Monday, January 28, 2008
Hymns in sacrament meeting
I have a question for you all. I am the ward chorister, and part of my calling is to choose all the hymns we sing in sacrament meeting. There are some hymns about more obscure and less understood doctrines, one of which is a favorite hymn of mine. I would love to include them in sacrament meeting, but the last time I had planned to sing "If You Could Hie to Kolab," the bishopric changed the hymns for that day. They don't usually do that, but it may not have been because of hymn choice, but to choose a hymn that better fit or topic for the day. So that got me wondering-- are not all hymns appropriate for singing in sacrament meeting? And if that is the case, when can we sing those hymns? The other hymn that comes to mind that fits this category is Adam-Ondi-Ahman. These are concepts that I, a lifelong member of the church, barely understand, and I have actually been to Adam-Ondi-Ahman. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on these hymns, and less-understood doctrines and new members/converts.
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7 comments:
I'm the RS Music Director, so I have to do the same thing for RS. I would think that all hymns are appropriate for sacrament meetings or they wouldn't be in the hymn book. I wish they would have kept some of the hymns that they left out of the 1985 revision, like "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". What I have been told is that you have to be more careful with special musical numbers that aren't in the hymn book. I'm sure you have read the handbook, but if you haven't they have it on the church music site.
If I were the ward chorister, I would know the topic of every week's meetings. According to that I would choose my hymns. I'm sure that's what you do. I don't think any are inappropriate. If you have questions like that, I'd ask the bishop. Every bishopric is different, so I think some would rather sing more familiar song in sacrament meeting, and save the practice songs for RS. That means just the women will know them because the men never have practice hymns and they're, for the most part, lazy when it comes to singing. So, with that said, the bishopric will always feel uncomfortable singing songs such as the ones you chose.
It's funny that you brought that up. I was just in Lacey 2 (a very musical ward) last week doing a musical number with Carie and Chelsea. They sang a couple songs that I had never heard. I'm not the greatest sight reader in the world, so it took a while for me to catch on. Chelsea and I chuckled as we kept messing up. I leaned over to her and said -- If I were chorister I would never pick songs people didn't know, because I wouldn't want to sing a solo. That aside. I agree with everyone. I would talk to your bishopric, and I would try to go with thte theme. I have sung "If you could Hie to Kolob" and "Adam-ondi-Ahman" before. I'm thinking it was Sunday School.
OK, the problem here is the bishopric doesn't know the theme half the time. So I just pray that I'll be inspired to choose the right songs for the right days, and usually I do pretty good. There are last minute changes though, usually before the bulletin gets printed. Sometimes I have to add a congregational hymn last minute if there is no musical number for the day. So I choose an opening, sacrament, and closing hymn, all of which are familiar hymns. After the closing prayer the teachers are dismissed and we sing a practice hymn, one per month, which I will later incorporate into our regular hymn singing schedule. Maybe I should continue what I'm doing with writing the hymn schedule in advance, and then call whoever is conducting a week before the next fast Sunday to make sure the hymns fit the theme, if they have a theme! They never know the theme for the high council Sunday, it seems, and fast Sunday is pretty easy. What do you guys think?
And I am going to add "If You Could Hie to Kolab" in sometime. It's one of my favorite hymns. The music is just beautiful. I don't know about "Adam-Ondi-Ahman," I've never sung it in Sacrament Meeting before, in all my years of being a member of the Church.
Thanks for your input so far, ladies.
Ward Chorister was my first calling as a married women. I was aweful at first, Zac had to help me from the audience on a few of those harder songs to lead...I picked all the songs then let the bishopric member know. But they gave me the theme for the week a month in advance then I in turn gave them the songs for the month. Wouldn't it be nice if all bishoprics were this organized. This would never work here...I sometimes get the feeling that when the bishopric members speak they themselves don't know what they are going to talk about.
Every single hymn in the hymnbook is appropriate for Sacrament meeting or any other meeting at Church. If your Bishop tells you otherwise, you can refer to the introduction to the hymnbook, written by the First Presidency. Of course, it is always better when the songs go along with the theme, but if you don't know the theme, then you do your best. I have a friend who told me that her bishop would only let them sing hymns written by LDS authors! Now, that is just ridiculous! If they were inappropriate, then the First Presidency wouldn't have put them in!
I am also the Ward Chorister and the R.S. Chorister, and I think that all of the songs in the hymn book are appropriate for Sacrament Meeting, that is what they are in there for. Obviously you should use inspiration and try to fit them with the topic, but I'm sure that you already know that.
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