ChristianMusicDaily

Hymns are hot in contemporary Christian music, as many high profile artists-- Avalon, Amy Grant, Jars of Clay, Sandi Patty, Fernando Ortega, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Out of Eden, to name a few-- have re-interpreted old church classics from the 1800s in a fresh, modern style for today’s audiences.

Indeed, type in the word “hymns” on Amazon.Com, and about 630 results will show up. Whereas Praise and Worship was hot during the past few years, with seemingly every artist making a “worship” album, now hymns are in.

"Hymns have always been a part of most church services,” says Donna Russo, Executive Director of Kingdom Bound Ministries, known for its annual Christian music festival at Six Flags Darien Lake amusement park and camping resort near Buffalo, New York. “As the trend toward using the new Praise and Worship choruses increased in recent years, the use of hymns had declined. More recently, however, I have observed the use of both hymns and choruses in services, each playing a vital role in the worship service. In addition, many new contemporary songs have become hymns for this generation such as ‘He Is Exalted’ and ‘We Bow Down’ by Twila Paris, ‘Agnus Dei’ by Michael W. Smith and ‘Forever’ by Chris Tomlin.”

Russo thinks there is a rich heritage of faith in the lyrics of hymns and it’s important that they remain a part of every Christian's life.

“Many young believers are learning the tenets of faith through the re-interpreting of classic hymns, with ‘Grace Like Rain’ by Todd Agnew and ‘The Wonderful Cross’ from Chris Tomlin as prime examples,” she says.

Every generation likes to take old stuff and make it new again, and the contemporary church is currently doing that with its congregational music.

“It's the same concept of ‘new wineskins’ that the church has pursued all along. Things like music and clothes define cultures and ages, and they are always changing,” says Ryan Dahl, founder/president of PraiseCharts.Com. “But truth doesn't change. So, the hymns contain unchangeable truth, but are packaged in ‘changeable’ music styles. Changing the music is like a person putting on a fresh set of clothes: you get new colors, new styles, and a new sense of life.”

Buddy Greene, who recently recorded Hymns & Prayer Songs, finds that hymns often have profound meaning, offering beautiful poetry and timeless melodies.

“I delight in adapting old hymns to acoustic guitar arrangements in much the same way I enjoy updating an old blues or folk song,” says Greene. “My favorite hymns projects have been the ‘Indelible Grace’ series produced by Kevin Twit featuring some really talented artists such as Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken and Matthew Perryman Jones. The ‘Indelible Grace’ CDs have a done a great job in adapting old hymns texts to new music.”

Not everyone, however, is pleased with the trend in Christian music toward re-interpreting old hymns.

“I think the reason hymns are still around today is because of religiosity. They were the ‘top 40’ of their day,” says Carl Stewart, a studio musician from Orlando, Florida. “Many of the hymns took their melody from popular bar-room drinking songs, and the writers did so with the hopes that the general population would be able to identify with them.  Over the centuries, we've idolized, holified, and religionized them, refusing to bury them even though they died long ago. I think old hymns are getting re-done and gaining popularity because there's a serious lack of creativity and fresh perspectives. I don't care for hymns, and I'd never miss them if they were to disappear.”

Session singer Lisa Bevill, of Nashville, Tennessee, recently recorded some songs with Al Denson where he’d take a new song and end it with an old hymn, making for an interesting combination. Still, Bevill’s not too fond of the idea of today’s artists re-interpreting hymns.

“I personally don't care for a completely new rendering of the melody, but truly love the real and true version of the song. Even though I'm an artist, I'm still very much a session singer and singing weekly on yet another worship album with the same songs done a ‘hip new way’ is truly boring. If we could just get back to the true melody of those old worship songs, it would do my heart good.”

Most artists truly want to put their hearts into what they’re singing. Rocker Ashley Cleveland, for instance, loved creating her hymns project entitled Men and Angels Say. It features the two-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter’s fresh interpretation of classics like “Christ The Lord Is Risen Today” and “It Is Well With My Soul.”

“This was a deeply personal album for me,” says Cleveland. “When I was entrenched in alcoholism and drug addiction, the hymns that I grew up singing would come to me unbidden and forgotten for years, and I would come undone remembering the messages of hope and mercy in each song.”

Cleveland doesn’t think hymns are too popular these days, and she’s worried they’ll be “dismissed into antiquity.”

“For me,” she says, “a big piece of recording a hymns project is to keep the hymns alive in the church or, in most cases, to bring them back to the church. In the course of a year, I play quite a few churches and over fifty percent of them never play hymns in their worship. As long as I’ve been performing, which is a good twenty years, hymns have been part of my set-list and I’ve long been a self-proclaimed crusader to keep the hymns in the church because, to me, they are a precious part of our heritage. It would be an unspeakable loss not to include them.”

The general consensus among music fans is that like Cleveland, they remember hymns from when they were little and that hymns are more ‘meaty’ lyrically and musically than most contemporary church music. Hymns seem to be gaining popularity in church services these days as evangelicals yearn for deeper songs to sing.

“While on staff at Westwinds Community Church in Jackson, Michigan, the worship team introduced ‘The Wonderful Cross’--a more modern rendition of the Isaac Watts original, ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,’” says Sarah Raymond Cunningham, director of Portal Ministries (PortalMinistries.Org). “At first, the modernized chorus seemed a little unnatural to me. But, as I observed the crowd participation, I realized the remix was engaging my generation in hymns they might not otherwise engage. Portal Ministries tries to transcend generational, cultural, and economic lines, so I’m excited at the prospect of new ‘re-done’ hymns that might help do that.”

Some might say hymns started getting popular a few years back, while others might say they’ve yet to make a comeback. It depends on where you live and what church you attend.

“New Praise and Worship material is always surfacing. As for hymns, I can't remember when our church cracked open a hymnal in over ten years,” says Laurie Marks Vincent, a Canadian recording artist working on her own recording of hymns. “I haven't noticed hymns as a ‘new hip thing.’ They’re more like something old made fresh again. I think they are important ‘mainstays’ of our Christian heritage and believe it is important to keep them alive.”

Billy Smiley, known for his work with the seminal Christian rock group WhiteHeart, is now a successful producer/record label owner living in Scottsdale, Arizona. He and writer Scott Wesley Brown, along with several other prominent church worship leaders from around the United States, have taken on the task of keeping hymns alive by updating arrangements for several old songs, resulting in ‘re-writes’ of over 150 hymns. They’re available through Smiley’s latest venture, WorshipHymns.Com.

Singer-songwriter and businessman Bill Gaither, known for his best-selling Homecoming videos, welcomes the idea of hymns becoming popular in contemporary Christian music. He thinks quality will always find a way to the top, and sums it up succinctly.

“We don't sing hymns because they are old,” he says, “but because they are great and survive.”

The old adage “everything old is new again” certainly applies if you take a walk down the aisle of a store and scan the contemporary Christian artists’ latest offerings. You’ll notice the word ‘hymns’ more and more on the cover of CDs in the coming months. Their popularity will depend on consumers’ tastes, and as for now, it looks as if hymns are the hot thing in contemporary Christian music.