Guest Blogger: Lucy Kay Osborne, Music Director

How Hymns are Chosen at First Lutheran Church:

Recently I had a conversation with a congregation member inquiring about how the hymns are chosen and if we could sing more “favorite” hymns.  This person is not the first person who has brought up this topic. We had a good talk about how the Lutheran Church and other mainline churches approach hymnody and hymn selection. 

First and foremost we read the prescribed scripture for the day and make note of the themes that arise with the text. We then look for hymns that support those themes.  Our hymnbooks have helps in the back that show which hymns may go with which text. We also have an online application that helps us build the liturgy and choose hymns based on topic and scripture.

Secondly, we (Pastor Berg and myself) look to see if the hymn is singable. We have learned that even between the two of us there are hymns that are familiar to one and not the other. Sometimes we come upon a new hymn that is singable but will be a new tune to the congregation. We often find familiar tunes with updated texts. If the hymn tune is singable or familiar and the text matches the themes for that Sunday, we will choose them.  

We use many sources for choosing hymns such as the Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW, the cranberry colored book in the pews), All Creation Sings (supplement to the ELW, 2021), The Lutheran Book of Worship, This Far by Faith, Worship and Praise, Gather Hymnbooks and With One Voice hymnal, to name a few.

Everyone has their favorite hymns.  Choosing hymns for folks in the congregation that come from many different backgrounds is a challenge.  For example, when I was growing up in the Lutheran Church, my home church sang “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty” every single Sunday. I would be very happy to never sing that hymn again!  But, for someone else that hymn is a balm to their soul. What may be a favorite hymn to one person, may be on someone else’s less than “fond of” list. So, to attend to the variety of expectations, we strive to choose a diversity of hymns from many different denominations, from different cultures and sources that fit the theme and lessons for the day.

The job of choosing hymns is a task that requires much thought.  The hymn needs to be musically sound, theologically sound, and singable.  Whether or not the hymn is familiar is often subjective for the reasons stated above.  No matter what hymn we are singing we encourage you to sing it for that one person in the congregation for whom it might provide healing and comfort.

This quote from the famous hymnologist Erik Routley:

It is one thing – and a not unpleasurable thing – to confine the hymnal to church, and to sing from it there without much thought. It is far better to have a copy at home and either occasionally or regularly to read from it, or to play from it (if you can play), and to become personally familiar with what it contains. It is, I think, a generation that has almost passed away that regularly did this; but I did in my own youth know seniors who kept their hymnal next to their Bible, read from both at their prayers, and snatched both if they were suddenly taken into hospital.

Happy Singing!  Lucy Kay Osborne