IDEAS THAT WORK
January 1, 1990
Hymn Histories
The call to worship began: "Sometimes we must worship even when we don't feel like it, even when we aren't very thankful.
"Martin Rinkard knew that 350 years ago. He was the only pastor in his hometown of Eilersberg, Germany. It was a walled city, and during the merciless Thirty Years' War, Eilersberg was jammed with hungry and homeless refugees. The war brought famine and disease. On some days Pastor Rinkard performed fifty funerals before sunset. Yet in this setting, he declared his praise to God by writing a hymn: 'Now Thank We All Our God.' Let's sing this hymn of worship . . ."
These days, not everyone knows or appreciates traditional hymns. With praise choruses and Scripture songs increasingly prevalent in church worship services, traditional hymns are becoming an endangered species.
But hymns are alive and well at Crossroads Covenant Church in Concord, California, despite the fact that 80 percent of the adult members are under 45 years old.
Says Pastor Greg Asimakoupoulos, "We must take seriously the style of music that will be most appreciated by the congregation. In our case, that means we spend major portions of Sunday worship singing medleys of choruses."
Yet Asimakoupoulos feels contemporary choruses can't replace the solid theology and lyrical beauty of time-tested hymns. "To paraphrase St. Bernard of Clairvaux, 'what language could we borrow to thank our Dearest Friend,' without the treasury of hymn texts?"
So at Crossroads, in addition to worship medleys, the congregation sings at least one traditional hymn each Sunday. But they do more than just sing it.
The worship committee selects a hymn that supports the sermon theme. They research the story behind the hymn's origin and write a three-minute introduction. ...
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