Give me that old-time music

I learned to sing at church. Standing on the pew between my parents in the little stone building where I spent much of my early childhood, I watched the song service leader bring the printed marks in the Seventh-day Adventist hymnal to life in music. Soon, I too knew many of the hymns by heart and could sing along with my parents. Very rarely did we sing contemporary music during song service; the congregation preferred to use the hymnal. When we moved to a new state, our new church had a different style of worship which introduced me to contemporary worship music. Over the years, I have sung many modern worship songs. I even led out as a vocalist in one of my church’s youth worship bands. And still, the most powerful songs I have ever sung are from the hymnal. 

The 695 hymns in the Adventist hymnal are written about a variety of topics, such as the life and death of Jesus, the Christian life and our hope of the Resurrection. There are songs for every feeling, and each song has a story. They were written throughout history by women and men of faith who struggled and overcame through Christ. As we sing hymns written in the past, we are connected to our heritage as a church and reminded of what God can do. In the words of Ellen White, “We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.” The old songs keep us rooted. In where we’ve been, we can find courage to keep moving forward.

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t hate contemporary worship music. In fact, there are many newer songs that I enjoy. Singing together for the glory of God is an amazing act of communal worship. To me, the experience of making music together with my siblings in Christ is unlike anything else, no matter what the song. But why would we stop singing the traditional hymns if they still have messages applicable to us today? For example, hymn #461, “Be Still My Soul,” was my anchor during a particularly difficult time, despite the fact that it is around 300 years old. There is enough room in our worship for both the old and the new. 

If I were to poll Union students, I believe the most popular hymn from our hymnal would be #530, “It Is Well With My Soul.” We sing it often at Family Worship, finding comfort in its proclamations of peace. The hymnal is full of songs as powerful as this one. We simply have to open it to find them.

By Annika Cambigue