Have Haugen/Haas been used in Lutheran hymnals?

[amightyfortress]

The problem with Haas/Haugen (which offers some change and singable tunes) is that it gets overused too much in both Catholic and Lutheran churches. It creates burnout! I know many pastors who are “hooked on Haugen” or Haas.

Did you know Bach had the same problem in Lutheran and Reformed churches in Germany during his lifetime? His music & liturgies were simply overused too much. Someone hid all his manuscripts away in an attic to rid the church of them, and it was the Jewish-Lutheran Felix Mendelssohn that found them and created a revival, which we still have today. If you do all Bach, you get bored and burnout. Bach even got tired of playing all his stuff all the time and played other material. You have to balance it out so you have classic hymns and liturgy and then the mod. That is the key which worship planners and pastors and priests need to follow. Limit your use on Haas and Haugen so you don’t overkill and burnout people.

Yes, we have the both of the two gentlemen too in the Lutheran churches, ELCA, LC-MS, and WELS. The new *Evangelical Lutheran Worship *hymnal in the ELCA has more Haugen than Martin Luther which is alarming! The United Methodists, Episcopalians, and United Church of Christ and Evangelical Covenant Church have them both too in their hymnbooks.

Haas is Roman Catholic and Haugen was raised ALC (Norwegian) Lutheran north of Rochester, Minnesota. He is now a member of the United Church of Christ in Minneapolis I hear.

I sometimes go to another church when I know the Haugen liturgy is going to be for the service. But I have met him and he does know scripture better than some pastors and priests I have met. Haugen also plays very well on the pipe organ too and loves classics. His main forte is writing new hymns to Biblical texts that have never had music set to them. I would encourage anybody to take in one of his “Living Liturgy” seminars, where you can learn a lot, and realize he is not that bad. lol I had a change of heart for Haugen after meeting him, learning, and taking in the event for 3 days. I hated his music totally before that! We had a lot of Roman Catholics attending too.

livingliturgy.com/

But, Haugen does write singable music for the boomer set. His “Holden Village Prayer” service is very good for modern Vespers. I like it all, classic, contemporary etc.

But, as a good rule of thumb, you have to balance it all out so there is no burnout and people hating the music because it is overkilled in worship. I feel for you really out there with what you are saying, because it happens in my church too!

Jim

 

[THutch04]

I do know that some of their music is used in the newer hymnals used in Episcopal/Anglican churches (but after briefly skimming some of them, I didn’t find any of the particularly notorious ones, so I’m assuming their music isn’t used that much).

I didn’t have too much of a problem with either of them when I first heard their songs…but then it became the ONLY music that was played. I personally prefer the older hymns, but there is definitely some great music that has been written since 1900 (Vaughn Williams for example). There’s good and bad music in all genres, and I think that there are some contemporary songs that could be around for quite awhile (such as “I Am the Bread of Life”).

And I definitely agree that there is older music which I cringe at everytime I hear it played (for example, the gloria and the sanctus which is the EXACT same in pretty much EVERY Episcopal church I’ve attended).