I attended a church in southern California last weekend. As I sat there, well-distracted by my grandkids, other thoughts flitted through my head. I remembered sitting in this church twenty years ago when the pews and carpet were a livid green and there was no such thing as an ever-flowing waterfall up front. I remembered how packed the pews were--it was in the days when "celebration worship" was new and people poured in the doors to get a taste of this fresh format. I remembered sitting jammed up next to a European guy I really liked and marinating in the effluvia (don't you love that word?) of his strong, tangy body odor, and pondering whether or not I liked that. I sort of did.And then, as I sat there idly preparing to fold a paper bird to entertain the Grands, the shock of a new realization hit me.
There were no hymnal racks and no hymnals! None! The backs of the pews held only some modest holders for guest registrations, tithe envelopes, and pencils. But nary a hymnal in sight. The huge projection screens up front had made them obsolete.Stepdaughter #1 suggested that the hymnal racks might be under the seats. I peered around and found that there was indeed the occasional rack hiding underneath us. But they still held no hymnals.
And so I folded my paper bird with no hard surface to work on. And as I pulled on its tail to flap its wings for our squirrely little girl and boy, I thought about my sense of sadness at losing words and notes on paper, of not having those precious verses to page through during a service, and of lyrics that symbolically appear and then just as quickly disappear as our corporate worship today hungrily seeks novelty over familiarity.
I play the piano for a monthly service at a senior's centre and that is the only place I use a hymnal. Am I getting old? I too loved the new worship songs, but find them less and less appealing. Once in a while someone resurrects and "oldie" (like Come Thou Fount) but on the whole, the old treasures are ignored.
ReplyDeleteMy mom and I just read this together and says they're slowly taking theirs away in Napa as well. I miss that too. Much easier to sight-read then guess the melody as they go.
ReplyDeleteAh yes! Worship team and light choruses. Right? Not that it's all bad, but throwing away the hymn books with the [sometimes] meatier tunes and lyrics is not good IMO.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what my husband would do without hymnals to thumb through during a sermon. Not that he's easily bored, but he really likes discovering new tunes or seeing familiar names under hymntune titles. He knows a lot about the hymns and composers because he's done a lot of thumbing through the hymnals in his lifetime.
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, I hope I never attend a church where they've completely gotten rid of hymnals. That's just wrong. I almost always pull out the hymnal to sing, even if the words are on the screen. It just feels so much like church to me. Not that projector screens with lyrics can't be worshipful, but there's just something about holding up that heavy book with your neighbour.
But then...there's a lot of things changing in worship these days, and maybe I'm just getting old. :o) I just think there's a place for each: modern praise music and classic, beautiful hymns. They can be done in an appealing way - I know because I've done it and heard it done.
Don't lose the past. Don't get stuck there, but don't forget it.
That's my two cents. :o)
I also love holding the hymnal and reading the notes. I love the old hymns, and I'm not even old! Our church here has a "Praise and Worship" time after the opening hymn every Sabbath, and they always have at least one chorus and at least one hymn. I think it's a nice way of combining both. Of course, there are a lot of choruses that are as old as some of the hymns.... Several of the song leaders will announce the hymnal numbers even though the words are on the screen. I'm glad we still have the hymnals at our church.
ReplyDelete