Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

There has been some recent discussion about the hymns used in worship; and so I’d like to take this opportunity to briefly outline my criteria for choosing hymns. Understand that the word “hymn” can be used in two different ways: first, the technical sense, meaning the metrical poetry that is set to music (the words); and second, the tunes that we associate with church music. Often we associate a particular hymn with a particular tune, and we call the combination a “hymn.” That’s not wrong; it’s just not specific enough.

My first criterion for choosing hymns for a worship service is that the words match the context of the service. Once I’ve chosen the scripture lessons for the week, whether they be from the lectionary or from a different selection, then I try to match hymns to various readings. The epistle lesson, for instance, has a better chance of sticking in a worshiper’s memory if that worshiper immediately sings a phrase or two or an idea from the lesson. That’s why occasionally a hymn will appear in an unusual place in the service, to better reinforce a spoken idea.

The second criterion is whether the congregation will easily be able to sing the tune. Admittedly, I’m a music “geek,” one who has studied music and for whom printed musical notes hold no terror. If it’s printed in the hymnal, I can probably sing it. Given just the words and not the notes, I probably can’t. Therefore I look for tunes that are either familiar or simple, but not insultingly so.

That’s why, in each church I’ve served, I’ve taken a survey of the congregation to find out which hymns are familiar and which are meaningful to church members. That doesn’t mean that everybody likes the same hymns. In each survey, “Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound” has scored at the top of people’s favorites, and “Silent Night, Holy Night” has consistently been number two, yet I know of at least one of our church members who doesn’t like “Amazing Grace” and another who absolutely cannot tolerate “Silent Night.” No, “everybody” doesn’t like those hymns. But the hymns that people have indicated they like, I give preference when I’m planning the weekly service.

The third criterion is that the hymn be fitting for worship. This is a sensitive matter, because I contend that many of people’s favorite hymns are more appropriate to private devotions than public worship. In worship our focus is upon God and giving our corporate praise to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The individual takes a back seat in order to place God front and center (which is also why the focus should not be on the preacher, but the message). That favorite hymn that nearly everybody loves, for me puts too much attention on the individual: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, / That saved a wretch like me! / I once was lost, but now am found, / Was blind, but now I see.” It’s not until the fourth stanza that God explicitly appears. We sing that hymn because people like it; and it does have an appropriate message.

Finally, when all else fails, I look for variety. As a former church organist I got tired of playing the same tunes over and over and found it refreshing to try something new once in a while. Maybe once or twice a year we’ll do a hymn that the congregation has never sung before. That doesn’t touch the surface of the over 7000 hymns that I have catalogued in my database.

The challenge to the congregation is twofold: if a strange hymn suddenly appears, try to figure out how it might fit with the rest of the service or which of the above criteria it might meet. Then, if all else fails, please let me know which hymns (and tunes) you like so that they can be tagged as favorites. Or ask when they might be sung again. I always welcome input to make the worship services more meaningful.