Books by hymn writer and liturgist Brian Wren
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Praying Twice: The Music and Words of Congregational Song
Hymns for Today
Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany: Liturgies and Prayers for Public Worship
What Language Shall I Borrow?: God-Talk in Worship: A Male Response to Feminist Theology
Brian A. Wren (born 1936 in Romford, Essex, England) is an internationally published hymn-poet and writer. Wren's hymns appear in hymnals of all Christian traditions and have been influential in raising the awareness of theology in hymns.
Wren has written a number of hymns, books, and articles focused around worship. His hymns are published and used around the world in a variety of hymnals. Wren has published seven hymn collections totaling 250 hymns, as well as collections of worship songs for congregations....
Wren has been a strong proponent of the view that hymns are poetry and theology, instead of simply music. He has stated, "a hymn is a poem, and a poem is a visual art form. The act of reading a hymn aloud helps to recover its poetry and its power to move us—the power of language, image, metaphor, and faith-expression." It is through this power that he defined theology, in his book Praying Twice: The Music and Words of Congregational Song, as "done when anyone attempts, by artistic skill and creativity, the interplay of intellect and imagination, and/or the methods of reasoned enquiry, to grasp, know and understand the meaning of God’s creating, self-disclosing and liberating activity centered and uniquely focused in Jesus Christ."
A major part of Wren's work has been with inclusive language as well. In 1978, he began to look more closely at "he-man language" and began using language inclusive of women and oppressed or subordinate groups in his hymns. He has since sought to challenge the church to adopt this inclusive mindset. He writes that the vocation of a poet in the church is to not only "to write poems of faith which people will pick up and sing," but to also "speak truth by stepping beyond the church's limits of comfort and convention".
(excerpted from Wikipedia; see there for footnotes)