Includes bibliographical references.

Introduction : my pastoral concerns -- Introductory considerations -- Aesthetic relativism -- Form and content -- Meta-messages -- "Sacred music"? -- Three musical genres -- Musical questions -- Contemporaneity as a value -- Song and prayer -- The mind, sentiment, and sentimentality -- Ritual (formality and informality) -- Strategic issues -- Concluding thoughts -- Teaching Johnny hymnody.

In this book, I attempt to locate some of the cultural forces that have caused hymns to sound so foreign to this generation that they feel they need to replace them with something contemporary. I also express misgivings about this circumstance. - Author website.