Millenial Church Planter: Hymns: Worshipful Past, Worshipful Present.

Admit it. There is something about the way that hymns communicate. Read from the hymn, "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus" to see what I mean:

O how sweet to trust in Jesus, 
 just to trust his cleansing blood; 
 and in simple faith to plunge me 
 neath the healing, cleansing flood! 
 (Refrain)

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him! 
 How I've proved him o'er and o'er! 
 Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! 
 O for grace to trust him more!

Or, perhaps the hymn, "All the Way(My Savior Leads Me)":

All the way my Savior leads me,
Oh, the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised
In my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way;
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way.

Or a more modern tune, "Before the Throne" by Stuart Townend:

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

I'm not gonna tell you why hymns are crucial for a worship leader to embrace. I'm gonna let other South Florida worship leaders tell you themselves.

"The hymns contain ALOT of theology and they stand as a big part of our history as believers. They remind us of those that came before us and their testimony of God. Also we are taught that remembering our history and honoring it is important. Example: Easter in memory of the resurrection and Christmas for the birth of Christ. The value of history is being lost on our culture and the church can not allow that to happen to us. As a worship leader I'm going to try to work some in at least once a month."

-Michael Oliva, New Beginning Church

"Cultural relevance plays a big part in considering hymns for a worship service. If a large percentage of the congregation grew up/was saved when hymns were the majority of the music being sung, then they will respond and enter in better with what they are comfortable. Not that they can't or won't learn new music, but we all have our comfort zones. I do an average of a hymn each week (sometimes rearranged/updated) in our Sunday morning service"

-Tony Ambrose, Odessa (Texas) 1st Assembly of God

"Hymns just strike a different chord. Some were written out of utter pain and loss while some were written in times of joy. I think the simplicity of the musicality of the songs allows us to focus on the lyrics as well. It's as if the instruments are accompanying and the lyrics are the passion and heart driving the song instead of the other way around. As for cultural relevance I feel that the older people appreciate then when they are done (even if they are performed a little different) and younger people would benefit from learning them. I agree that Hymns tend to have a lot more theology versus new songs today."

-Josh Link, The Anchor Church

"They help us connect to our history as the church. Not every hymn is great, but the good ones are. They usually speak of the work of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and a final eschatological verse. They are important to the church and should be incorporated into our worship services. Updated versions with added choruses are great to bridge the gap between older and younger congregants. But doing a hymn very traditional with minimal instrumentation can have a very powerful impact too. We did that this week with Come Thou Fount."

-Adrian Moreno, Twin Lakes Church