| Sunny Side Up July 13, 2005 �2005, Kathleen Gibson Blow the Dust off the Hymnal There's a wave of new music sweeping through churches these days. Young music. It has spirit, and it moves the spirit; sometimes the feet and hands too. As a worship leader, I enjoy leading those songs. But other than at church, I seldom sing that music. At home I find myself humming (or downright belting them out) the old hymns; the ones my mother, my grandmothers, and likely my great-grandmothers sang. Songs like, 'Blessed Assurance,' 'Victory in Jesus; even 'Onward Christian Soldiers,' when the weather is grey and motivation is low. I sing that one to my wee grandson, Benjamin, sometimes, suspending his tiny body over my knee, pretending he's marching. "Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. Christ the Royal master, leads against the foes, forward into battle, see his banners go - o -o - o -o!" (Here I wave his chubby arms about like banners blowing in the wind. He almost always smiles.) That hymn was once a mainstay of Christian congregational singing. Like others, it's been sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. Some churches have omitted it from their hymnals. I discussed this with a fellow writer, a board member of a metropolitan United Church. He too rues the loss of the hymn. "It's a metaphor," he said, shaking his head, "a reminder that we really are in a battle - but a spiritual one, and that we're not in it alone." He's right, and I was glad to hear him say it. On the isolated islands of independence that today's society has become, that hymn reminds us that Christians must step smart. Shoulder to shoulder. United, as Jesus longed for us to be. Encouraging each other to go forward. We also need that reminder that Christ marches with us into our daily battles - that though we don't hear the clash of metal on metal, we regularly face a real enemy, out to steal the life and joy from our souls. Yes, churches need songs like that good old standard. I've noticed something. The hymns, considered by many worship leaders as 'slow and stale' are not thought of that way by people who seldom attend church. To someone who hasn't had a steady diet of them, the strains of some old hymns can be as fresh as the newest, most popular chorus. The rhythm may drag, but the words seem to stick. An acquaintance who's not a church attendee decided to make an exception one Sunday, and attended a church nearby. "Kathleen," he quizzed me later, "don't churches sing things like 'Amazing Grace' or 'The Old Rugged Cross' anymore?' He listed a few others; well known hymns of the church. "All they sang there were words on the wall, over and over and over," he complained. "I just wanted to hear real church songs." Real church songs, he said. Perhaps we worship leaders best dust off our hymnals. Respond Home |