In a recent post I mentioned the fact that there are efforts being made by various groups to take portions of traditional Christian hymnody and contextualize the musical arrangements in a way that is appealing to particular cultural settings (i.e. without the pipe organ). One such group is Re:Sound, the music branch of the Resurgence. One of the projects that Re:Sound has put together is the Rain City Hymnal.
This album is a collection of twelve hymns that have been arranged and performed by five different bands. The liner notes give an explanation of the goal of contextualizing hymns:
If you look at the history of hymns you see that the vast majority of them have a separate author for text and tune. Over time the best texts have risen to the surface and been put to many different tunes that made sense to specific people at particular times and places. We at Mars Hill Church in Seattle are simply another link in this chain seeking work out a very old message, the gospel of Jesus, for a specific people, place and time.
I am very excited about albums like this. I am glad to listen to Christ-centered, God-exalting music that seeks to be biblically sound and musically creative. This also presents a great opportunity for the teenagers that I lead to be exposed to Christian doctrine in a format that they welcome.
Rain City Hymnal can be purchased and downloaded from Amazon.com for $8.99. It’s worth every penny.