Hymnal Suggestions
I am pondering switching hymnals. We currently use Soul Stirring Songs and Hymns, which was in use when I got to my church. I don’t like it, especially the blatant Keswick sanctification in some of the songs. I’m looking for suggestions for good, solid, orthodox music.
I’ve heard such great things about the Trinity Hymnal (Baptist ed.), but I can’t find out too much about it. I’m kind of shooting in the dark here. Suggestions would be appreciated!
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My daughter is interested in music so I try to keep her stocked up on hymnals. My favorite so far are the Trinity hymnal and “Hymns Ancient and Modern”. It has some Getty Townsend stuff so depending on your position there you may or may not want it.
I totally agree with you on the Keswick stuff. We sing a fair amount of it at our church so my family just doesn’t sing those ones. To me if I wouldn’t say it then I don’t want to sing it.
Hymns of Grace and Glory! It is the best one in Fundamental circles. We project them now as well.
Roger Carlson, Pastor Berean Baptist Church
I have used Majesty Hymns at several churches now. If you are familiar with Ron Hamilton’s music, you will be comfortable with this hymnbook.
Why is it that my voice always seems to be loudest when I am saying the dumbest things?
I will second Roger and say that Hymns of Grace and Glory is very good as well.
I have Hymns of Grace and Glory and like it pretty well. Better than Majesty, imo.
I’ve also heard good things about Cantus Christi edited by Doug Wilson and his people.
And, of course, there’s always Trinity Hymnal, Baptist edition.
Our church has some old Hymns of Faith that I’m not really impressed with. We take songs from both Hymns Modern and Ancient (Referenced above- Hymns Ancient and Modern is actually another hymnal) and the Baptist Hymnal (2008, Lifeway). Hymnal choice is going to fall to preference. Our church sings new and old hymns and praise songs, conservatively styled. I’m not a big “CCLI Top 25” fan, but we have a variety of musical opinions in our church, and we sing a lot of Getty, Sovereign Grace, and ChurchWorksMedia music.
Brian Dempsey
Pastor, WBC
I Cor. 10:31
We use the Celebration Hymnal, I believe, and I like it. The Scripture reading is not from the KJV in our edition (not sure if that’s available in others), and some of the songs are ‘light’, but we just ignore them.
Majesty is a good one, but it seems to me that they packed it a little too full of Ron Hamilton stuff. YMMV.
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells
[Jay]Majesty is a good one, but it seems to me that they packed it a little too full of Ron Hamilton stuff. YMMV.
Majesty has some good features (one overlooked feature is that it is very easy to read), but not only does it have a few too many Hamilton songs, there are a lot of places where the words are changed that get pretty annoying when you already have known the words a long time.
I completely get making sure that words are understandable, but in most cases, the hymnal wording changes just feel like changing a passage of scripture that is plenty clear in the KJV (like the Luke 2 Christmas passage, even quoted in KJV form in the Charlie Brown Christmas Special) to something more modern just because…
Dave Barnhart
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