Thanks Ginny for sending this to me.
The Episcopal church’s “Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music” produced a report about the support or lack thereof for a revision in the Hymnal 1982. The most striking surprise (though I, for one am not surprised) is that the young adult demographic is in favor of keeping traditional hymns and have less desire for music that reflect their personal tastes.
A few highlights:
Respondents in their twenties and younger are statistically different than the rest of the respondents, reporting the least interest in desiring worship music to reflect their personal musical tastes. This proves counter to the “common knowledge” theory that younger congregants are looking for a more modern or popular-music experience at church.
And also:
Perhaps most significantly, there is no pattern in which youth correlates with a particular movement towards new forms of musical expression. To revise the Hymnal must in some way be a project that is a gift to the next generation. Gaining some clearer sense of what the worship music of that generation will look like will require a longer and more careful period of discernment
Full Article: http://thecuratesdesk.org/2012/05/15/dont-do-it-for-the-kids-of-hymnal-revision-and-young-adults/
The full report can be found here:
https://www.cpg.org/linkservid/57003D75-DA12-05B2-F4FFD5819BE00E5A/showMeta/0/?label=Hymnal%20Revision%20Feasibility%20Study
Adam Kurihara 