
Regarding singing in church, I think it should be: (1) heavenly (and so, sung in four parts as it traditionally has been), (2) loud and robust, and (3) simple to lay hold of.
First of all it should be sung in parts. This takes work and it may mean you need to hire someone who knows what they are doing. It takes time but it is the right thing to do. Congregational singing is a command performance for the King and His Bride. They deserve better than half-baked unprepared slop.
Secondly, worship is war. This is how the church makes war. A huge element of worship is the singing of the people of God, a God who rejoices over His people with singing. It should be loud and war-like. Let the nations hear! Let the devils hear! King Jesus is Lord of all. Before the battle, Israel sang...and the walls of Jericho fell.
Finally, it should be reasonably accessible. At St. Andrew's we have a limited canon of hymns. Currently that includes about 50 hymns and repeated anthems: Gloria Patri, Doxology, Nunc Dimittis, and the Lorica. We use the Trinity Hymnal but its pitched too high. I like a lot of the Cantus Christi and it has some great choral anthems in the back but it retains all the stanzas (sometimes over a dozen) on many hymns which leave me exhausted and breathless. As a church plant we're trying to keep things accessible to the liturgically uninitiated. Eventually we will create our own book of songs which will probably never exceed 100 hymns. Where do we get the idea that we need to sing hundreds of (sometimes very bad) hymns? The church already has 150 Psalms to flesh out in singing and or chanting.
So, I believe we need to recover the lost art of beautiful congregational singing. Its coming together for us here in Santa Clarita, CA but it is hard work. Our King, however, deserves nothing less than the very best.