Liturgy for Hymn Sing Sunday

[Revised from a liturgy by Rev. Kristin Grassel Schmidt.]

Overview

A group of half a dozen women, apparently part of a larger congregation, standing and singing in church. The three women in primary focus are clapping or snapping fingers.

This liturgy provides words for a portion of a service devoted to hymn-singing. It should be possible to combine this with many of the usual elements of a congregation’s worship service. You will need to have an accompanist who can sight-read well, and it would be helpful to have a songleader.

One might choose to include the following elements in the service as well:

  • Opening Hymn: #346 “Come, Sing a Song with Me”
  • Invocation/Chalice Lighting: “Chalice Lighting for Music Sunday,” by Marnie Singer
  • Closing Hymn: #159 “This Is My Song”

Materials

  • Index cards for the entire congregation
  • Pens or pencils for the entire congregation
  • A container (bowl, box, or the traditional hat) to hold the filled-out cards
  • Hymnals

Setup

  • Keep the bowl, box, or hat on a small table or elsewhere on the chancel.
  • Make sure that hymnals are accessible from each seat.
  • Have ushers encourage congregants to pick up a pencil and index card on their way in, or have a card and pencil at each seat.
  • Have the members of the choir submit their hymn choices before the service starts.

Script

Early in the service, but after the usual welcome and initial service elements:

Leader: This morning’s service is a little different than usual. Worship will begin as it usually does, and we will share in joys, sorrows, and prayer; but then, instead of a reading and sermon, we will enjoy a hymn-sing! Everyone should have picked up an index card and pencil on your way into the sanctuary. In a little bit, everyone will have the chance to look through the hymnals and submit the hymn or song they’d like to sing. Then, we’ll make selections out of a hat. You can add your voice to the chorus, or just sit back and bask in the music.

Later in the service:

Leader: We are blessed here at [name of congregation] to have a wonderful music ministry where volunteers [if appropriate: and staff] cooperate to make our worship services more meaningful, powerful, and transformational. Our [include as appropriate: choir, band, solo singers, instrumentalists] have created some truly transcendent experiences over the years. But for many of us, the most moving part of any worship service is always when everyone sings together. Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III has said: “When the people sing together something happens that can’t be replicated by singing alone… God calls us to have a theology that isn’t just looking for a solo, but looking to sing with the choir.”

Hymns, the songs we sing together in worship, have been around for a long time. Traditionally hymns were songs of praise. But as you can see in our hymnals, they cover all sorts of emotions and occasions. We all have our favorite hymn, and I bet we all have a list that if we never heard them again it would be too soon. Some congregations even offer the power to ban a hymn for a whole year in their auctions.

All joking aside, one can argue that the theology of a congregation is passed on chiefly through its hymns—the songs we share in times of celebration and deep grief, the music that accompanies our most significant holidays, milestones, and life transitions.

I invite you to consider what hymn you would most like the congregation to sing this morning. It can be any hymn in either the gray or teal hymnals [adjust as appropriate]. You can write down a hymn we sing often if it’s your favorite, or one you’ve never heard us sing here at all. You can choose a chant, a round, or even a Christmas carol if you want.

Now, [name of musician] is going to play some thinking music while we all take a few moments to write down the hymn we’d most like to sing today. If you’re here in person please write the hymn’s title and its number in the hymnal on the index card you picked up on your way into the Sanctuary. [If appropriate: If you’re joining us by Zoom, please add your hymn to the chat.]

[Musician plays quietly, perhaps “Come, Sing a Song with Me,” while congregation members ponder and write.]

Leader: Now, the choir is going to sing while the ushers collect the cards.

[Choir sings preselected song. Ushers collect cards and bring them to front, where they can be placed in a bowl or box or hat. If people are attending via Zoom, assign someone to make cards for the suggestions listed in the Zoom chat.]

Leader: Because we will be choosing the hymns to sing at random, we will not be able to project the words to the songs during today’s hymn sing. Now, with that proviso, let’s begin!

[The service leader or a musician picks cards randomly from the bowl/box/hat, and the choir, accompanist, and songleader lead the congregation in singing the chosen hymn. Perhaps place a limit of at most two verses for each hymn, or let music leaders decide how long to continue the lengthier hymns. Plan to sing 8–10 hymns, as time allows.]