Found this great article, which really got me thinking...
Telegraph Article
I find we are entering a battle sometimes between old and new, and that the hunger for progression can sometimes halt our love for old and traditional.
There is definitely a tension between moving forward and recognising the value and depth of what has gone before. Though how we present this, and how we approach this I believe to be key. Do we approach older songs with cinicism having already decided that we might "lose" a congregation when we sing them? Or do we approach them with an attitude of excitement and discovery, asking God what He will say through an older song that He might not have been able to say through a newer one? Do we automatically believe that we cannot be creative with old hymns, or is there an opportunity to move into realms of creativity not yet explored?
3 comments:
There are two issues here: the songs themselves, and how we song them.
On the songs themselves, there are no generalisations. Some old hymns are either very bad, or do not stand the test of time, for example the line "one was a doctor, and one was a queen, and one was a shepherdess on the green..." does not translate well in 2008 - indeed it may call for the response at the end of each verse in that hymn "..and I want to be one too"! Equally there are some really naff modern songs, for example the punk rocker song (Pierce my ear O Lord) or the cowboy song (I hear the sound of rustling)and many more. I guess we use about one song in 20 out of what is published - the rest either say not much, or the tune does not work. But then there are some great and profound old songs and some great and profound new songs where words and tune work together. I'm grateful to Matt Redman, Graham Kenrick and other worship leaders who have studied old hymns and regularly bring us gems. Keep it up!
The second issue is how we sing them. Great examples are "Be Thou my vision" sung in the celtic style, and "I stand amazed in the presence" sung slow like David Ruis does it, and not rumpty tumpty. But there again, modern songs can lose it. "My Jesus, My Saviour" sung too fast turns into a song for happy cake decorators "Icing for joy". And "All I once held dear" turns into the ugly duckling.
Conclusion - its not so much old and new, and good and bad.
Andy
People like Robin Mark have done a good job of taking the old and injecting a freshness into them. In other words taking the best of both worlds.
Variety is the spice of life, as far as I'm concerned. There is second-rate stuff to be found in all generations of worship songs - both in the text and the music. I'll leave that aside - as we usually do at TBC. Older hymns often provide a more objective look at God and at the scriptures, and perhaps use some jargon phrases eg Standing on the promises of God. Modern songs tend to me more touchy feely, and some of these can be a bit too too gushy for my liking. Older songs have a musical structure which can be seen either as more interesting and challenging if you're a keyboard player, or plain hard slog if you're a guitar player. Modern songs are designed with keys and structures for guitars and can be seen as flexible or tedious depending on your point of view.
My preference is to use as much of the rich heritage (both ancient and modern) as we can - with minimal change to the words, 'cos that's the bit we share with the congregation; that's our common bond musically and I find "unrequired" changes a bit annoying. For me, a rich worship session is more about variety of musical style and verbal expression than it is about neat transitions neatly around the key of E.
On a seasonal note, as we've just passed Christmas, I feel strongly about Christmas carols - I know that many disagree. I think they are a valuable heritage with which many of the older members of the public identify; I think we are squandering a valuable resource at TBC by being so parsemonious with them on theological grounds. I took my own poll of younger people this year (during one of my seasonal rants) and was encouraged to find that most of them really enjoy singing the traditional carols, despite a few bits of ragged theology.
Whether we use old or new stuff, I agree with Andy that much depends upon the way we sing the songs. I value having the luxury of a number of good worship leaders at TBC, and I enjoy the fact that each has their own approach. Whilst we all learn from each other, I hope we will continue to encourage individuality - whether or not it corresponds completely to our personal taste.
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