Smith Creek Music: Hymnology Bibliography; Praying Twice

Brian Wren. Praying Twice: the Music and Words of Congregational Song. Louisville, Westminster John Knox Press, 2000.

Renowned theologian and hymn writer Brian Wren explores here the theological significance of congregational singing, analyzes the importance of contemporary worship music, and explains the power of tune and text in the life and nurture of a congregation. Wren studies the lyrics of choruses, hymns, chants, and ritual songs, and identifies their importance as both poetry and communal utterances of theology. This is a valuable resource for church musicians, pastors, and other worship leaders.

Chapters from Table of Contents:

1. "Through All the Changing Scenes of Life" : Glimpses of Congregational Song

2. "Rescue the Holy Pleasure" : Why Congregational Song is Indispensable

3. "A More Profound Alleluia" : Encouraging the People's Song

4. "Some Demand a Driving Beat" : Contemporary Worship Music

5. "And Speak Some Bounless Thing" : Assessing the Lyrics of Congregational Song

6. "Sing Them Over Again to Me" : Refrains, Choruses, and Other People's songs

7. "Captured by Gender" : Chant and Ritual Song

8. "Such a Feast as Mends in Length" : Hymns as Poems of Faith

9. "To Me, to All, Thy Bowels Move" : Why do They Keep Changing the Good Old Hymns?

10. "Echoes of the Gospel" : How Hymns Do Theology

Epilogue: Findings