Traditional Hymns For Youth Groups

September is here.  The school year has begun;  Not only that, but a new season of youth group has begun as well.  And many of these youth groups would have a time of worship, employing music.

Why Current Praise and Worship Music Is Not Enough

But there are problems with much of what counts as praise and worship for today, even though there are many positives (provided they are used properly, in the right context).  It is no secret that a majority of songs coming out of the praise and worship scene are not theologically deep.  Some of these songs do not encourage singing because they are crafted for professional singers, in higher keys, and inconsistent rhythms.  And much of today’s worship music, instead of fostering a desire to enter into worship, instead foster a lot of folks looking from the outside in.

What has resulted is a lot of teenagers not learning the deepest truths of the faith, or not having them reinforced by the songs chosen.  As I sometimes peruse the atheist boards, I read the testimonials of a prominent number of ex-believers, who had shared their resentment over those shallow songs that were forced upon them, without answering deeper questions of the faith, without reflecting the fullness of what the Gospel entails.

Therefore, I’m a huge proponent of finding theologically rich traditional songs in a youth minister’s repertoire.  Don’t throw out the traditional songs, just because they’ve heard it with an organ or a choir.  Use traditional songs because one they are extremely familiar to everybody, and they happen to have a theological depth that is missing in a lot of current contemporary praise songs.

I don’t advocate throwing out the contemporary praise songs either; I prefer to recognize that both have their strengths and weakness, but when you combine them you will find that the richness of theology and traditional melodies complement the relevance of contemporary sound and emotions; this is the best of both worlds.

Furthermore, I think that there is a very positive trend within the praise and worship scene.  There is a strand of worship music out there today that are those worship songs culled from traditional, theologically rich, popular hymns, but append an original chorus, a bridge or an outro to them.  Examples of this are “The Wonderful Cross,” “Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone),” (both by Chris Tomlin), “Jesus Paid it All” by Kristian Stanfill, or “Adoration” by Matt Maher.

Crafting Your Own Modern Hymn Hybrid

Any worship leader can craft a contemporary hymn of their own, using an almost endless supply of public domain hymns, available through sites like www.hymnary.org.  Even when you pick up an older hymnal and peruse its contents, you will discover hundreds of hymns, crafted in an era where poetry and orthodoxy were more highly regarded than today, that are nearly forgotten.

One of the greatest things about this is that you can find songs associated with any subject matter whatsoever.  Trust that within the entire history of the Church, lasting two millennia, that there have been songwriters of the Church who are there to support you, helping you find musical means of expression and proper terminology, that would assist you in finding exactly those phrases that will support your themes.

As a youth minister, you could be talking about the future, or about the cross, or any serious subject matter, you will want to plan in advance those songs that can assist your theme.  With today’s Internet tools, you can find traditional hymns that fit your theme exactly.  Or better yet, you can organize a reflection around a historical Christian figure, say, St. Francis of Assisi or Saint Patrick of Ireland.  There are so many fantastic saint stories out there, ready to be used as a reinforcing tool for your central lesson.

But when you do so, if you were to introduce those songs as written by that very person to your group, what a powerful memorable lesson that will resonate will result.  Such lyrics are powerful because they have depth and poetry and now they are connected by history.  They are connected by virtue of the fact that you are singing the actual lyrics on this person that you’re going to talk about.  Now you’re connected in history.  Now you’re passing on an heirloom to them.  What a fantastic resource.

Finding A Melody For Your Obscure Hymn

You could take those words and put them in a modern context, accompanying such with an easy melody that they can relate to.  However, if this unfamiliar hymn doesn’t have a melody associated with it, finding a melody to these songs would be easier than ever, using the aforementioned sites.  Afterwards, associate that melody with a modern guitar sound.

Furthermore, if the song is in the public domain, you can also make a couple of changes that will render the song even more sing-able.  You have the freedom to take a hymn with many verses, and take a particular verse and, changing the melody, render that verse to be a chorus.  A budding worship songwriter take one of the verses, and write their own musical melody that complements the traditional melody.  That way you came shake things up.

You could take a song and instead of being hit with the same melody over and over again, by inserting a chorus you can provide a musical relief from monotony.  And if the song is long enough, perhaps you can add a third counter melody, a bridge, to further add creative melodic counterpoints.  Suddenly you’ll find that you have a new unique song, as you have taken the words and put them in a modern, relatable context, with melodies that your group can relate to.

Conclusion

The result is that there is a traditional melody, with traditional words, but crafted with a musical tone for contemporary times.  When you do this, they’ll be able to sing along.  Ancient lyrics will be made relevant.

It is absolutely amazing to see the final result and it’s something that you can claim as your own.  It’s really something to say, “for my group, we have found and discovered this song.”  And your group would sing it like they own it.

It is my hope that people become what they sing, and that if you provide songs of great depth, then the age-old truths of the Gospel will resonate, for the many years after youth group graduation.