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 Hymn Ideas: Modernizing Hymns > ideas > home
by Don Chapman
Here are a few ways to help your hymns flow
with modern praise and worship.
1. Update the words. This might be a touchy subject, depending
on your church, as traditionalists tend to
place hymn lyrics almost on par with Scripture!
In reality, you wouldn't believe how hymn
lyrics are twisted from hymnal to hymnal.
As I began the HymnCharts.com website and
started researching hymn lyrics for my arrangements,
I was surprised to find that a hymn might
have several different lyric versions as
it floats from denomination to denomination.
I personally use Word's Celebration Hymnal
as my hymn lyrics standard.
Try this experiment: take
your favorite hymn
and try to modernize it
by changing all the
archaic words. Substitute
"You"
for "Thee," "Thou"
and
"Ye." Leave off
the "st"
- "canst," "shouldst"
and "wouldst"
will now be "can,"
"should" and
"would."
Change anything else that
sounds like it
came from your old English
teacher.
This can be tricky - if
the archaic word
is part of the rhyme scheme,
you're sunk!
>Don't< mix King
James with modern
English!
I was at a big-time worship
conference some
time ago where they incorporated
"My
Jesus I Love Thee"
into the praise set.
Here's how their version
went:
My Jesus, I love You, I
know You are mine,
For You all the follies
of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my
Savior are Thou:
(OUCH!)
If ever I loved You, my
Jesus, ’tis now.
Uh oh, they should have
known better. I cringed
as I was teleported from
the 21st century
into 1611, all in one verse!
"Thou"
canst not be changed because
it rhymeth with
"now." Mixing
modern and ancient
lyrics like this is grammatically
inconsistent.
2. Hymns with new choruses. This hybrid genre keeps the original hymn
tune and lyric intact while tacking on an
additional new chorus. I love these! Hymns
are so wordy, so full of ideas, that the
modern mind can have trouble digesting the
whole thing as it whizzes by in your praise
set. A new added chorus gives the congregation
a moment to catch their breath. It takes
the hymn to an exciting new level. Examples
are:
- "The Wondrous Cross"
by Tomlin/Reeves.
Here they've added a new
chorus to "When
I Survey." Look for
a soundclip at WorshipTogether.com.
- "Jesus Paid It All"
by Kristian
Stanfill, on the Passion
CD "Everything
Glorious."
3. Traditional hymn lyrics with new melodies. I call these songs "PraiseHymns."
These exciting new melodies are popping up
all over, bringing fresh insight into the
ancient texts. I'm amazed at how the old
words seem new when matched to a different
melody.
Some examples of new tunes
I've written for
old hymns include:
Almighty King:
http://www.praisesongstore.com/AK.htm
Lead Me to Calvary:
http://www.praisesongstore.com/LMTC.htm
What a Savior:
http://www.praisesongstore.com/LMTC.htm
Why not try creating your
own PraiseHymn?
Sit down, thumb through
a hymnal, find a
hymn and see if a new tune
pops into your
head. Maybe you'll come
up with a melody
that will unlock the words
for a new generation.
>Bottom Line: With the creative options available to worship
leaders today, it's easier
than ever to integrate
hymns into contemporary
worship.
This article originally appeared in the WorshipIdeas newsletter. Read an archive of past articles
at the paid website WorshipMax.com.
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