Nostalgia

A friend was relating how comforting it was to sing hymns that she knew so well she didn't need printed words. As she sang, she was also conscious of the other occasions when she had sung that song.
There is nothing new in this. Singing something you know well is a very human act of community and continuity.
But is it worship?
It can be. But we also need to remember there was a time when we didn't know this song, we had to learn it. "Sing to the Lord a new song" helps us to remain open to what the Spirit is saying.
I think we also need to remember that if we only sing the old songs, we isolate ourselves from our context which is constantly changing.
Also, often we don't give ourselves a chance to learn the new songs well enough to know them by heart. New songs need to be introduced well, repeated for probably a month and then used often after that.
Finally, we need to be careful that we don't fall into the trap of worshipping nostalgia, of becoming so attached to the comfortable feeling of familiarity that we become confused about where God is in that feeling.

One year on

We've been here a year, and worship on Sunday actually went well! I was worried as our main musician has decided to shift churches and is off to play the organ at St Paul's. The guitarist came to practice and then remembered a prior engagement a day later.
I like a team. It's hard to lead and play at the same time, let alone carrying the whole thing.
But we managed, and the feedback after the service was positive. We used the songs we've been singing over the last year, and I guess they've finally 'taken', there was one of those funny lifts in volume and enthusiasm as we started 'Light of the World', which is new to St Stephens, which surprised me. Cool though.