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Thankfully, there are better ways to approach our inherited hymnody. Many artists are using their creative gifts to write new tunes or arrangements for rich but forgotten texts of old. Others are writing theologically and spiritually weighty choruses and hymns that complement them.

Those who lead us in worship music could make hymns more accessible by noting the scriptural basis of a song for the congregation, by introducing unfamiliar terms and concepts, and by familiarizing worshipers with the story of a hymn's composer. Rather than trying to rewrite these treasures or, worse, relegating them to the sea of forgetfulness, let us raise high the Ebenezers of old with humility and deep gratitude.

Gary A. Parrett is associate professor of educational ministries and worship at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Gary Parrett is also author of 9.5 Theses on Worship.

More Christianity Today articles from our Worship page include:

Old Words, Vibrant Faith | Christian pop/rock band Jars of Clay explains why the church needs more Redemption Songs. (Oct 21, 2005)

'Hymn for Easter Day' | Charles Wesley's 'Christ the Lord Is Risen Today' brings alleluia's historical significance to modern audiences. (March 24, 2005)

Reformed Protestants No Longer See Images as Idolatrous | The visual and the word go hand in hand as some pastors see possibility in connecting pictures with worship. (Dec. 06, 2004)

'You Shall Not Worship Me This Way' | How even the worship of God can be idolatrous. (April 06, 2004)

Coming Back to the Heart of Worship | We can't not worship, says Harold Best. But we can worship wrongly. (April 06, 2004)

Farther In and Deeper Down | Evangelicals of all stripes are reviving the neglected art of expository preaching. (April 05, 2002)

The Danger Ahead | Haddon Robinson on the precarious future of evangelical preaching. (April 05, 2002)

Anglican Liturgist Welcomes Vatican Warning on 'Politically Correct' Liturgy | Gender-specific alterations seemed hypocritical, inconsistent, says British theologian. (June 20, 2001)

The Silenced Word | Why aren't evangelicals reading the Bible in worship anymore? (March 20, 2001)

Whatever Happened to God? | One of evangelicalism's most respected theologians says most worship is clubby and convivial rather than adoring and expectant. (Feb. 1, 2001)

The New/Old CCM | Classical Christian music, especially the sacred works of Johann Sebastian Bach, finds a young, and large, audience. (Dec. 18, 2000)

Cease-Fire in the Worship Wars | A dispatch from the Calvin Symposium on Worship and the Arts (Feb. 7, 2000)

The Profits of Praise | The praise and worship music industry has changed the way the church sings. (July 12, 1999)

We Are What We Sing | Our classic hymns reveal evangelicalism at its best. (July 12, 1999)

The Triumph of the Praise Songs | How guitars beat out the organ in the worship wars. (July 12, 1999)

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January 2006, Vol. 50, No. 1