I’ve been clarifying the gospel since my days as a lay Sunday School teacher and, frankly, can’t imagine a time when I will cease to do it. On the other hand, now that I am officially the Sr. Pastor here at First EPC, I’m finding that there are lots of other things that need clarification as well. Among these things is our philosophy and practice of worship.
Over the years, our church’s Session has dealt at length with the question of philosophy and, put simply, has determined that the most appropriate style for our congregation should be “blended.” What does “blended” mean? It depends whom you ask! The spirit of the decision, no doubt, refers to a blend of “traditional” and “contemporary.” What do traditional and contemporary mean? It depends whom you ask!
Given the ambiguity of these terms (contemporary, traditional, etc.), more helpful descriptors might be ancient and indigenous. Our worship should be ancient, using Scripture and the rich, historical hymns, liturgies, and forms of the the universal Church. On the other hand, our worship should be indigenous, communicating to our congregation in hymns, liturgies, forms that are, at some level, in “the vernacular.” If you read the Bible in any language but Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic you’re already doing this.
Accomplishing “blended” worship was the goal of our most recent hymnals and, for this reason, frankly, they fell a bit short. You see, the old hymnal tried to accomplish the impossible. It tried to combine, in one place, the best of “traditional” and “contemporary.” The problem, however, is that by the time a song is old enough to make it into a book, chances are that it is no longer contemporary (i.e. current). Additionally, given the limited number of pages in any hymnal, for every contemporary song that is added, a traditional hymn is excluded. I’d hate to be on the editorial team that had to make those decisions!
The beauty of the Trinity Hymnal (the new one) is that it is primarily “old-school.” In other words, the new hymnal’s strength is the fact that it is full, for the most part, of traditional hymns with the traditional words. Having the Trinity Hymnal as a foundation, we can experiment with newer music by either projecting it or using bulletin inserts.
Another reason for the switch has to do with my responsibility as the Sr. Pastor. According to the EPC’s Book of Worship:
The Pastor, while advised to consult with the Church Session, has the duty and responsibility to determine the order, sequence, elements, and proportion of the service that each shall have in public worship. In making those decisions about worship, the Pastor shall be reminded of guidance for worship given in Scripture, the Reformed heritage in which we stand, of the customs, circumstances, and particular needs of the congregation, as well as the admonitions and limitations set by the Book of Worship (2.4.A).
Let me summarize. At the end of the day, the Pastor bears the ultimate responsibility for what happens in the context of a church’s worship. Note, also, that he is “advised to consult with the Church Session.” I couldn’t agree more. While I didn’t mandate that we switch hymnals, I am more comfortable and familiar with the Trinity, and therefore suggested its consideration. After consulting with the leadership of our music ministries, gaining approval by our Session, and receiving a generous (anonymous) offer of funding, we ordered 500 hymnals.
If you are interested in finding out more about the Trinity Hymnal please check out its page on Wikipedia. There you will find information on its history as well as links to such things as an online database of hymn numbers and even audio of most of its hymns.
