It's All About HYMN: Essays on Reclaiming Sacred and Traditional Music for Worship

WINNER of the 2011 GLOBAL eBOOK AWARD for "Christian Non-Fiction." With so many contemporary evangelical voices calling for “redefining,” “rethinking,” “remaking,” and “repackaging” Christian worship, now comes a new voice for reclaiming its sacred and traditional precepts for worshipping God through sung prayer. Praised by some of the world’s leading authorities in the church music field, It’s All About HYMN: Essays on Reclaiming Sacred and Traditional Music for Worship opens up new doors to dialogue, sheds light on factors that influence the Western Christian worship model, and challenges all Christians to reassess how they approach the act of worship. WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID…
This is a book of essays on religious and sacred music, its history, use and considerations of the different types of church music. The author Don LeVie Jr. is involved and has definite ideas on music in church. His faith, his passion and commitment are very visible as we read these essays. This is a very good thing adding to the Donn's arguments and making them much more convincing. Each essay addresses a facet of religious music. Donn is careful to explain each term but never talks down to the reader. This reminded me of a very good teacher, taking the time to ensure that every student had the basic understanding needed to proceed. This book works on several levels. It is an examination of the use and form of music in church. It is a challenge to those involved in "the worship music debate" to think about the music they support and it is a history of religious music. These well-written, thought provoking essays "offer a gentle but firm treatment "of the subject. This book works for those that have a passing interest to those heavily involved. They can be read individually or as a complete set and are equally enjoyable either way. It's All About HYMN combines the counsel of Scripture; the wisdom in voices of contemporary authorities and those from ages past; widely accepted criteria for church music aesthetics; the power of logic and reason to repel fallacy, groupthink, and false justifications; and how art and architecture work in tandem to create the spaces that determine how we worship. Regardless of which side of the worship music debate you find yourself, enrich and deepen your perception of the importance of spiritual discernment as a filter through which all music finds its way into hallowed spaces by a careful study of this book