On a more positive note, I know one church which does both styles to overwhelming response. The music director loves and does both styles. There are two services, one is praise-y, one is hymn-y. Multiple small choirs, including an oldster group and a kids group. As a result, the place is standing room only with a vibrant community of all ages. The key is getting good musicians involved in the church and giving them some latitude.

Yeah, people like the old hymns. But many don't MEAN a whole lot to the modern mind. For people raised post-animal sacrifice, what does 'washed in the blood of the Lamb' do for you? It's so creepy and out-of-place it encourages people to just ignore the words and sing the notes. I've seen crowds 'get into' old hymns too and it's wonderful, but I've seen more cases of people mentally 'checking out' on verse two of some boring old tract.

Here's hoping we can keep the best of both breeds and lose the chaff.