The heart of music for worship among Mennonites has always been and still is the singing of hymns by the congregation. This is a worldwide phenomenon, as demonstrated in gatherings of Mennonites in Wichita, Ks. The church really came into four-part singing after they had been taught in singing classes and the church adopted the English language and the Gospel songs. More congregations have introduced instruments in recent decades. Some of these may be in the basement, and not all of them were used for congregational singing.
Organs are mostly electronic.
With the publication of the Mennonite Hymnal in 1969, a new era emerged for the larger Mennonite community. More and more Mennonites gradually used the same hymnal, creating a greater commonality in worship experiences. Some congregations in both conferences that produced the hymnal, however were not unanimous in accepting the hymnal, some clinging to the older collections, others preferring to sing from hymnals that included more gospel songs and music of the charismatic movement . This was one of the most ecumenical ventures that North American Mennonites have attempted in the area of hymnody. Planning a new hymnal presented unique opportunities and challenges at that particular time, influenced strongly by events and movements of the last three decades, a time of unusual creativity, with the fervent movements of the 1960s and 1970s and the new hymns that these movements produced.