The people behind the hymns

Hymn & Vine is a small studio making reverent, carefully researched hymn studies, devotionals, copywork and wall art — built on the great public-domain hymns of the church. Our aim is simple: to help families, worship leaders and lifelong singers slow down and meet the people, the scripture and the history behind the songs they already love.

A named editor and clear standards

Hymn & Vine is published under the editorial oversight of Tessa Hartnett, our Editor. Tessa Hartnett is the editor of Hymn & Vine and sets the standard every hymn study, devotional and article is held to — scriptural care, historical accuracy, and a tone worthy of these old songs of the faith. A Christian and a small-business owner, she believes the people behind faith resources should be known, not hidden.

We take that seriously because faith is not a place for careless work. Every study and article is held to the same bar: scriptural care, historical accuracy, and a tone worthy of these old songs. If a claim about a hymn's history cannot be traced to a reliable source, it does not belong on the page.

Public-domain hymns only

We build exclusively on hymns that are in the public domain — the settled songs of the church from writers like Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, John Newton, Fanny Crosby, Frances Ridley Havergal and Henry Francis Lyte. That means every lyric we print is free to read, copy, sing and share. We do not use copyrighted modern worship lyrics.

Made to keep

Our studies are print-at-home PDFs in US Letter and A4, made to be marked up, kept in a binder, and returned to. They are for personal, family and small-group use — the ordinary places where the faith is actually sung.

If you have a question, a correction, or a hymn you would love to see studied, we would be glad to hear from you at [email protected].