Some time ago, a friend looked me in the eye and said in all seriousness, without a touch of irony, “You know, my granddaughter may never know what a hymnal is.”
And . . . ?
Not to be flip, but my yet-to-be-born grandchildren will never know what a manual typewriter is. Nor a phone booth. Nor, tragically, a wooden tennis racket.
Behind my friend’s complaint was the unspoken assumption that the music contained inside the pages of the hymnal is somehow sacred, inspired, and ancient.
Actually, no.
A casual look through the United Methodist Hymnal shows that the bulk of the hymnody comes from the 18th and 19th centuries with some early 20th century tunes mixed in.
Do you know what that means? That my friend — the same one lamenting the demise of the bound hymnal — is himself unfamiliar with all the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs written before, say, 1500. And we know that Christians were singing in those days! But those words and tunes are by and large lost to us. Even those of us most faithful to “ancient” or “traditional” worship.
It goes to show that all of us value contemporary worship. It’s just that someone who is 65 has a different understanding of contemporary than does someone who is 25. Or 47.
So what about the hymnal? We at Good Shepherd hope to take the best of what it contains — think “Jesus Paid It All (in Baptist hymnals but sadly not in the UMC’s)” “Amazing Grace,” “How Great Thou Art” and “Nothing But The Blood” — and sing it with appreciation for the tradition it represents and the God it praises. But we’ll also leave out some that never quite connected with even the most loyal of United Methodist congregations — ever sung “God Of the Sparrow, God Of The Whale” (#122)? I didn’t think so.
And you know what’s great about much of the modern music we sing? Much of its lyrical content comes from the oldest, most enduring hymnal of them all — the book of Psalms.
That’s one hymnal I feel sure my grandchildren and yours will know.
There are 20 comments
I remember when we started coming to Good Sheperd and didn’t get the “contemporary” music. Now we love it and every so often if we think no one is looking, we even clap with the music! Shocking, eh? Thanks to GS for helping open our hearts & minds to this “contemporary” worship. -Ben S.
Well said. Thanks.
Does that mean you’re not singing #122 either, Steve?
I remember as a child singing “Bringing In The Sheaves” and wondering why we needed to bring in the SHEETS. Thank you GS for bringing in the best music!!
What?? The sparrow and whale was my favorite! 🙂
This is good enough to share on Facebook. I think I will.
Nice.
We used to add the phrase “in the bath tub” after the title of each hymn. We were so bad when we were kids – but it was always a good laugh. Hey, it even works for #122!!! 🙂 -Ben S.
The music at GS is Awesome. I sometimes shut my eyes and imagine what our praise must sound to our Lord. Great job GS and great job Pastor.
I absolutely love the music at GSUMC too, after attending YEARS at Myers Park UMC. Which Talbot, I’m sure you know is uber-traditional… I loved the Aeolian-Skinner organ, the choir with their robes and handbells… but what I didn’t realize at the time was it really made me sorta sleepy and didn’t inspire me much. It was a very rare thing that I’d think “Wow, that’s a great tune, I want to go buy that so I can play it in my car.” Now at GSUMC, that happens all the time. Like with “Mighty to Save” and “Say So” and “Everlasting God” and “Spirit of the Living God”… I downloaded all those and now listen to them and sing at the top of my voice when I’m driving. My five-year-old son even recognizes some of the music and sings along.
But Talbot, I do remember singing “God of the Sparrow, God of the Whale” when I taught 3 and 4-yr-old Sunday School probably 15 years ago at FUMC in Belmont. Could not tell you how it goes if my life depended on it though, it must not have been much of a catchy tune. 🙂
BTW, Talbot, why doesn’t the church (or why don’t you?) have a Facebook page? Even James Howell has one!
My kids won’t let me have a Facebook page. (insert smiley face here)
I’m also scared people would refuse my Friend request. (insert sad face here)
Church? Now that’s a thought. You’re the second one to recommend it which means we need to get working on it.
Have to echo what has been said, thank you Good Shepherd, Chris Macedo and all that put forth the AWESOME music each and every week.
Okay, never even heard of “God of the Sparrow, God of the Whale” I can see how that would be difficult to mix in with the music at GSUMC.
Be glad to help in anyway with the facebook page.
I agree wholeheartedly with Jenna’s first post and also wonder how many fundraisers could be avoided if churches weren’t buying hymnals. There might actually be time and money to do ministry!!!
DRay . . . some people might consider you a heretic for that comment.
I have been called much worse for lesser reasons.
I HAVE sang #122……oh, the horror…..:oD
I’m really rather hoping that my church won’t bother to update hymnals when the time comes, since even during our traditional service, we project the lyrics. We really could stand to use that money elsewhere.
Good post!
Nice Joseph Conrad/Apocalypse Now reference!
I personally have sung “God of the sparrow …” many times and love it. For all new(er) music, I find the key is in how it is introduced and led. A trusted leader with a commitment to the message of a song can make almost anything meaningful, even something not immediately accessible.
Looks like you touched a subject people are passionate about. I think this blog post has drawn the most comments of any of your posts yet. Thanks for helping start a dialog on a very important component to worship. -Ben S.
I will see your “God of Sparrow” and raise you “God of concrete, God of steel.” http://www.flyingfists.org/archives/003114.html
I understand and appreciate the point you repeatedly make, Talbot, but the Hymnal has its uses – it gives me somethign to look at if the sermon is boring and I can thumb through it before church instead of talking to those around me. [insert smiley here]
All that said the Holy Spirit has used some solid hymns to heighten my worhsip both publicly and privately and there is some solid theology therein as well.