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    The New SBC Debate:  Worship Glut Stirs Hymnal War

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    The Southern Baptist Convention has put out a new hymnal every 15 years or so since 1904. The last hymnal came out in 1991.

    You can listen to the full five minute radio report from NPR here.

    It's about time for the Southern Baptist Convention to put out a new hymnal, and the move to update the songs has caused a little tension. A glut of new worship songs has led to sweeping changes in the forthcoming hymnal. For the first time, nearly half of the pages will be filled with songs never before published by Baptists.

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    1. Camey on Mon, November 19, 2007

      My word at the bottom is “evidence”.... Interesting… It’s story time:


      One of the things I do as a woman minister is teach Bible study classes at our physical church building. We’ve just concluded another semester. One of the classes I taught was on Tuesday mornings. It was a parenting class, so therefore, there were more younger women than older.


      The women’s council decided to try to have a “gathering time” before the classes each Tuesday. I must confess, I was excited. It was going to include a time of worship. My excitement ended rather quickly. Not my love for these individuals mind you….


      I grew up in SBC churches. (Read: Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday evenings, and any other time the door was open since I was born.) I grew up on hymns. Yet, I was disheartened when even I didn’t know the words to songs the older women had chosen to sing at our “gathering time’s worship”… If I didn’t know the songs, I knew that most of the women who were there to attend my class afterwards, wouldn’t know them at all either. Sure enough, they stopped coming and honestly, so did I. The gathering time came to an end. A real opportunity was greatly missed.


      This is one of those times when I do feel caught in the middle. There is no doubt that there are some great old hymns. And yet, there is also no doubt that some of the “praise” songs are just as great and oh my… some are even direct quotes of scripture. This is one area where I’m constantly being stretched myself. I am now a contemporary worshipper with a mix of old time religion looking to connect and reach those whose paths I come across who do not have a relationship with God/Jesus or are seeking to grow in theirs.


      For me, worship can take place with or without music any where… I know many though that do not think they can worship at all without their style of music being a part of a service inside the walls of their church. This is honestly one of the things that keeps me on my knees the most.

    2. Jan on Mon, November 19, 2007

      I heard about this a few weeks ago and was really happy. They are going to include cd accompaniments and power point slides (at least that’s what I heard).  My first thought was “It’s about time!”


      We are SBC.  I can see how a war might begin over this.  There are a lot of little churches out there that don’t like any kind of change.  They are good hearted people, but stuck in some traditions that just don’t make a lot of sense to me.


      But I love our association and their willingness to support evangelism and their heart to see people come to Christ.  We wouldn’t be at our church, if they hadn’t pulled out all the stops to support us.


      It’s good to see Lifeway and the convention go for this.  Now I’d just like to see some curriculum changes!

    3. Stewart on Mon, November 19, 2007

      In my opinion the day of the Hymnal is over. I’m surprised they are coming out with a new one at all.

    4. Camey on Tue, November 20, 2007

      Jan,


      Thanks for sharing that. Good to hear. Definitely agree about some curriculum changes.


      Thanks again,


      Camey

    5. DanielR (a different Daniel) on Sat, November 24, 2007

      I don’t understand why people who like the old hymnal have such a problem with the proposed new hymnal.  If you prefer the old hymnal, by all means continue to use it.  But don’t begrudge the SBC churches that have a more progressive worship style a hymnal they can also use.

    6. Jan on Sat, November 24, 2007

      We have a supply of them that we never use, although we do sing hymns in our service, just not with hymnals.


      A church we know were looking for some to be given to them and we offered them ours.  Their response, “But are they the BAPTIST hymnals”.


      Some people are pretty silly in my opinion.

    7. Danny on Mon, November 26, 2007

      I wonder if you SBC would publish how many of the hymnals are bought, and the demographics of those buyiing them. I would bet there is a story to be told with those facts but I doubt will see them.

    8. Tim L on Mon, November 26, 2007

      Why put hymnals in the pew when we don’t teach people to read music.  Typically, those who have the skill of music reading are already involved in your choir or orchestra.  Those music readers within the congregation who are not involved in your music ministry most likely don’t need to see key signatures and notes to sing the songs.  In today’s culture, hymnals are pretty much a waste of good money that could be used on staff or musicians to enhance the program.

    9. Drew on Mon, November 26, 2007

      I am proud to be Southern Baptist, I have been my entire life.  I am also a Worship Leader.  Every time I hear or read one of these stories about the so-called “worship wars” it troubles me.  When are we as the Church going to realize that Worship is not about hymnals, screens, instruments, sound systems, or even music.  Worship is about God!!  Worship is not an event either.  Certainly we should worship together, but until we as leaders in the Church start teaching Worship as a lifestyle there will always be battles about what we like or want.  Let’s make Worship about what God wants.

    10. Danny on Mon, November 26, 2007

      The problem occurs when people think they know what God wants! Worship is about the heart! The other things such as the sound system, screens, and even hymnals are the tools that help elevate the worship experience.

    11. Jan on Mon, November 26, 2007

      Yup, and I hate the term “Worship Leader” and tend to use “Lead Worshippers”


      And I’m not against hymnals by the way.  If it works for you and your ministry go for it.  But it’s just not where our community is at.


      And I really don’t buy the “We need hymnals to teach our congregation to read music.”  That is not the purpose of a worship service.


      I want them to be focused on God, not on how to learn to read notes and time signatures!


      Boy, I’m just full of opinions today. LOL

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