Hymn Selections: Trinity V, VI, VII, VIII, and IX

Hymn numbers are from The Hymnal 1982.

Trinity V:

388 O Worship the King
408 Sing Praise to God, Who Reigns Above
550 Jesus Calls Us, O'er the Tumult
437 Tell Out, My Soul

The tune for hymn #550 is Restoration, from The Southern Harmony. It's a personal favorite of mine. I prefer the "alternative accompaniment for unison singing" that is on the opposite page in the spiral bound accompanist copy of the hymnal. The version on the left page, with the text, is designed for 4-part vocals, and has a more open harmonic feel (some of the thirds of chords are left out). The version on the right fills in the thirds, and doesn't have so many moving parallel intervals and large stretches, which is more comfortable to play.

Dear Modern Protestant Pastor

I've recently been reading The Gift of Music: Great Composers and Their Influence by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson. This book is a collection of short biographies (really, biographical essays) on the lives and works of many of Western classical music's greatest composers. The spiritual lives of the composers are a large focus of the book. In the chapter on Bach, Smith makes the statement (as have many others) that "if there had not been a Luther, there would not have been a Bach." This started me thinking: if modern protestant pastors love Luther so much, and enjoy sharing that love with others who are like-minded, why are they ignoring the music of Bach, who (like they) found his spiritual heritage in the Reformation?

New Territory: Organ Offertories

During my recent trip to the state music teachers' conference, I picked up a couple of organ books by Gordon Young: Organ Voluntaries: Eleven Short Solos for Church or Recital, and Eight Organ Voluntaries on Familiar Hymn Tunes, both published by Theodore Presser Company. They are clearly a different style from what I usually play for the service (which would be Baroque-esque preludes or hymn arrangements), but majestic and perfect for Sunday mornings. From the first volume above, I recently played "Antiphon," a two-page selection with simple pedal points, modified by yours truly to be played with the left hand, since our church "organ" is actually a keyboard--no pedals available. Whether you have pedals or not, this is a lovely piece; and its form is conducive to repeats as needed, which makes it perfect for an offertory. I'm looking forward to checking out other pieces by Young in the coming weeks!

Hymn Selections: Trinity Sunday through Trinity IV

As promised, here are some possible appropriate hymns for Trinity Sunday through Trinity IV. The numbers listed are for The Hymnal 1982.

My church uses 4 hymns in each service (in addition to service music, and two communion hymns), but some weeks will list additional hymns that would be appropriate for the occasion.

Liturgical Calendar Resources

In my last post, I discussed the selection of hymns according to the liturgical calendar. After writing this post, my priest found a couple of helpful reference books for me: A Liturgical Index to The Hymnal 1982, and A Scriptural Index to The Hymnal 1982, both by Marion J. Hatchett. These provide some assistance in the selection of hymns, but they are designed to follow the new 3-year lectionary, rather than the traditional 1-year that my church follows. The Scriptural Index will probably prove more helpful for me, since I can look up the passages we are reading for each Sunday and see a listing of appropriate hymns. The Liturgical Index will be helpful during seasons such as Advent and Lent, since the hymns selected would be more suited to the time of year than the specific scripture passage; but during seasons such as Trinity, which we are in now, the passages may be completely different.

If your church follows the 3-year lectionary (and uses this hymnal!), then by all means check out this resource! I intend to make use of these books as much as possible, and in the meantime, I will continue to keep track of the hymns I use throughout the year and compile my own resource, as I discuss in the post referenced above.

Help for the Liturgical Calendar

In the past year I have begun attending a church that follows the liturgical calendar. If you are in a church that follows such a calendar (most commonly Anglican, Episcopal, Lutheran, Catholic, or Orthodox), you will be familiar with my context. I have previously written on the selection of hymns according to topic and to their placement in the service in this post. Most of those principles still apply in my new church (beginning with a hymn of praise, introducing new hymns one at a time alongside old favorites, etc.), but there are now additional considerations for selecting hymns appropriate for the theme of the worship service each Sunday.