As an organist for most of my working life I enjoy choosing hymns and anthems for the lectionary and sermon. The Book of Praise is, like most hymn books, arranged for the church year. In the more general sections, such as Worship and Faith, there are many hymns, which are, frankly, too depressing to be sung often. Well over 50 hymns reference our decline and death, usually in the final verse, rendering them a poor choice for the end of a service when people need to feel uplifted as they leave.
Of course, old favourites, such as the Welsh tune Cwm Rhondda, where one anticipates “treading the verge of Jordan,” are sung enthusiastically without too much thought for the words, since the tune is such a great one! We older members of the congregation have no illusions about how many years are left to us, but I can’t imagine what our teenagers must think when they read some of the verses.
Christianity is supposedly a theology of joy, but you’d hardly believe it from the words of many of our hymns.
About Alan Thomas, Organist and Choir Director, Westminster, Ottawa
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