I used to attend a church that had no hymns. They have a worship band playing contemporary christian music. It was a wonderfully fun place to be and packed to the rafters every Sunday. I was very happy with it.
When I got married last year, I decided that since my wife and step-daughter’s family going back three generations had been Nazarene that I would begin attending services with them. They only sing hyms out of a book and the only instrument is a badly out of tune piano played by a nice old lady that is unfortunatel struck with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I hadn’t fallen asleep in church before, well not since I was about 4 years old.
This church is not exactly “packing them in.” I do not however blame the hymns, I blame the style in which they are played. I’ve heard hymns played to accoustic guitars with a little drum and keyboard added in, it’s great.
But since this thread seems to be “what is your favorite hymn?” I will submit the following; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w3y3iT3NlU
Haha, I'm Nazarene.