08/04/2026
We’re not interested in singing songs that a basically lyric sheets projected onto a wall. Give me a book!
There appears to be a growing number of churches working to recover the practice—never entirely lost, but not as popular as it used to be—of singing from books.
Hymnals offer perceived permanence and stability in a musical landscape that changes quickly and often. The decision to reintroduce congregations to hymnals is often an ideological one, especially for churches that made the transition away from them in recent decades.
But a notable number of churches are making that choice, choosing the printed page over lyrics projected onto a screen.
Dan Kreider, a composer, arranger, and music minister who designed the Sing! Hymnal said hymnals aren’t going to replace projection or any of the tech tools that undergird contemporary worship music. But they offer something valuable and different.
“If you’re in a church that just goes with the most popular songs, where is your sense of permanence? Think of the kids growing up in your church. Where is their sense of permanence? What songs are they going to remember and sing as they age? The hymnal slows us down,” Kreider said.
From the CT archive:
