Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Hymns - the next generation

We were talking about worship in the youth group Sunday with the kids...

I said the word "Hymnal"...

Blank stares... crickets chirping..

duhhh
That's a lot of what I got

I was shocked...

I tried to explain what a Hymn was... & then someone said, "Its a H-I-M Book?  Like Jesus's book?"

oh no yes
At first I was like, NOOOO... then wait, Yes... it kinda is... good job!
 
Yeah... that's how much this generation doesn't know what a Hymnal is...


I don't know about you, but I grew up with Hymnals.  It was the only way we worshipped.  Before the words were put up on the screen for everyone to see, there was a book in the back of the pew in front of you.  It held all the classics... all the songs my grandparents sang...

Amazing Grace
How Great Thou Art
Have Thine Own Way
Holy Holy Holy

And the one that always seemed to close a service

I Surrender All

I guess songs with the words like "Thou" & "Thine" & "Art" just don't hack it today...

Makes me kinda sad to think its a dying art...

But then, we were talking about their favorite Worship songs... & let me tell you, they were full of them.  Their favorite singers & bands? 

Casting Crowns
Skillet
Building 429
LeCrae

I was waiting for Steven Curtis Chapman, but apparently that is the generation between hymns & today's Christian Music... that's where I live...

In the end, I may be a little sad that hymns are a dying art form that has faded away
I was a little bummed that these kids don't give the old grandpa, Steven Curtis Chapman his props for amazing songs that I know they know - they just don't know who it is...
But I'm also excited that it may look different, it may sound different, these kids are still worshipping God... their way...

& I can appreciate that...

oh yeah.... rock on for Jesus!!!!


Do you remember the days of Hymnals?

What is your favorite Hymn?

Who is your current 'today' favorite worship singer/group?


9 comments:

  1. I grew up in a Missionary Baptist Church, so all we sang were old hymns. I still love "It Is Well". It was sung at my mom's funeral and has always meant so much to me. I'm a huge fan of Third Day! I love contemporary Christian music, in general. Anything that inspires me...I'm all for!

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  2. I grew up with hymns and I still like them. How Great Thou Art gives me chills every time I hear it, but I guess, like you I'm sort of the transition generation so I like "classic" contemporary and rock...like DC Talk, Third Day, Newsboys, etc. I do like Relient K, Casting Crowns and others. Not a Skillet or Bleach fan, but only because that's just not my style of music. I don't think it matters as long as you're worshiping God. I personally like a service that blends the old and the new and that's what our church tends to do.

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  3. Yes, I grew up using the Hymnal and in fact, our church still uses them every service. I'm glad too. While I love the new worship and praise music, I would really miss the Hymns. Also, I hate to see this generation lose out on all the truth that is hidden in them. I know there is truth in their music too. I just wish there could be a mix of both types and not throw out either one.

    A couple of my favorites are: It is Well With My Soul, Great Is Thy Faithfulness and Child of God.

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  4. I'm an Episcopalian & we definitely still use hymnals (in fact, we have three!). And I still have the hymnal I stole from the Baptist church I grew up in - ha!

    My dad was disgusted when our home church did away with hymnals (long after I had moved away) & started putting the words on the wall. How could you read the music if it wasn't there? How could he sing tenor if there were no parts?

    I like all kinds of music, but I do have a fondness for the hymns of my youth. Amazing Grace, Have Thine Own Way, I Will Arise & Go to Jesus...

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  5. I think it's so sad the younger generation does not even know what a hymnal is. We still have them in the pews at our church even though we do not usually use them. Everything is projected on the big screen now including hymns now and then. There are so many I like, I can't pick just one favorite. I like: At Calvary, In The Garden, Jesus Paid It All, Count Your Blessings, Amazing Grace, And Can It Be, When We All Get To Heaven. See, aren't you sorry you got me started?

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  6. I still love hymns. I love the more contemporay Christian music too, but sometimes I just want to hear a hymn. They often come to mind, just like the Bible verses I learned as a child, and I find them comforting. Some of the hymns have such amazing stories behind them (It is Well With My Soul, for one). When my babies were little I'd often sing them hymns. Badly and off key, but still I sang them : )

    Alan Jackson recorded two CD's of Hymns-Precious Memories. It's good. Not sure I can pick a favorite, but I love How Great Thou Art, Victory in Jesus, Standing on the Promises, and What a Friend We Have in Jesus.

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  7. I'm a throw-back, as much as I think contemporary songs are nice, if there's not a hymnal, it just isn't church to me. *shrug* I'm very old-fashioned, I guess. It's why my husband and I can't find a church that we both feel good about...he's more for that loosey-goosey stuff that I just don't like (as you can tell by my very scientific term for it, lol!)

    My favorite hymn depends on the season, but "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" is a favorite, as well as just about any Christmas carol in the hymnal. :)

    I don't really have a favorite contemporary one that I can come up with off the top of my head. We're not really connected with a church anymore, so I've sort of lost touch.

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  8. I'm like you...grew up singing hymns. I remember when contemporary music started making its appearance in church and how different it was. I think my list of favorite hymns is similar to yours. I love how contemporary music sometimes infuses hymns of old...Amazing Grace/My Chains are Gone...

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  9. Hymns!! Christ the Lord is Risen Today and Joyful, Joyful...two of my favorites!! I think Christ the Lord was #202 in the hymn book at the church I grew up in...miss those old hymns! But love the Christian music of today too...Matthew West, Matt Redman, Nichole Nordeman, Kari Jobe's Revelation song! Now I am singing!!

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