At our old church, we used to run a Sunday evening cafe style church using MP3 and YouTube mainly for the music. Primarily the songs were aimed at a younger generation and we went louder and more contemporary.
However, I’ve always loved the older hymns and I think there’s a rich heritage of wonderful praise in them. So, we were keen to introduce older hymns to younger congregations. The beauty of Sunday night was that it grew from a youth group into a multi-generational congregation with teenagers through to 90 year olds.
One resource we found really helpful was Tommy Walker’s Generation Hymns. We rediscovered some classics already known to us but also were introduced to a few like “This is my Father’s World” that are perhaps better known in the States than here.
The hymns tend to be set to lively arrangements and have been improved (which is not always achieved by contemporary arrangements) by new choruses and bridges.
I’m really pleased that Tommy Walker and gang have just released Generation Hymns 3. It’s probably going to be tricky to get UK side as a CD but I’m sure will be available with downloadable MP3s. You can also watch and listen to a few of the songs on YouTube.
There’s a definite Sankey/Redemption Hymnal feel to this collection.
I particularly am enjoying
At The Cross
There’s Power in the blood
Give me Jesus
Faithroots 