Hymns are songs of the soul. And like Bibles, the hymn books that hold them have served generations of believers as highways to the eternal. But today, those familiar books are disappearing.Huge non-denominational churches don't want the doctrine that comes between hymnal covers -- in songs, liturgies and lessons. Many churchgoers prefer the catchy tunes of new praise-and-worship songs. Cash-strapped churches of every faith and size find it more economical to go electronic: One CD-ROM costs less than 20 hymnals, and it allows them to print out music or beam it to an overhead screen. Many worshipers find that, without books, they're free to lift hands and voices to God. Though 88% of Protestant churches still have hymnals, 58% rely on video screens and 38% print song lyrics in their weekly programs, says a 2001 study by Oxnard, Calif.-based Barna Research.At ChurchPlaza, a leading supplier of church furnishings and audio/visual systems, half the company's 10,000 church clients each year no longer buy bookracks for seats in new or renovated sanctuaries. No books, no need, says company founder Tom McElheney, who hasn't touched his Presbyterian hymnal in years.
