Hymn Books

I spent yesterday teaching a seminar on Christian Coaching to an interesting group of folks at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, and during one of the breaks, picked up a hymn book that was in the room.

It looked just like hymn books I've used during most of my life in worship services. As I browsed through the pages, I found all the hymns that I know and have loved singing. Holding and looking at the hymnal for just a few minutes was a very comfortable thing.

As I looked at the title page, I noticed that the only thing different about the book from the ones I had held so many other times was the publisher. This book of songs was published by the Presbyterian Church of America. The books of my experience were published by an organization affiliated with the churches of Christ.

I was struck by the irony that people worshipping the same Lord through singing of the same songs feel the need to brand their song books to distinguish them from those of another church. Yet the practice is pretty much universal. The message from this practice is that there must be something wrong with hymnals put together for use by other churches, so we need to have our own book so that it will be right.

Next time I'm in worship, singing along with the PowerPoint slides and have a wistful thought about the good old days of singing from a song book, maybe I'll also remember that those worship aids I love also served a supporting role in keeping us divided. And maybe I'll also appreciate that singing from PowerPoint slides, increasingly the practice in churches of all kinds, is a small step toward unity of believers. And that has to be a good thing.