Three Thoughts After the Sermon

Three Thoughts After the Sermon
By Vermon Pierre, Lead Pastor
 
Here are three things that I'd like to further highlight from last Sunday's sermon, "God, Crisis, and Faith" (Ps 11):

1. Believing that God is a God who rules above all (i.e. transcendent) and is also near to all (i.e. immanent) matters for how you will practically make your way through a crisis. For if God is not really in control over everything in your life or not really involved in the details of your life, then you should feel anxious and live most of your life with doubt and fear. It makes sense to always play it safe and not take risks, because God isn't really able or isn't going to do much to help you out. On the other hand, if God is really in control over everything in your life and is really involved in the details of your life, you are then able to live with great boldness and confidence. Yes, you will have fears and worries, but at the same time you will also have a God who you can readily go to address your fears and doubts. This is because he is a God is a God who is fully in control and fully involved in your life – even when your life is at its lowest point.

2. God always acts in full consistency with all his attributes. So, for example, when God does something, he does it based on the fact that he is perfectly just, wise, loving, merciful, righteous, etc.

3. Read again this Charles Spurgeon quote. I think he captures well the perspective Christians ought to have on suffering because we are now in Christ: "We can suffer joyfully, hope cheerfully, wait patiently, pray earnestly, believe confidently, and triumph finally."

Should We "Modernize" Hymns? PART 2

Should We "Modernize" Hymns? PART 2 (of 2)
Alden Powers, Music Director @Roosevelt Community Church

4. Changing the lyrics

In some rare instances, it may be necessary to alter the lyric of the hymn. This should be exercised with caution though, since the great lyrics are why we are reviving these hymns in the first place. Many older hymns use language, grammar and words that are no longer in use in everyday speech. For example, the hymn How Sweet and Awful is This Place would not be understood properly by a modern congregation because the word awful, originally meaning “full of awe”, is not used that way anymore. Now the word means something that is really bad. This song would be a good candidate for a lyric change.

When I change lyrics, I usually only change one or two words that might replace the archaic words. I might change the “thees” to “yous” and the “doths” to “does”. I generally don’t like to do this unless the song is not very well known, or it won’t interrupt the rhyme pattern. For example, there are a lot of “thees” in Holy Holy Holy, but if you change them all to “yous” then the song won’t rhyme.

Sometimes all that is needed is an explanation by the worship leader of what the obsolete word means. When we sing All Hail the Power of Jesus Name, I’ll often explain to the congregation what a diadem is (it’s another word for crown). Explaining the songs is a great way for people to gain insight into what they are singing about and gain a greater appreciation for the song.

5. Changing the harmony

Many modern worship teams that primarily use guitars can find it hard to play hymns because there are so many chords! Most hymns were written using four-part harmony; meaning that there is literally a chord for every note that is sung. For a pianist or organist this is not such a big deal, but for most guitar players this is impossible to do.

Despite this problem, many guitarists can play these hymns if they simplify the chords. Stripping down the harmony can work wonders for the sound of the hymn and immediately make it sound more modern.
I’ve also heard great results by arrangers who have completely changed the harmony. For any melody, there can be several options for what kind of chords you can use. I’ve heard jazzy arrangements where 7th and 9th chords have replaced the more traditional sounding triads. I’ve also heard hymns that were originally sung in a major key changed to the relative minor with startlingly beautiful results.

6. Writing a chorus/bridge (changing the structure)

Most younger listeners are turned off by hymns because of their repetitive, predictable structure. Hymns are written as a series of 12 to 16-measure verses that are repeated 4 to 6 times. Modern music is not written this way. Most modern popular music is written in a verse/chorus format, where there are 2 or 3 verses that are 8 to 16 measures in length, followed by an 8-measure chorus that is the same every time you sing it. The chorus serves to keep the song together and offer a catchy section that can easily be remembered. Often times the title of the song is found in the chorus.

Modern hymn arrangers have found a brilliant way around this problem by writing an original chorus for the old hymn. The chorus is usually much easier than the verses and offers the worshipper a change of pace, a break from long verses and further insight into the truths we are singing about.

Another practice that is not uncommon is to take one of the verses and make it a chorus. People will change
the melody and maybe some of the words and viola!

7. Further changes to the structure

Along with adding a chorus, there are other things we can do to the structure of the hymn to make it modern. I’ve heard people split one long verse into two shorter verses. This is a great technique to do when a hymn is especially “meaty” theologically. By splitting up the verses we can spend more time contemplating the truths we are singing about.

I’ve also seen people take the first half of one verse and attach it to the second half of another verse. (By the way, this is not a “modern” phenomenon - people have been doing this to hymns for centuries.) This is a great way to change how we sing the truths we are singing. I like doing this with old hymns that have a lot of obsolete language. Sometimes switching verses around is easier than changing the lyrics altogether.

There are many great ways to breath new life into old hymns of our faith. When some or all of these techniques are used, they can serve to bring a great hymn into the new century and give it new life to a whole new generation of worshippers.

Should We "Modernize" Hymns? PART 1 (of 2)

Should We "Modernize" Hymns? PART 1 (of 2)
Alden Powers, Music Director @Roosevelt Community Church

One thing that we love to do at Roosevelt Community Church is sing hymns. Not only do we like to sing the timeless music of our faith, but we also like to sing modern arrangements of these hymns. Some of our arrangements are very similar to the original while others are radically different. What we are doing at RCC is not unique to our church body. This has been a popular movement in modern worship music for a few years now.

Changing a hymn can be exciting, inspiring, and even controversial. There are many factors to consider when changing a hymn that one needs to think of before we take the plunge. Here are a couple of things we can do to modernize the great old hymns and bring them into the 21st Century.

1. Why should we change hymns in the first place?

The single most important reason to change a hymn is to make the deep, powerful truths that we are singing about more relevant to our modern culture. If you simply read the words of the great hymns of our faith, they are loaded with rich, beautiful lyrics that express the wonders of the Gospel. Devoid of music, the lyrics of great hymns can stand alone as great poetry.

Sadly, many of these great hymns are attached to music that has become stale and outdated to many modern listeners. Sometimes the older style of music invokes memories of one’s unpleasant churchgoing past. Other times the music is simply not relevant to the modern culture. In a church where many of the members might listen to heavy rock music, why should they then sing hymns the traditional way?

I do concede that there are reasons not to change a hymn and we should have a love and respect for the rich tradition of church music. However, for the sake of presenting the rich gospel truths found in the lyrics of the great hymns, we need to modernize many of them.

2. Changing the style.

The easiest way to modernize a hymn is to perform it in a modern style without changing the melody or words. This works if the hymn is very popular and many members of the congregation could not imagine singing the hymn to a different tune. This also works if the original melody associated with the hymn is a really great melody and can be easily transferred to other musical styles. We’ve had a lot of success singing a hymn with a reggae beat, or with an up-tempo rock feel. Sometimes that’s all that’s needed to make a hymn sound modern.

I will say however, that whatever style we do the hymn in should be a style that we are familiar with. It serves no one to do a bluegrass version of “Amazing Grace” if you don’t know how to play bluegrass!

3. Changing the melody.

Sometimes it can really serve our congregation to change the melody of a hymn. Older hymns might have melodies that by today’s standard sound boring and dated. To some the idea of changing the melody may sound like heresy, but I would remind you that many of our favorite hymns underwent numerous melodic variations and were set to many different tunes until one emerged as the definitive melody. I do not recommend doing this to well-known hymns that our congregation is familiar with. Doing this can alienate some people.

There are, however, a treasure trove of lesser-known hymns that are not widely known because they have been attached to bad melodies. When we come across a hymn such as this, I believe it is our duty to free it from the prison of the lousy melody it is enslaved to and redeem it with a fresh, modern melody.

One of the most popular ways to change the melody is to use a different hymn tune. Old hymns were often written in established rhythmical meters so that they could be sung to different tunes. Try singing “All to Jesus I Surender” to the tune of “Come Thou Fount”. It works!

Sometimes all a hymn needs is some more interesting rhythms. Old hymn tunes were written with a straight rhythm that can sound boring and predictable to modern ears. Modern melodies are much more rhythmically complex, often employing syncopation, a technique by which there is an emphasis on the up-beats. Sprinkling in some of this magical syncopation into an old hymn melody can really do wonders.

If you would like to hear examples of some great modern hymns, I recommend:
*Park Slope Church: Kingsborough Hymns Vol 1- Beautiful Arrangements of hymns by several great hymn writers. The arrangements are hauntingly beautiful in mostly a folky, acoustic style.


*Indelible Grace Music- An entire music company devoted to producing recordings of modern hymns. Their website is a goldmine of great music!

*Red Mountain Church: Help My Unbelief and This Breaks My Heart of Stone- Great modern arrangements of William Gadsby and Isaac Watts hymns.

*Sojourn: Over the Grave- Isaac Watts hymns “turned up to 11”! Radically new arrangements of some of Watts’ greatest hymns.

"Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus" by D.A. Carson

Scandalous consists of 5 chapters in which Carson goes through a different passage of Scripture. He digs through them, pulling out deep truths about Christ, the cross, our battle against Satan's rage, and the resurrection. Each chapter is full of rich biblical and theological thoughts that kept my mind racing as I attempted to digest it.

Not only is the book a wonderful read because of the topics but if you pay attention, the chapters are also a tutorial on how to read your Bible. Carson is one of those voices that I like my mind and heart to have a steady diet of because I grow in understanding how to read Scripture. Paying attention to Carson's exegesis of Scripture will teach you how to read your Bible and put it together. I highly recommend any of his writings or sermons. If you are new to Carson, this is a great book to start with.

"Marks of the Messenger: Knowing, Living, and Speaking the Gospel" by J. Mack Stiles

"Marks of the Messenger: Knowing, Living, and Speaking the Gospel"
by J. Mack Stiles
BOOK REVIEW by Dennae Pierre



This book brought me to tears and gave me a chilling awareness of how little I share the gospel. It brought me to my knees in repentance.

It is not a "guilt-tripping evangelism" book that left me feeling like I need to "try harder" or "do better". Instead, the author paints a glorious picture of the gospel and our high calling to be a part of gospel work. I finished each chapter with an urgency to know and live the gospel in a fuller and more vibrant way.

Read this book several times and find a friend to read and discuss it with!