That's what the word "Amazing" signifies, John B.

There's hymns and there's hymns. There are two times when "sacred songs" (because it goes wider than hymns as such) in a folk setting can stick in the craw - one is when people are trying to proselytise, trying to sell a message; the other is when people are taking the piss. (Which is really just another way of saying the same thing, you could say, just with a different message.)

When a bunch of people sing Shape Notes, or West Gallery,or Sheffield Carols etc, some of them are singing out of a religious belief, some are singing out of a temporary suspension of disbelief. But either way, they are treating the songs seriously.