What makes a good hymn?
Erik Routley, a renowned British hymnologist in the 1950s, routinely said a good hymn should be “well-written, well-chosen, and well-sung.” For over fifty years, these words have been instructive filters for me. They’ve guided me as I’ve selected hymns for worship services, weddings, funerals, small groups, and retreats.
But what do these three traits actually mean? Let’s explore them further.
WELL-WRITTEN
By “well-written,” I mean a hymn’s theology should be sound and its music should be well-crafted. Routley wouldn’t approve any hymn unless it passed two tests—the grammar test and the congregation test. First, it had to be grammatically correct. He wrote, “As a piece of craftsmanship in literature, it must be without blemish. It must not offend against the rules of grammar. . . . Its thought must not be such that if it were a chair or a table, it would collapse as soon as any weight was put on it.” Second, it must be appropriate for congregational singing. Routley wrote, “It is necessary that when written, the hymn shall do, precisely and in full, the thing it was designed to do. A hymn is designed to be a congregational act of praise.”
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