Why not hymns?

[sarahharrisson]

hey ive just moved to a new area and was surprised at the amount of praise and worship music that is overshadowing the hymns, which are my favourite. Why is it you guys find it better? I think the music and melody of the hymns are wonderful in my feeling closer to God, i just wondered what it was that you guys like about P + W? im not critisising by the way guys! just curious.
Thanks, sarah

 

[lovesong]

Hi Sarah!

I'll give this one a shot .. just from my own understanding.

A lot depends on the person - as to his/her likes and dislikes. There are churches springing up everywhere, with the goal to bring in people who wouldn't normally 'care' to attend church .. for whatever reason. Some may have been brought up in church because 'they had to go' ... which meant they might not ever have been able to appreciate the traditional hymns on a personal level. Being brought up in the traditional setting, you didn't see or hear drums or guitars being used .. or music that had that 'contemporary beat'. That was 'taboo', and thought of basically as an excuse to bring the more 'modern' music into the church.

The idea of using contemporary music in some churches is a concept to bring worship to a more 'relative to today's living' kind of thing, which is what my church is doing. And it's not just for young people, but for all ages. If your heart is in the right place, worshipping with this music is very possible.

So it really just depends on whatever people prefer.

God bless!!

 

[foo-oswald]

hey ive just moved to a new area and was surprised at the amount of praise and worship music that is overshadowing the hymns, which are my favourite. Why is it you guys find it better? I think the music and melody of the hymns are wonderful in my feeling closer to God, i just wondered what it was that you guys like about P + W? im not critisising by the way guys! just curious.
Thanks, sarah

I agree with lovesong, Sarah. I would respectfully submit that your ability to feel closer to God through the melody of the hymns is because, like most of us, you grew up with that particular style, and it is somewhat of a "comfort zone" for us.

I still love some of the old hymns, but I prefer modern worship music. There's just something about the David Crowder Band, or Charlie Hall, or Matt Redman and the way they do what they do. I don't know how to describe it.

Off topic: I suppose I might be a little biased toward David Crowder since I'm a musician. The guy's a genius!

Back on topic, the message in these two styles is still the same. It's about the Sacrifice of Christ. The only thing that's changed is the method of delivery. Instead of organs and 50-voice choirs, you have drums and guitars and three-part-harmony...

 

[jesus_freak1513]

I really think it depends on the person honestly. I am in love with p + w music. I dislike hyms. I feel closer to God in p +w.

 

[blu3star]

ima reply back soon.. i just have to get ready for youth ryt now... that's a great question sarrah... i would love to share my thoughts and what the Bible says about praise and worship.

 

[blu3star]

sori it took me awhile.. i had just attended an evangelistic praise night and heaven was celebrating more people are added to the family of God. Anyway, to the topic of praise and worship...

hey ive just moved to a new area and was surprised at the amount of praise and worship music that is overshadowing the hymns, which are my favourite. Why is it you guys find it better? I think the music and melody of the hymns are wonderful in my feeling closer to God, i just wondered what it was that you guys like about P + W? im not critisising by the way guys! just curious.
Thanks, sarah

well let's put it this way... Praise and Worship as we so call P & W for short, well let's define praise in the term praise and worship, shall we?

Praise: a means of giving honor and glory to the one who deserves (GOD) by giving thanks/thanksgiving.

Worship on the other hand is...to give glory, honor and exalt one to be worshipped because of what GOD is, not what God did for us; proclaiming His entity and being.

so that being said... Praise and Worship of today and hymns is no different from one another. Take a keen look at the words of hymns...don't they portray praises to God, and worship to Him. That's also the same with the more contemporary songs sang in churches, youth groups etc. It's just that now we use praise and worship because that's what we do... we praise Him and we worship Him... doesn't mean hymns aren't included.
However pertaining to your question about why "we" find it better... to say that we find it better, that would be a generalization... it's not that it's better... the method of praise and worship of today is more of shape shifted. It evolved along with the time, evolved along with the generation that is in to it and the only thing that would differ you (who's in love with hymns) and most of us (who prefer p&w's) is something called "preference".

Preference for one is a personal choice, we all know that... and all churches.. all christian organizations would have their own preferences. So to you, you "prefer" hymns, to most of us we prefer p&w and just like our friend here, lovesong mentioned... it also depends on where and what we grew up accustomed to. For one, it has been such a big focus to evangelize and spread the Gospel, most especially to the youth (pre-teens,teens,young adults) and for one... the youth of today might or might NOT like hymns, just because of how it is sang, or because it is calm or whatever reason it may be. Most especially hymns most of the tym are only accompanied by the organ/keyboard/piano... and of the people of this generation, well we're talking about acoustics, electric guitars, bass, drums and all that jazz... but then again im' just going to re-itterate what our friend lovesong said,

The idea of using contemporary music in some churches is a concept to bring worship to a more 'relative to today's living'

so with that being said... that's basically the only difference to hymnals and to the P&W of today.

I for one grew acustomed to praise and worship by singing hymns for 14-15 yrs in my life...so I'm familiar with both sides. But to your point, you are right... hymnals has a way of drawing us closer to God...

Praise and worship isn't about the melody, nor the instruments neither is it about the band/singer/choir who's singing. It doesn't matter if it was hymnals or contemporary,rock,alternative christian music it's about what is inside our hearts.

Praise should be offered with understanding (Ps.47:7/1Cor 14:15), praise is done whole heartedly (Ps.9:1), singing with our lips, mouth...with joy and gladness in psalms and in hymns. (Ps. 63/51/Jer.33/1Chron 16/Ps.105)

To feel God's presence, to stand before His throne proclaiming His glory and praising and uplifting His name, it doesn't matter if it was to a tune of a fast song, doesn't matter if it was a hymnal book that we hold in our hands... it's what we hold in our hearts, what we tell and what we say to Him that He hears, and sees.
_________________________________________________________
i hope in some way it was of help to you sarah. God bless and keep us posted. I'd love to hear how your church and your music ministry is going. God bless...

in Christ,
Jo

 

[cntrygrlluvsJesus05]

IT's Depending on the Church and the Personal Preferance. I believe if it's a Old Fashioned Alter church like the Baptist Church I go to. They sing out of Hymns but have Southern Gospel/country Gospel singers to sing sometimes. So it really depending on the church.

 

[swingnscream]

I think hymn have been used too much in the past and the meaning & music quality of them in churches isn't always very good at all. Plus for a little while young churches were shying away from any hymn use, and then Christian artist quickly picked up on the new praise-&-worship-music wave and that increased its popularity hugely. However, hymns can be cool and not just old when you get ppl/artist like David Crowder Band and how they've taken old hymns and given them new life. I love that. I'd love to see more of that.

But even I would say old paino & organ hymns could definitely use a break. It sad to see a song lose its meaning just becuz it's lyrically good but musically lacking.

 

[talitha]

IMHO, hymns appeal to the mind and to the nostalgic emotions of many people, but "praise and worship" music seems to appeal more to the spirit. I believe that the closer we can get to pure spirit-worship, the better it is -- sometimes that means loud crashing cymbals, sometimes a love song to Jesus, sometimes that means singing spontaneous words as the Holy Spirit gives utterance (my personal favorite)..... and hymns to me seem like the same thing over and over and over....... no reflection on what the Holy Spirit wants to do in the service..... not so much welcoming to Him but more rehearsal of doctrine to a tune.

like I said, that is my opinion....

blessings
tal

 

[MyTMac]

It's not about who sings what.
It's about what you do when you sing.

If you're worshipping God, what does it matter?

 

[Sharonlj]

Hi, I'm a lover of p & w and hymns - struggled a bit with being in worship teams where the leaders seem to not like hymns at all so never lead them and I feel that some people then miss out...

I agree with the thought though that it doesn't really matter what you're singing but your heart when you sing it and if it brings you closer to God - that's great. People can sing p & w and make it really boring and dead just the same as they can do with hymns - one of the best times of worship I've had was in an international church in Thailand - total denominational mix of people, when one Sunday a Mennonnite guy lead worship - all hymns and no instruments - had to leave in the end cos I couldn't stop crying - needed to find somewhere to be alone with God - awesome, but someone whose heart wasn't in the 'right' place could make that seem really crusty and boring.

 

[Amongst the Flock]

hey ive just moved to a new area and was surprised at the amount of praise and worship music that is overshadowing the hymns, which are my favourite. Why is it you guys find it better? I think the music and melody of the hymns are wonderful in my feeling closer to God, i just wondered what it was that you guys like about P + W? im not critisising by the way guys! just curious.
Thanks, sarah

There is nothing wrong with hymns for they are usually more scriputurally sound but it is hard to get new believers to sing along with them when the music of today is fast paced and more progressive. Hymns are more fitting for women even though men sing them to. Most new kids don't want to sing to begin with and singing a hymn is going to do much for them as far as them being enthusiastic to a new believer. I know the older members at chuch prefer hymns but they get into the praise music when the Holy Spirit starts nailing them and everyone starts shouting out. We usually sing one hymn and then 5 praise songs through the band.

At night service it is usually half and half. Praise bands target the next generation of kids who are listening to rap and metal and more progressive styles of music.

peace.

 

[talitha]

Praise bands target the next generation of kids who are listening to rap and metal and more progressive styles of music.

hmm.... we have a really good worship team that tends to get everybody going in praise and worship except the teens. The teens at our church seem really picky about music; most of them don't seem to like p&w style music -- they like ReliantK and stuff like that. I think the reason is not so much the sound as the fact that they are choosing not to enter in but rather to try to assert themselves.... I say that because during times when the youth are more on fire than others, they respond to the same songs they complained about before.......

humm
blessings all 'round
tal

 

[philN]

There is nothing wrong with hymns for they are usually more scriputurally sound but it is hard to get new believers to sing along with them when the music of today is fast paced and more progressive. Hymns are more fitting for women even though men sing them to. Most new kids don't want to sing to begin with and singing a hymn is going to do much for them as far as them being enthusiastic to a new believer. I know the older members at chuch prefer hymns but they get into the praise music when the Holy Spirit starts nailing them and everyone starts shouting out.

So the theology of songs is not important so long as the songs are energetic and the people can get into them?

Worship and Evangelism are two different things. If you are singing contemporary songs because they are more appealing and you think that it will trick people into enjoying worship, then I think those songs are being used for the wrong reasons.

And don't tell me the hymns aren't as passionate. I tear up whenever I get to the final verse of Amazing Grace. And hymns like And Can It Be, Be Thou My Vision, Come Thou Fount, and At The Cross are some of the most powerful songs I have ever heard.

I don't know. I just find it much more mentally and spiritually engaging to sing "Before You angels prostrate fall" rather than "I love you, I love you, I love you, Jesus." and other repetetive derivatives thereof.

 

[MoreInSorrow]

I don't know. I just find it much more mentally and spiritually engaging to sing "Before You angels prostrate fall" rather than "I love you, I love you, I love you, Jesus." and other repetetive derivatives thereof.

And this is PRECISELY the reason philN is my new hero.

 

[philN]

And this is PRECISELY the reason philN is my new hero.

And you are my hero. Especially if this whole t-shirt thing works out. Hehe.

 

[Grl4Christ987]

Really for me it's about it relating to the style of music that I prefer, which is a more contemporary. But I'm not bashing anyone who prefers the more older sound of Worshipping Jesus.

 

[foo-oswald]

So the theology of songs is not important so long as the songs are energetic and the people can get into them?

Worship and Evangelism are two different things. If you are singing contemporary songs because they are more appealing and you think that it will trick people into enjoying worship, then I think those songs are being used for the wrong reasons.

And don't tell me the hymns aren't as passionate. I tear up whenever I get to the final verse of Amazing Grace. And hymns like And Can It Be, Be Thou My Vision, Come Thou Fount, and At The Cross are some of the most powerful songs I have ever heard.

I don't know. I just find it much more mentally and spiritually engaging to sing "Before You angels prostrate fall" rather than "I love you, I love you, I love you, Jesus." and other repetetive derivatives thereof.

Dude (said in my best Bill & Ted imitation). That's profound. I've been guilty over the last couple of years of sneering at the old hymns. My reason for doing so was because the church I grew up in was filled with snarling Blue-Hairs and chain-smoking Rednecks mumbling "Leaning On The Everlasting Arms" Sunday-after-Sunday.

That was the basis I used in forming the opinion that the "old church music" was a lifeless drone.

Of course, I was wrong...

If we sing from the depths of our spirits, focused on The One to whom we sing, He hears. And He smiles...

 

[Addaperle]

I like, and worship, with both. I find the lyrics of P&W are often more accessible (apart from some random ones... I'm still trying to work out what "Zion" is about!!!)... but I can be moved to worship just as easily with hymns, particularly come of the classics!

 

[Loobylu]

I think there's a place for both in worship.

I love both... I was raised with hymns and when I got a bit older and went to a different church their emphasis was on p&w.

Both have the ability to get you "into the Spirit" so to speak, and praising God, and I think, in the end, that's what matters. That's the point, and hopefully end result, of both styles.

For some people hymns may do it for them, for other p&w may do it for them and for others, like myself, it can be either with the right song.