Hymns are Hip

Based on some recent reading, I'm prepared to announce that hymns are hip again.

Check out the Page CXVI for some free downloads of recently recorded hymns. The artists' purpose is to make the rich meaning and beauty of older hymns accessible to a new generation.

See also the the interview in the Winter 2009 edition of Leadership with Keith and Kristyn Getty. They are resisting the drift toward "praise and worship" music, choosing instead to write "hymns." And they're being well received! The interview includes the following introduction to the song-writing couple:

"At just around 30 years old, Keith and Kristyn Getty are both fashionable and energetic. They look as if they could be the next big thing in pop music. But they are committed to a higher calling: writing modern hymns in a contemporary idiom that teach the faith and bring the generations together in worship." I like it.

Finally, check out this article published in Time (Jan 2008). It describes a growing movement among the young and hip who gather to sing the four-part a cappella hymns in the Sacred Harp songbook. (The article warmed my Church-of-Christ, a capella-loving heart when I read it.)

So, little church, don't abandon the hymns to ape the latest trends in pop music! Our musical tradition has something valuable to offer to our culture, both theologically and artistically.