How to Modernize a Hymn – Part one of a two part series

I don’t think there are many Christians, even those who use nothing but Contemporary music, that doubt or question the depth and the beauty of the lyrics contained in our wealth of hymns. But sometimes, they are difficult to comprehend or are just too musically foreign to those that we are Called to reach. There [...]

A Commentary on Hymns

Hymns are great.  However… I believe that one of the issues with hymns is the fact that the style of musical accompaniment has become foreign to our modern ears; especially to those who might not have grown up in the church.  We are accustomed to hearing music that is accompanied by chords – either played [...]

HOTD

Many of you know that this is an acronym for “Hymn of the Day.”  The HOTD is the musical piece that precedes the sermon.  Lyrically it is the hardest hitting piece of the worship set, is spot-on with the readings and sometimes is even referred to by the Pastor in his sermon.  The relationship between [...]

CW Hymns and CCM Cousins

Several months ago, one of our fine Pastors from the state of Florida asked me if I had a cross-reference table that compares hymns to contemporary equivalents.  I did not have such a resource at the time, so I directed him to http://blendedworshipresource.wordpress.com where the blogger has commented on a few hymn vs CCM “cousins”.   Where [...]

CW Hymnal Scripture References

I have put together an EXCEL spreadsheet that lists the scripture references for the hymns in our “Christian Worship” hymnal.  Perhaps this data exists elsewhere but my collection has the data sorted in three ways: 1.         Sorted by hymn title 2.         Sorted by scripture reference 3.         Sorted by hymn number You can download the file [...]

Unction & Chrism

That’s one of the great things about hymns – unction & chrism. I say this because our choir practiced a new hymn from the hymnal supplement the other night titled: “Holy Spirit, the Dove Sent from Heaven” (CWS 732).  After singing our way through the song, we all kind of had a quizzical look on [...]

New Website – Lutheran Hymns

I stumbled upon a good web resource recently and wanted to pass it along.   This site is especially helpful if you are a guitarist interested in Lutheran hymns: http://www.lutheranmusic.com/ Related articles A Commentary on Hymns (sjbrown58.wordpress.com)

A DVD of Hymns is available

Integrity Worship has just released a new worship video of hymns.   These are DVDs that can be used in worship for congregational singing.  They are especially handy when you are without an organist.  Details of the DVD are available here: http://www.integritymusic.com/ecard/hymns/

Reviving Hymns

There are several things we can do as Pastors, Leaders & Musicians to enhance our hymn singing.    Here’s a list of things we’ve tried or considered: 1.  Introduce the hymn by telling the “story behind the song”; talk about the writer and what he or she may have been going through when writing the hymn.  These [...]

Who is this Keith Getty guy who appears in our new Hymnal Supplement?

I’ve written about Keith Getty’s music in the past, particularly those new songs that have been included in our new Hymnal Supplement, most notably “In Christ Alone”.  Keith and his wife Kristyn were interviewed recently.   You readers just have to read this interview.  Copyright laws prohibit me to reproduce it in its entirety so I [...]