Several comments rolled together...
a la cart (sic?) hymnals - The idea scares me. I think it would be a race to the lowest common denominator in most congregations. I like the idea of an accomplished music committee vetting hymns for liturgical and theological correctness as well as introducing new hymns. I grew up in a rural area and attended the local Methodist church just a couple of miles down the road. The congregation had dwindled so that it never had more than 15 people in attendance. The "pianist" knew how to play only two hymns, "I have a mansion over the hilltop" and one other that I fortunately cannot remember, and she played those miserably slowly. By the time I was in 6th grade I could play anything in the Methodist hymnal by sight, but the congregation would not even consider singing anything else. About that time I started organ lessons and started going to the Lutheran church in town where I took lessons. That congregation is no longer there.
New hymns - I really dislike praise songs, but I think too many people conflate praise song with "any hymn that I didn't grow up with." There are a lot of undeserving older hymns that people cling to, and there is no reason to carry those forward into new hymnals. There are also a lot of newer hymns that are well written both musically and lyrically and deserve a chance to speak to the congregation. Older hymns don't deserve any special reverence just because they are old, or even because they are liked. Even the currently old hymns were newly adopted once, and probably had to go through the same complaints about being new, in a new style ("can't stand anything not plain-song..."), not in the approved language, etc..
a la cart (sic?) hymnals - The idea scares me. I think it would be a race to the lowest common denominator in most congregations. I like the idea of an accomplished music committee vetting hymns for liturgical and theological correctness as well as introducing new hymns. I grew up in a rural area and attended the local Methodist church just a couple of miles down the road. The congregation had dwindled so that it never had more than 15 people in attendance. The "pianist" knew how to play only two hymns, "I have a mansion over the hilltop" and one other that I fortunately cannot remember, and she played those miserably slowly. By the time I was in 6th grade I could play anything in the Methodist hymnal by sight, but the congregation would not even consider singing anything else. About that time I started organ lessons and started going to the Lutheran church in town where I took lessons. That congregation is no longer there.
New hymns - I really dislike praise songs, but I think too many people conflate praise song with "any hymn that I didn't grow up with." There are a lot of undeserving older hymns that people cling to, and there is no reason to carry those forward into new hymnals. There are also a lot of newer hymns that are well written both musically and lyrically and deserve a chance to speak to the congregation. Older hymns don't deserve any special reverence just because they are old, or even because they are liked. Even the currently old hymns were newly adopted once, and probably had to go through the same complaints about being new, in a new style ("can't stand anything not plain-song..."), not in the approved language, etc..
Comment