Hymnal Madness Conclusion

Every Hymn in the Competition Ranked by your Votes!

Hymnal Madness has come to an end!

The winner, after seven rounds of strenuous voting is……..

…..

Canticle of The Turning!!!

I couldn’t be happier with this outcome! Canticle of The Turning is tied with five other hymns for my favorite of all time. It’s a more recent hymn for me. It wasn’t one I grew up singing, but discovered during college. I shared it with the first congregation I worked at, sang it with fellow students during seminary, and married someone who also loves this hymn dearly. We featured this hymn at our wedding, and I’ve loved requesting it as a sermon hymn in my current call!

While “Canticle” is by no means an underdog, it definitely had a difficult route to the top. It was the top seed in the least-favored category in the tournament (the Modern Melodies). Its first matchup was against the beloved classic, “When Peace Like a River (It is Well).” After barely winning, “Canticle” scraped by in intense matchups against “Silent Night” and “Mighty Fortress.” But after a difficult early bracket, “Canticle” overwhelmed the elite competition, winning landslides over both “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” and “Beautiful Savior.” The final matchup between “Canticle” and “Be Thou My Vision” was close, but this modern interpretation of Mary’s song could not be stopped! The fires of its justice burned brightly and won the day!

And really, could there be a better winner of Hymnal Madness? Mary, through the Magnificat, is kind of the inventor of the Christian hymn. We don’t talk about how the legacy of Christian music began with the improvisational justice-song of a young woman upon learning that she’s pregnant with the Messiah. On the other end, it’s great to celebrate modern hymnody! Great hymns are still being written today, and I’m thrilled that a hymn that merges ancient words and traditional Celtic music into a contemporary song of protest and faith has taken the tournament.

But also, we really need to be taking the message of hymns like “Canticle of The Turning” to heart. The world is messed up. The evil powers of this world seek not only to dominate the land and the people but the very concept of truth itself. Corruption is the law of the land. Countless citizens of the wealthiest countries are being denied the basic rights and dignities of living. Genocide is occurring throughout the world and it’s being called justice. Yet here is this hymn, using the words of a young Palestinian woman living under oppressive occupation to proclaim a faith in the God who is “turning the world around.” May it be so. I can’t think of a better hymn to proclaim the greatest hymn ever written!

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Bergen, what about all the other hymns! How did they all rank compared to each other! Please spend an unnecessary amount of time analyzing the tournament bracket to rank every hymn compared to each other.”

Fear not! I have heard your cries, and am seeking to be the change I wish to see in the world. I have done just as you have requested, and compiled a

TOTALLY DEFINITIVE RANKING OF ALL THE HYMNS IN THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN BOOK OF WORSHIP AND THE ALL CREATION SINGS HYMNALS (THAT MATTER)!

Here are all the hymns in this tournament, ranked according to your courageous votes! Enjoy!

And seriously, y’all. Thanks for joining me for this tournament. I’ve wanted to do this for so long, and I’ve had a great time. If music be the food of love, then make sure that you sing every verse of every hymn!

The Definitive Ranking of All the Hymns in the ELW and ACS That Matter as Voted by Viewers Like You!

1. Canticle of the Turning (723)

2. Be Thou My Vision (793)

3. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (807)

4. Beautiful Savior (838)

5. Angels We Have Heard On High (289)

6. Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound (779)

7. Joy To the World (267)

8. Jesus Christ is Risen Today (365)

9. Go Tell it On the Mountain (290)

10. A Mighty Fortress is Our God (504)

11. How Great Thou Art (856)

12. This Little Light of Mine (677)

13. Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying (752)

14. Abide With Me (629)

15. What Wondrous Love Is This (666)

16. Morning Has Broken (556)

17. Silent Night, Holy Night (281)

18. Borning Cry (732)

19. Go, My Children, with My Blessing (543)

20. Siyahamba (866)

21. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (270)

22. Halle, Halle, Hallelujah (172)

23. Gather Us In (532)

24. Jesus Loves Me! (595)

25. The First Noel (300)

26. Come, Let Us Eat (491)

27. Though the Earth Shall Change (1035)

28. My Life Flows On in Endless Song (763)

29. Uyaimose (819)

30. There’s a Wideness In God’s Mercy (587)

31. O Little Town of Bethlehem (279)

32. Let Us Break Bread Together (471)

33. For the Beauty of the Earth (879)

34. Just a Closer Walk With Thee (697)

35. He Came Down (253)

36. Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming (272)

37. Go, Make Disciples (540)

38. When Peace Like a River (785)

39. Earth and All Stars (731)

40. We Come to the Hungry Feast (479)

41. Rejoice, Rejoice Believers (244)

42. It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (282)

43. Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee (836)

44. In the Bleak Midwinter (294)

45. By Grace We Have Been Saved (1006)

46. You Are Holy (525)

47. Lord Jesus, You Shall Be My Song (808)

48. Let Streams of Living Justice (710)

49. God is Love (1041)

50. Lead Me, Guide Me (768)

51. I Am So Glad Each Christmas Eve (271)

52. Baptized and Set Free (453)

53. God Be The Love To Search and Keep Me (1084)

54. All Earth is Hopeful (266)

55. The Summons (798)

56. All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night (565)

57. The Spirit Intercedes for Us (180)

58. When It Seems the Day Will End (1034)

59. Yarabba ssalami (989)

60. Midnight Stars Make Bright the Skies (280)

61. Ask the Complicated Questions (1005)

62. Thee We Adore, O Savior (476)

63. Cold December Flies Away (299)

64. Veni Sancte Spiritus (406)

Happy Lent! Even though Lent ended four weeks ago! I did not time out this tournament well…

Join me next year for when we actually go forward with that Contemporary Christian Music Bracket!