "Pina Colada Song" of its genre :>).
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There are some people in our church that will not part with the hymnal until it is pried from their cold dead fingers. What drives me nuts (outside of our incessant use of such mind-numbing hymns) is that we use power point and the hymnals simultaneously. Is there really a need to go through the whole rigmarole of announcing the hymn number when it's up on the freakin' screen? It wastes time.
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Scott,
I did youth and music at my last church, and we did a blended service (some songs were in the hymnal, some not). We put the numbers in the bulletin, and we had the words on the screens. I never announced hymn numbers or what verses we would sing - I just introduced the songs (always medleys) with some appropriate scripture or prayer and we started singing. Some folks got out the books, others didn't, but we didn't interrupt the flow with "now turn to number 475, let's sing the first second, and last verses..."
Jason,
That 666 thing always bugged me, too, especially since it was the very last song in the book!!! Couldn't we add one or take one out to keep that from happening?
Also, I sense some sarcasm in your "God of Earth and Outer Space" reference. I'll have you know that song spoke to me in a powerful way when I was five and wanted nothing so much as to be an astronaut. Okay, not really, but I did think it was cool that it mentioned space...
By the way, did you know that Heavenly Highway Hymns (required in Little Dixie) mentions Santa Claus (#286)? No, really, it does...
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Hymnals Shymnals! They don't need to be update. Put them in a museum. Or if your church does use the powerpoint then send the extra books to a struggling church that still has the 'red' ones from 1940. Besides if you were to redo them which songs would you leave out... the 75% that no one knows the tunes to...how big is this thing going to be anyways.
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Interesting take, but...are you taking into consideration the THOUSANDS of Baptist Churches that are under 100 in attendance and could use this resource in a very vital way? It seems that all you are consdering are the relatively few churches that have the necessary resources (i.e. internet, praise bands, multi-media, etc.) to be able to look with contempt at hymnals. Just a thought.....
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Scott,
People are addicted to their hymnals. They don't even know how to read the music printed in them, but they won't put them down to save their lives.
I think hymnals are a tool to keep people from expressing themselves in worship by raising their hands. You can't lift your hands in worship if you are holding a hymn book.
Bottom line, people do not like change (except for wet babies).
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Wes,
I remember that hymnal! You are right, it is required in the churches of Little Dixie. Try to get rid of it, and see how long it takes them to find a rail on which to run you out of town!
As for hymn #666, the last hymn in the book, I called a friend who had been on the committee for the new book. He said that they prayed about every song they put in there, and when it all shook out, there were 666 hymns. People started to panic, and they decided to take one out, or add one in. But then, they decided that if these were the songs God told them to put in, who were they to add one or take one away? So they left it alone. I always wondered, could they not have found one more song that God was pleased with? I mean, come on.
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Jon,
Hymnals have been part of the church for such a long time, and they likely will be for a long time in the future. I love your idea of larger churches that don't use them donating them to smaller ones who do.
But you are right about there being 75% of the songs no one is singing. I went through and made a list of the songs we actually sing, and it was a small percentage of the overall hymnal. Once, our music minister decided to go through the hymnal one song at a time, until we got through the whole thing. Oh my gosh. It was brutal! I wanted to leave the church, and I was the pastor! IT TOOK FOUR YEARS!
Some churches sing more of the hymns in the book. But most do not. So if the publishers got rid of 75% of the hymns in the book we never sing, it would be a smaller book, and would not cost as much money...hey, wait a minute! Could this whole thing be about MONEY?!
Maybe so :>)
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Randy, thanks for the comment. I appreciate your input. I would disagree with you that the hymnals sold to Baptist churches are conducive to smaller churches. In fact, they are not. Let me explain.
1. They are expensive. A small church would have a hard time affording 100 new hymnals. These books are priced to appeal to large churches, plain and simple.
2. They can be difficult to play. Small churches often struggle to find capable instrumentalists, and many of the songs in the book are not easy to play.
3. The best thing a small church can do is find a few guys who can string (guitar, fiddle, etc.), and give them some chord charts to pick from. It doesn't take a big praise band or drums and electric guitars. Just a guitar, or a guitar and a fiddle. It sounds better anyway :>)
Almost every church in America has, or has access to, an overhead projector, and could easily and inexpensively put the words on the wall.
Once again, it comes down to money. If you asked me to lead a congregation in a rendition of, "Power in the Blood," I could pull out my trusty Gibson and tear one off. No sheet music needed. But the problem is, that is free. No one makes any money when I do that. Broadman and Holman needs you to spend that money, to justify their existence. The church is being sold a bill of goods, "in the name of the Lord."
I completely agree with you that the majority of churches are small, with the average SBC church in America seeing an attending of just over 50 people each week. But to say that a new hymnal is a valuable resource to them, well, I disagree.
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Jason:
Another interesting spin on hymnals. I grew up in a very small church in rural Missouri...35-40 in attendance. We bought the "new" Baptist Hymnal around 1965 which was at that time the 1956 edition of the Baptist Hymnal. Each person in the church was asked to donate the cost of one hymnal. We actually ended up buying 50 hymnals. Most small churches can handle this way of purchasing the hymnal.
I don't know how many small churches you have been to but our little church had 3 or 4 competent pianists and I have been to plenty of others over the years that I have sung in and led "revivals" in that also had competent players.
Your 3rd point of getting a couple of guys to play guitar for the songs is also misleading, in my opinion. In my experience (I realize this is anecdotal, but so is your opinion) I have come across churches with more competant piano players than competent guitar players.
I guess I just cringe at criticism of a worthy project to bring the beauty of hymns and marry it to good contempory music and accuse those trying to do it with "just wanting to make money". Again, just my thoughts on this matter.
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I haven't used a hymnal for years. Why bother? A computer, video projection system, copyright license and songshow can be had for less than $5,000, about a fourth of what it would cost the average church to replace its hymnals.
I remember, when the most recent edition of the Baptist Hymnal was being released, there was excitment generated over the fact that it was supposed to be full of choruses. What a disappointment it was. Aside from the fact that choruses go out of date in about a year, there were only about a dozen in the hymnal, along with a couple of holdover 1980's anthem arrangements like "Shine Jesus Shine," and "Worthy of Worship."
I noticed that "Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned Upon the Savior's Brow" didn't make the most recent cut. What a shame.
After a year in a church with a contemporary worship service, I went back to my home church on a Sunday when my niece got married. I realized then that I could never return to a traditional style worship service.
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Your thoughts are much appreciated, Randy, believe me.
I have been in more than a few small churches, the last one I was in was so small, they were lucky if there were ten or twelve people, period. They struggled to find someone in the community to play piano.
I would take exception to your calling my point "misleading." I'm not trying to mislead anyone. Its not that hard to find guitar players, and whereas there was a time where every kid took piano lessons, and a few of them stuck with it enough to be able to play in church, those days are quickly fading. In twenty years, I would not be surprised if most small churches will be able to find adequate pianists. I could be wrong, however, but I'm not misleading anyone.
I would agree with you that many of the hymns are classics, and beautiful songs. I have fond memories of growing up singing the old songs, and I still love to play my guitar and sing a hymn. But they are becoming less and less relavent to newer generations.
Broadman and Holman, and Lifeway, are businesses, and they are in business to make money. Nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is if these businesses encourage churches that cannot afford a new set of hymnals, that they should, because it is what God wants or desires in their music.
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I think the point is that most of you all do not value "time tested" music. I think one of the responders mentioned that most choruses are out of date after a year or two. Hmm... I wonder why. A lot of hymns, on the other hand, have stood the test of time. A lot of church musicians have lost the art of teaching the beauty of hymns. I am encouraged, though, to see and hear lots more great "contemporary" arrangements of a lot of the great old hymns.
You still say that hymns are becoming less and less relavant to newer generations. Is it the text that is becoming less relavent...the music...or is it because we as leaders are not making all of it relavent to new generations? I think I have successfully married the two genre's in my church with a blended style that seems to reach all ages.
What makes me very sad is to see so many of you poke fun at hymns and hymnals. Those hymns were just as inspired by God's leadership as the new choruses are. I would tread softly when it comes to making fun of this style of worship. God is a lot more inclusive than we seem to be.
You seem to continue to be down on the publishers that make these hymnals available. You say it is wrong for these businesses to encourage churches to buy their products. Let me remind you that no church I know can be coerced into buying anything they don't want buy. So to suggest that these businesses are in someway responsible for a small church squandering their money away is a bit ludicrous.
It is so interesting to note that I have to "defend" the choruses to my Sr. Adults who have many of the same thoughts as you do, only reversed. They seem to think that choruses are irrelavant to them. They call it "7, 11" music...7 verses sung 11 times.
Sigh...my point is that we, as church musicians, have a responsibility to bring qualilty music to ALL of our folks, not just a certain segment.
I want to thank you for stimulating my thoughts on this matter. You have given me much to ponder and think about.
Randy B
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Lee,
The service we attend is very contemporary. I really enjoy it. Sometimes I miss elements of a traditional service, but I would not want to go back to a steady diet of it.
You make my point exactly.
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I LOVED God of Earth and Outer Space!
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Jason,
How would church members do without hymnals to balance uneven displays, create temporary stands for decorations, and a thousand other things. In a church hymnals can be like duct tape, handy in many ways.
Publishing houses exist to publish things and we seem to be a cycle of producing new hymnals every 15-20 years or so. It seems to be inevitable. (Sigh...)
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Lol, thanks Tim!
You're a hoot. But you're so right. How many different uses are there for hymnals? As a filler for a bookshelf, so none of your "real" books are hidden by the trim on your shelf.
I used a hymnal to hold up the front wheel of my bicycle when I'm on the indoor trainer.
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Jason,
I think I hear a blog topic coming your way..."1,001 Creative Uses of a Church Hymnal (besides for music and singing)." Solicit all the many ways people have witnessed the use of hymnals. For instance, I had not thought about under the front wheel of a bicycle.
It could be interesting.
Tim
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Randy,
I surely appreciate what you have brought to this discussion. I don't want you to think that I have a lack of respect for the old hymns. On the contrary, many of the old hymns are great lessons in theology (although there are examples of bad theology in there as well). I think most of us who grew up with them have a healthy respect for them. I do love the old hymns.
And you are absolutely right about choruses being worn out in a year or two, whereas many of the hymns have decades, and sometimes centuries of staying power. That is one of the true measures of a good song--are people still singing it years later? And I agree about senior adults being somewhat wary about choruses. I loved what you said about seven verses eleven times. Funny, and true!
My favorite services are blended, with a mix of the old and the new. Our worship band does some of the old hymns beautifully.
Again, I appreciate you bringing your insight here. You're always welcome, of course.
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No offense, but this article belies a profound ignorance of what a hymnal is, and what the body of hymnody represents. A hymnal is a living representation of what the corporate church believes about God in worship. It is not just about how I feel today. The poems represent the faith of those who have gone before, their struggles against heresies, as well as a reflection of creativity of current generations. It is a tangible object that picked up, and used for either private devotion or corporate worship. These are just a few reasons to maintain and refresh hymnals.
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Perhaps, but I thought that the Bible was good for all those things. Tim, are you suggesting that the Bible is not sufficient to represent what the church believes about God in worship? I'm not saying that the hymns are bad, or wrong (although many hymns contain horrible theology). I am saying that all the things you describe are why we have the Bible.
The fact is that it is a profound waste of money and resources to publish hymnals, when music changes so quickly.
You left off one reason to maintain and refresh the hymnal: M-O-N-E-Y.
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