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2023-01-20T23:16:25-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hymn of the Day: They Cast Their Nets in Galilee

Last updated on: January 20, 2023 at 11:16 pm By Jonathan Aigner

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When I begin a new church post, I like to ask my new colleagues what their favorite hymns are. I’ve been serving churches professionally in one way or another since I was 17, I grew up in the church, and I’m something of an amateur hymnologist, so I’m not often stumped by their answers. But the most recent time I asked this question, my senior pastor threw me a curveball. “They Cast Their Nets in Galilee” was his answer. I... Read more

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2023-01-20T23:02:00-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hymn of the Day: Songs of Thankfulness and Praise

Last updated on: January 20, 2023 at 11:02 pm By Jonathan Aigner

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Songs of Thankfulness and Praise Songs of thankfulness and praise, Jesus, Lord, to thee we raise, Manifested by the star To the sages from afar; Branch of royal David’s stem In thy birth at Bethlehem; Anthems be to thee addrest, God in man made manifest. Manifest at Jordan’s stream, Prophet, Priest, and King supreme; And at Cana, wedding guest, In thy Godhead manifest; Manifest in power divine, Changing water into wine; Anthems be to thee addrest, God in man made... Read more

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2022-12-22T09:23:18-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

6 Reasons Not to Cancel Church on Christmas

Last updated on: December 22, 2022 at 9:23 am By Jonathan Aigner

It’s another one of those years. In case it hasn’t hit you yet, Christmas is on Sunday this year, and many churches are already making plans to cancel. The first time I heard about a church canceling a Sunday, ANY Sunday, for a reason other than dire emergencies, was early December 2005. This girl I was dating at the time told me that her family’s church, a gargantuan megachurch in Suburban Atlanta (Yes, it’s the one you’re probably already thinking... Read more

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2022-09-30T14:35:41-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What I Don’t Want My Kids to Sing: Hymns I Try to Avoid

Last updated on: September 30, 2022 at 2:35 pm By Jonathan Aigner

Here is a follow-up to my last post about the hymns I want my children to learn. There are some hymns that I try to avoid as much as possible. Personal Testimony Hymns There are some hymns, like “There Is a Fountain” that essentially use this format as a vehicle for proclaiming the gospel. But there are many, many others, mostly in the gospel hymns category that use flowery language to cook up some sort of ultra-dramatic, sappy account of... Read more

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2022-09-28T13:46:56-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What Do I Want My Kids to Sing: How I Choose Hymns

Last updated on: September 28, 2022 at 1:46 pm By Jonathan Aigner

In response to my recent series of posts on hymns I’d like to ban for all etenity, someone asked me to talk more about what hymns I would never want to block. Rather than a list of what I think are the best, which would be difficult and unnecessarily subjective, I thought I would list some general criteria for the kind of hymns I find most valuable. First and foremost, I believe that music should serve the liturgy of the... Read more

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2022-09-27T10:38:54-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Let’s Make Eulogies a Thing of the Past

Last updated on: September 27, 2022 at 10:38 am By Jonathan Aigner

I rewatched the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II the other day. Another thing hit me. There were no eulogies, by the grace of God. At my funeral, I want someone with good aim sitting in the front pew holding a barrel full of overripe tomatoes. Anyone who dares to say, “We’re here to celebrate his life,” shall be pelted with tomatoes. The same goes for anyone who tries to give a eulogy. Eulogies are a recent phenomenon, particularly in liturgical... Read more

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2022-09-23T17:10:23-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

All Are Welcome, But To What Exactly?

Last updated on: September 23, 2022 at 5:10 pm By Jonathan Aigner

This post started out as an installment in my “Hymns I Would Block For All Eternity” series, maybe it still is, but I wanted to broaden it just a little bit. Someone in one of the fun, snarky church music Facebook groups of which I am a card-carrying member mentioned Catholic boomer hymn-writer Marty Haugen’s ditty, “All Are Welcome,” sometimes known as “Let us build a house.” Haugen is not actually Catholic, a mainline Lutheran, I believe, but he spent... Read more

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2022-09-23T16:23:57-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

If You Watched the Queen’s Funeral, Try Going to Church for Yourself

Last updated on: September 23, 2022 at 4:23 pm By Jonathan Aigner

Apparently 4.1 billion people watched funeral of Queen Elizabeth II yesterday, making it the most-watched broadcast of all-time. That’s pretty interesting. As one Facebook poster said, “That…63% of the world’s population were glued not to a runway or an awards show or a lip-syncing boy band being obliterated by light effects, but to Anglican chant, the strains of Howells, Weir, Parry, and Harris; not to words like “you hoes be trippin’,” but to “My soul, there is a country” and... Read more

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2022-09-15T11:53:59-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hymns I Would Block for All Eternity: Sing a New World Into Being

Last updated on: September 15, 2022 at 11:53 am By Jonathan Aigner

One of the things one must understand about the gospel is that it is not primarily concerned with ethics. That might seem like a scandelous statement. I’m not saying that Christian ethics do not exist, only that they are an outworking of the gospel in the life of believers, not the gospel itself. The gospel is this: Christ crucified to save sinners. It is God’s work through Jesus to reconcile fallen humanity to him. We the fallen are quick to... Read more

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2022-09-12T21:18:05-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hymns I Would Block For All Eternity: I Am the Bread of Life

Last updated on: September 12, 2022 at 9:18 pm By Jonathan Aigner

Here’s another hymn that, were I given the chance, I would pay good money to ban forever. This one is different than “Woman of the Night,” or whatever it’s called. It’s from a sub-genre of hymnody that I like to call Catholic Boomer Hymns,” and I should mention first off that the text of this hymn is superb, because it is largely taken from the wonderful John 6, with the final stanza based on John 11. But that’s also a... Read more

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