The self-evidence of this post’s title might be sufficient to my point. Perhaps I should leave it at that.
My congregation still has hymnals and we still use them. Due to a mechanical issues with our HVAC system we have worshiped in our gym for many months. We project lyrics on two large TVs at the front, but their size is such that we only project lyrics because the music cannot be easily seen or read. In the sanctuary we projected words with music. When we return to the sanctuary we will resume projecting both.
Meanwhile, hymnals are available for any who choose them, but most who desire the music scan a QR code in the order or worship to view it on their device. When we get back into the sanctuary and I can resume worship in my preferred seat, I will occasionally use the hymnal, especially if I’m on the outside seat since I cannot always see the screen.
All that to say, I remain (though loosely at the present moment) tied to the practice, and the habit the practice forms, of utilizing a paper-and-covers book that contains, conveys, and facilitates my engagement with the hymnic tradition of the Christian church. We use Songs of Faith and Praise, which is not my preference, but it is what we have and what we use. I have other books and use them in other ways, which I describe and commend below.
Christopher Phillips describes how the hymnal, as an object, served as a primary source of devotional reading. We think ‘hymns’ and we first think of religious poetry sung in church settings. Phillips describes a time when thinking of ‘hymns’ also meant religious poetry read in private and sung in public church settings. I realize that there was also a time when much of the music was performed for the congregation in Catholic parish settings; I also realize this discussion assumes something about literacy and the availability of objects that can be read. And I realize that communities transmit tradition orally apart from any paper-and-covers book. All valid points.
But I raise my point because Christians who sing hymns are already thereby engaging with Christian tradition and the history of Christian doctrine. Though it feels and sounds lot like we are just singing hymns, we are not just singing hymns. Maybe since we are already doing it, we should become more intentional about it.
A few reflections:
–Any who claim to distance themselves from Christian tradition but who sing songs more than a few years old are not distancing themselves from Christian tradition. Even the CCM inspired songs of the 1970s are at or near fifty years old. Each and every new composition reacts to, corrects, or furthers the preceding tradition. Love it or hate it in other contexts, but if you sing you engage with tradition.
–Any who sing only a few hymns but do not mine the breadth and depth of Christian hymnody deafen themselves to the voices from many quarters of Christian history. Gospel songs born in post-Civil War America are only one kind of song, and 18th c. English hymns are another, and chants another, and the Psalms another; a good hymnal will introduce a congregation to poets and musicians from many other times and places. Even if the text is an English translation (A Mighty Fortress is Our God is meaningful to me only in English translation), it can teach and edify those who read and sing it, but only if they read and sing it. I am impressed when I hear it in German, but I am edified when I hear and sing it in English. And I cannot be edified if it is not in my repertoire, either personally or corporately. I will elaborate below.
–Any who would shy away from a class in church history should be consistent and stop singing in church. After all, if you don’t want to learn from and about the tradition which preceded you (and which, by the way, preserved and delivered the faith to you), then stop singing. But if you sing, take another step. If there are opportunities to learn more about your past, take advantage of them. If there are no such opportunities, take initiative to seek out an opportunity. An accessible way to do this is to check out the Christian History Institute, whose magazine issues are a superb introduction to the Christian past.
–Any class in church history that does not account for the poetic expression of faith misses not only a vital part of the contribution of the tradition. And it fails to connect with people whose tolerance for ‘church history’ might already be painfully low. Talk to me about the Wesley family, sure; but sing their songs and I will understand in a different way. Those who do not read theology sing it every week (even if they neither realize nor admit it) and that theology has a back-story. Why not enrich your teaching by including some insights from hymnody? Why not use hymns as a pedagogical entry point for discussing Christian history?
–Reconsider and recover the practice of reading hymns for your own private edification. Listening to them on your device is fine. If your congregation, for whatever reason, has a limited repertoire of songs regularly sung, there is no good reason why you cannot enlarge your exposure by reading poetry privately. Just a couple hundred years ago our ancestors read poetry, the source of which was one and the same hymnal they carried to the Christian assembly on Sundays. Obtain a hymnal (or find one online) and explore it as a source of devotional inspiration. So what if you cannot carry a tune? Get an old book with words only and forget all the tunes. You don’t need a tune to read poetry. Remember, you are reading it, not singing it.
–Sing it, if you want. There is no reason why you cannot or should not. I can neither recognize nor hit right notes, but I can adjust my voice up or down. That is about as advanced as I get. In some cases I can almost get it right. If I hear it even once, then I can make do enough to sing it by myself, to myself. Those of you who are farther along in your musical ability will probably have an easier and more enjoyable time with it. I say all that to say that most seem to assume that one’s devotional time (quiet time, whatever you call it) ought be prayer focused or word-focused. True, and true. My point here is that if you sing hymns, you will often do both. Since many older hymns are taken directly from Scripture or take up Scriptural language or imagery, or are themselves prayers, then by engaging hymns you will remain prayer- and word-focused. Also, If you know three tunes which fit three common meters, you can pick up an old book and sing new words to the same tune pretty much all the way through the book.
–Recover the practice of reading and singing the Psalter and encourage your song leader or worship leader, or worship pastor, or whatever you call that person, to include the Psalms in your corporate worship. I recently learned of M. W. Bassford’s work, which I will obtain for my own use. I have encouraged leaders at my home congregation to look into it.
–The hymns you read might not be all that great. Welcome to church history. Much of it is not all that great. Some of it is extraordinary. And some of it is forgettable. Same for the written texts of doctrine. Why should we assume the poetry would be exempt? Some news songs are profound, while others should ne’er be sung again. Some songs which chafed me years ago now charm me. If such an exercise in reading hymns awakens you to the reality that–for good or ill–much of our theology comes from the songs we sing (I will never forget hearing a Lord’s Supper meditation based on a Garth Brooks song), then if we pay closer attention to the songs we read and sing, and then improve our worship as a result, well, all the better.
–All that from a phrase…one way to engage the Christian tradition is to read and sing hymns.
eScriptorium 