Ten New Albums Indicative of Positive Shifts in Modern Worship

When I began cataloguing the growth of the hymns movement several years ago, I had no idea that its growth would be this rapid.  Even using just one metric for growth and expansion—the production of albums—the number of artists and churches setting old hymn-texts to new music is much greater than it was five years ago.  This movement is not the be-all and end-all for reformation in mainstream modern worship.  There needs to be a renaissance in theology, history, and liturgy in our all-too-now-focused doxology.  However, I am convinced that the hymns movement is indicative of the broader trends in worship in the West—trajectories toward theological depth, historical connectivity, and being biblically informed. 

Over the last twelve months or so, independent albums have been released, whose styles and expressions are all over the map, which is a further indicator of how widespread this movement truly is.  In many ways, these are some of the folks we can consider part of the “next generation” in the hymns movement.  Pioneers like Indelible Grace and Red Mountain Music have passed the torch (even as they continue to produce their own material).  Here is a representative sampling of the last twelve months of Hymns Movement 2.0.

Cardiphonia  |  International
Pentecost Songs
eclectic, compilation

Matthew Henry Curl, Intown Church  |  Portland, OR
Communion, Vol. 1
acoustic rock, lyrical

Karl Digerness, City Hymns  |  San Francisco, CA
Fragments of Grace
folk, bluegrass, americana, some electronica
(Read my review of this album)

 

Matthew Grimsley, Redeemer Church of Knoxville  |  Knoxville, TN
Rise O Buried Lord
folk, contemporary-classical

Aaron Hale  |  Kansas City, MO
Lenten Hymns, Vol. 1
indie folk, acoustic

JG Hymns  |  Edinburgh, Scotland
Hymns, Vol. 3
indie-folk rock

Alex Mejias, High Street Hymns  |  Richmond, VA
Hearts and Voices
folk, americana

Red Mountain Music  |  New York, NY
All Things New
indie-folk, ambient
(Read my review of this album)

Sojourn Music  |  Louisville, KY
The Water and the Blood
folk, americana, blues, rock
(Read my review of this album)

Michael Van Patter, Hope Chapel Greensboro  |  Greensboro, NC
What Spoils from Death He Won
indie-folk

Comments

[bruce]

great list zac. thanks for the shoutout!

[JR Harris]

Pretty sure Red Mountain Church is in downtown Birmingham, AL, not NYC. Great list BTW.

[Clint Wells]

Red Mountain Church is a separate entity than Red Mountain Music. Technically Red Mountain Music is based out of NYC and partially Nashville, TN.

Zac knows his shiznits.

Thanks for the kind words, Zac. Happy to pass the torch to a new group of hungry hymnwriters.