I was standing in church today singing a hymn and I realized how much I absolutely love traditional hymns. About 15 years ago churches all over America began adopting “contemporary” worship and abandoning the organ. At the time I really hated singing hymns because I was 15 and it just seemed so old fashioned.

Something changed for me, though, after I really felt abandoned by my young, hip church that had a worship band better than most concerts you could attend on the weekend. Suddenly I didn’t want the hip and cool, I just wanted a mature church to be a part. I found that in the Episcopal church and I found a lot of other great things that I wasn’t looking for. The best thing that I found there is a connection to Christians who worshiped centuries before me. There’s something very comforting to the fact that my faith is not the latest fad. Instead, it’s a time-tested faith and there are many who have gone before us to write down the essence of this faith in words, prayer, and song. As I was singing one of the most popular traditional hymns this morning, something struck me about the words:

All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all;

These words are about glorifying God. It doesn’t seem that profound to say, but most of the “contemporary” songs are not about glorifying God, they are about asking God to make us feel good about ourselves. Of course, these are only generalizations but it illustrates the transition that I’m making in my faith: moving out of a self-help type faith to one that focuses on worshipping God in all his glory. When I am singing with the full organ, I feel much more like I am in the presence of God than in my own living room.