The 27 hymns that have made the hymnal cut time and time again
An analysis in Christianity Today states, “There are many ways to identify the most lasting or best loved hymns among American Protestants. But what would we find by looking at all 28 hymnals published by mainline Protestant denominations from the late 1800s to the present? Out of almost 5,000 hymns, how many would appear in all 28 hymnals?”
The inventory surveyed for this analysis totals 4,905 hymns, found in successive hymnal editions of six mainline Protestant denominations including Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist.
“A typical contemporary hymnbook of 500 to 600 hymns will feature 250 to 300 hymns from the past and 250 to 300 new hymns. Middling hymn-writing may survive a generation or two but ultimately fades away. Of the hymns appearing in the denominational hymnbooks of the late 1800s, only half appeared in the first hymnals of the 20th century, and many more dropped away in subsequent editions. The process has continued through the generations. While historians highlight the great outpouring of new hymns in the Victorian era, our inventory indicates that less than 20 percent of the songs appearing in the hymnals of the late 1800s survive in current mainline Protestant hymnals.”
The average date of the top tier of hymns is 1788 (excluding “O Sacred Head”). Still, wide acceptance of these and other hymns did not come until the middle of the 19th century, after a prolonged contest with the once-predominant practice of singing the Psalms.
The top three hymns are : Abide with me; All hail the power of Jesus’ name and Come, ye thankful people come. For the remainder see:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/march/hymnsthatkeepgoing.html?start=1