Do we even need hymnals given that more and more churches are getting on the Powerpoint bandwagon? That question was posed to me by a leader in my church during a discussion on Lutheran Service Book. To be honest, I was taken aback. No hymnals?

I shouldn’t be surprised — many churches that have hymnals increasingly relegate them to the pew rack (assuming they have pews) and instead use a self contained printed worship folder. And for those churches that have “contemporary” worship services, it is trendy to project the service on the “big screen.”

Why would I recommend a printed hymnal?

• Worship folders and Powerpoint slides are transitory. They lack the permanence of a bound book.
• A hymnal is a prayerbook and sung confession of the congregation and the individual Christian. It is a resource to be used during corporate worship and at home and should be a resource of the best material available — in our case material that is Christ centered, cross focused, and in harmony with the Word and the Lutheran Confessions.
• It is sometimes difficult to sing liturgy and hymns without at least a printed melody line. Often times “music readers” can enliven singing because they can see where the music is going. Powerpoint slides usually don’t contain any musical notation. Worship folders start looking like books when music is included.
• When a hymnal is purchased, you don’t have to gain copyright permission to use the materials straight from the hymnal (this assumes no photocopying, projecting, recording, etc.). Projecting the text or liturgy via Powerpoint slides or printing text and/or music in a worship folder requires permission of all affected copyright holders. Even churches have to follow the copyright laws.