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Home Dept/Ministries Music Ministries The Singing Church Articles from the May 2008 issue

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A Challenge from JoshHarris.com and Me

So, who is Josh Harris? He is the well-known Christian writer of I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Boy Meets Girl, and Sex is Not the Problem (Lust is).

And what was his challenge?

In his 3/26/08 blog, he challenged: Memorize ten hymns this year.

Now why, I wondered, was a “relationship expert” like Harris telling me to memorize hymns? It turns out that Harris, now senior pastor at Covenant Life Church in Gathersburg, Maryland, has a dream of “gathering the church, turning off the screen that projects the lyrics, and then belting out these classic songs of praise to God.” In his blog, he explains that at his church they sing many different songs in many different styles. That includes a good number of hymns. But this year he wants for his congregation to deepen their appreciation and love for some great hymns.

“The purpose of the project is to get great theology into people's hearts and minds. I want my kids to know these songs,” says Harris. He is asking the church members to submit titles for the “top 10 hymns” list that they will work with in this project. They are urged to find songs that are “rich in truth about God and the gospel,” not just the most familiar. Once the list is compiled, musicians in their church will record the hymns onto a CD which will be given to everyone with a memorization schedule. (I’m not sure where he is in the project, but there were many responses to his blog.)

What a great idea!

A Lutheran congregation in Granite Bay, California compiled its “top 10 hymns” in 2004 (similar to what Harris suggested) and posted it on the church’s website. You will see the list in the left side bar. With one exception¹ the hymns may all be found in the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal. (You may also read the story behind each of these hymns at http://www.lcrchurch.org/toptenhymns.htm.)

I see a lot of value in projects like these. In fact, several years ago I spent quite a bit of time designing a WebQuest learning activity.² In this lesson, a class of middle school students are to poll the members of their church to find out their favorite hymns. Then the students publish a booklet with the top hymns and their stories and give it to each member of the congregation as a keepsake for a special worship service or musical event.

So here’s my challenge: If any SNEC church compiles a “Top 10 Hymns” list, I will feature it in this newsletter and on the SNEC website. I can’t promise I’ll find someone to record the hymns for you, but I’ll even give that a try!

--Carol Swinyar, Director, SNEC Music Ministries

1. Our hymnal is missing “We are Marching in the Light of God” (Siyahamba), a traditional freedom song from South Africa. The original lyrics were in the Zulu language. Various U.S. denominations began including it in their hymnals in the 1980’s. If you would like to hear the music, there are a variety of YouTube renditions of the song. The sheet music may be down-loaded free at http://www.sibeliusmusic.com/cgi-bin/show_score.pl?scoreid=82271.

2. Find the Discovering Hymns project at http://www.can-do-music.com/?page_id=11