Dan writes a great article as he thinks through camp music. I like his idea that songs should be more propositional. Hymns set to contemporary music would be terrific.
I also like that Dan is consciously observing and thinking through these things. Keep it up, Dan!
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Thanks for the plug Hayesy. I actually disagree about hymns. Hymns are fantastic. Lots of them are propositional (some aren’t though), but they often use language that assumes a Christian heritage.
On the camp I was on for instance the music guy wanted to sing Rock of Ages. ‘Let the water and the blood, from his wounded side which flowed. be for sin the double cure, wash me from its guilt and power.’
Too much!
The people we are interacting with are generally secular. Which means they have no framework of christianity to work from. That means each concept needs to be clearly explained. There is too much explaining to be done. I actually wouldn’t ever sing a hymn on a non-christian mission style camp unless it was amazing grace, which people already know and which is quite simple conceptually.
Yeah, good points. What about contemporary hymns? How Deep The Father’s Love etc.
A cool guy I know once wrote a mad song called Behold The Cross. How’s that one? I suppose you want all the Christians on camp to already be familiar with the songs you’re singing…
It can help to write out the words and think about what is there.
‘the word in flesh.’ Needs some explaining