Characteristics of Hymns - a podcast by Jonathan Michael Jones

I was recently asked what my church’s
hymn to contemporary congregational music ratio is. I keep a running chart and continuously
update it so I knew the answer to that question; yet, it was apparent to me
that the person asking did not understand the meaning of the words, hymn and
contemporary. Most people would likely assume contemporary to mean in a modern
style. Contemporary, however, denotes an era or timeframe. If I were to ask of
a contemporary of Mozart, for example, one might respond with Haydn. Certainly,
this is true, while a contemporary of myself could be Carrie Underwood. To
restate the question then, I think it would be more appropriate to ask, “What
is your church’s ratio of hymns to modern music,� though even then, one must
define a hymn.

My church is
about an 88% hymn-singing church. The problem many worship pastors might
experience is not a lack of singing hymns but rather which hymns they sing.
Many congregants have a wrong idea of what constitutes a hymn. There are
certain characteristics that hymns possess. The age of a song then does not
define it as a hymn or not a hymn. Of the hymns my church sings, 72% are what
refer to as timeless and 28% modern.[1] In my role as a worship
leader over the years, it has become clear that most people do not know what a
hymn is. The Apostle Paul tells the Colossians to admonish one another with
“psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs� (Col 3:16). There is then a difference
between hymns and other types of congregational music. I do not intend to delve
into the biblical difference between these three categories but only to give
specific characteristics of hymns. I will do so by defining first what a hymn
is not and then what it is. There are characteristics unique to hymns, both
sacred and secular.[2]

Further episodes of Act of Worship

Further podcasts by Jonathan Michael Jones

Website of Jonathan Michael Jones