WHY We Sing WHAT We Sing

Scanning the worship bulletin as I waited for the opening notes of the prelude, I saw it — a hymn selection that didn't seem to make any sense. "Why was it there?" I wondered. By the end of the service, I still had not figured out the answer to that question. Many of us are accustomed to planning worship and selecting congregational hymns for a reason or with some justification behind our choices. My taking note of this odd hymn selection led me to some more extended thinking about why we sing the hymns that we do in worship. Here are sixteen reasons (in no particular order) that I've uncovered:

1. Lectionary: The text of the hymn is related to one or more of the lectionary readings for the day. Many of us like the idea that reading the lectionary passages exposes the people to the entirety of Scripture over a three-year period rather than just a portion, and singing lectionary-related hymns will help to do the same.
2. Liturgical Season: The hymn generally relates to the season — Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost.
3. Liturgical Day: The hymn underscores the theme or importance of the particular day — Baptism of the Lord, Transfiguration, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Trinity Sunday, Christ the King, Christmas Eve, and so on.
4. Special Day: There are numerous other days that we often observe in worship, both church-related and civil. Church days may include World Communion, Ecumenical Sunday, One Great Hour of Sharing, various ethnic recognition Sundays, Reformation Day, Laity Sunday, and more. Civil days we often observe in worship include Memorial Day, Veterans' Day, Independence Day, Mothers' Day, Boy and Girl Scout Sunday, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, New Year's Day, and others.
5. Sermon Theme: The hymn supports the theme or message of the pastor's sermon that day.
6. Current Events: Often, events take place in the church, community, nation, and world that become a focus in Sunday worship; and we choose hymns accordingly: "O Perfect Love" for a wedding; "Once to Every Man and Nation" on election day; "On Eagle's Wings" upon the explosion of the space shuttle; "Let There Be Peace on Earth" in time of war.
7. Liturgical Function: A hymn can perform a specific liturgical function, such as calling the congregation to prayer, an offertory response, an affirmation of the sermon, or a benediction.
8. People's Favorites: People like to sing their favorite hymns and the hymns that formed them in the faith. Titles differ, of course, by individual and generation.
9. My Own Favorite: I'm selecting the hymns, and I want to sing my own favorite hymn.
10. "It's Good for Them": This is a difficult hymn or an unknown hymn, but the people will benefit from making the effort to sing the melody and understand the text. Some hymns in worship are like broccoli in the diet: they're both good for the human condition.
11. New Repertoire: We must continually add new hymns and songs to the congregational repertoire of worship music or we'll stagnate.
12. Performance Limitations of the Musicians: Our organist can play only in the keys of C, F, and G; or our guitar player knows only six chords.
13. Showcase the Talents of the Musicians or Instruments: "Our organist does an exceptional job of accompanying 'Lift High the Cross.'" "I have a great handbell accompaniment to 'Joyful, Joyful.'" "Our children are so cute when they do the motions to 'We Are the Church.'" "Everyone cries when the dancers do 'One Bread, One Body.'"
14. Church Identity: Some hymns, categories of hymns, or musical styles of hymns convey something about who we are as a congregation and what we value: contemporary songs, traditional hymns, praise choruses, gospel songs, rock & roll and country music, chorales, and chants. "The bishop is coming this Sunday, so we had better sing a couple of Wesley hymns."
15. To Teach a Doctrine or Concept: Many hymn texts carry great doctrinal truths and theological concepts. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" will teach a congregation more about the Incarnation than most sermons. The same may be said about "Amazing Grace" and God's grace and about other hymns. Many individual stanzas and even phrases will remain in people's theological memory banks for a lifetime.
16. To Set a Mood or Move the People: Texts certainly have the power to do this, but perhaps even more so do the tunes and settings. How many new converts have responded to the strains of "Just As I Am" at a Billy Graham Crusade? Many music leaders will use a praise set that starts with a lively praise song or two, moves through a rousing traditional hymn, and gradually finds its way through a quieter, slower hymn or chorus to bring the people from unbounded praise and celebration to a more contemplative time and spirit of meditation and prayer. Benediction and dismissal hymns tend to send the people out into the world with a bang, rather than a whimper.

There are other reasons for picking the hymns that we sing, but these are a good beginning; and none of these are bad reasons. They are all good, given the appropriate context, setting, and need in worship.