The Hymn Book--“Banished and Vanished”-part 1

The Hymn Book--“Banished and Vanished”-part 1

From time to time those of us who have observed church music over several decades are constrained to rant and rave a bit about the “Vanishing Hymnbook”.   For the millennials who read this blog perhaps I should explain what the vanishing hymnbook is.  It is a book that contains hymns, gospel songs, gospel hymns, a few psalms and praise choruses.  Some newer hymnals have sequences of praise choruses with little modulatory and or transitions to the next chorus or hymn or gospel song. You can find this book in the corner closet in the basement of your church.  If you worship in a renovated Walmart, the building does not have a basement so this banished collection of books will probably be found in a storage cabinet somewhere close to the dock doors at the rear of the building or perhaps stacked neatly at the back of the janitor’s closet.

This former aid to worship has vanished because it has been banished.  It is in exile because the worship leader and the senior pastor have absolutely no idea how to use it and furthermore have no conception of its priceless value to the catechism of those who are now attend the Sunday morning worship/performance event.  This is not surprising because this church is making an all-out effort to remove theological content from the Sunday morning event.