Just like evangelical “pop” worship, which has sentenced itself to a cycle of reinvention as it tries to win people through pop entertainment, mainline Christianity is doing the same with its hymnody. While the practice of altering hymns is not new, the wholesale restructuring of recent hymn texts for political or theological reasons only began a few decades ago. Some people think rewriting hymns to fit modern sensibilities of language and theology is an absolute necessity. I wish we wouldn’t... Read more

Happy New Year! With the arrival of Advent today, I’ve been thinking a bit about the benefits of following the Christian year. I’ll admit that, having grown up in the Baptistland wilderness, this is a practice I once disregarded with sneers of haughty derision. But over the past decade, I’ve come to see the liturgical year as one of the more important of our Christian traditions. Here are a few reasons: It reminds us that we are a people set... Read more

“This is precisely the Advent situation: doom on one hand, deliverance on the other.” “Advent tells us to look directly into the darkness and name it for what it is.” – Fleming Rutledge I’ve heard a lot of talk of rushing the season, even more than usual. I’m hearing the rumblings from church musicians, as well. One person told me this: “Usually I wait until Christmas Eve to sing Christmas carols, but we should give people what they need. They... Read more

I understand the significance and love advent hymns and will even sing a few, but otherwise, pass. My congregation would throttle me if we waited until Christmas for those songs, especially this year. – a church music director, commenting on my previous post about Advent hymns I’ve been there, too, and it’s quite difficult. But it’s your job. Even if the people who hired you don’t know it, it’s your job to help them understand why we don’t sing Christmas... Read more

It’s called Advent, people, and it’s crucial to our understanding of Christmas. In Advent, we put ourselves in the place of the faithful who had waited generations for their promised King. Our four-week period of hope and expectation encapsulates the longing and yearning into which Jesus finally, miraculously arrived. Advent slows us down and restores our hearts and minds so that the heaven-born Prince of Peace can be fully born in our hearts once again. People of God, take time... Read more

I’ve always said that it’s important to keep writing new hymns. I still believe this. But I’m increasingly dismayed at what is being thrown our way. On the one hand, we have radio music from the contemporary “worship” industry being reproduced by house cover bands every Sunday. The songs are largely terrible in textual/poetic quality and theological content, and are written in a musical style that is incompatible with liturgy. Pop music is created to sell records; those who create... Read more