300+ favorite hymns

At the “Semicolon” blog, Sherry Early has asked readers to email her their list of their 10 favorite hymns by this Sunday (May 31). Her key rule:

Hymn (according to Webster): a song of praise to God a metrical composition adapted for singing in a religious service.

For the purposes of this poll, I’m limiting the choices to Christian hymns, but the form of the song doesn’t matter. In other words, the songs on your list should be suitable for congregational singing and should be Christian. Handel’s Messiah is Christian but probably not suitable for congregational hymn singing. Anything you sing in worship service, even what are normally called choruses or gospel songs or spirituals or CCM, is fine. (Oh, English, please, or at least translated into English. Sorry, but it’s all I really speak.)

Sherry says she has 30 lists so far, but presumably procrastinators will push that past 50 (100?) by the deadline. Obviously some hymns (perhaps even the good ones) will get 5, 10, 25 votes.

I wanted to post my own list of favorites, but may not have it done until Sunday. I’m certainly hoping that many of my readers will root for some great timeless (e.g. 12th century) or more recent (e.g. Vaughan Williams) hymns.

So as they say in Chicago: vote early, vote often!


H/T: First Thoughts, the blog of the First Things, the magazine for American Catholic (and Anglo-Catholic) intellectuals.