Hymns are very much a part of church music and as such play an important role in the life of the church.  Hymns help shape the theology of a congregation over time.  Due to the pandemic we have not been singing congregational hymns for the past 2 ½ years.  Consideration has been given recently to slowly reintroduce it back into our Sunday morning worship.

The Church Council asked the Task Force that helped us move to in-person services to reconvene and make a recommendation regarding hymn singing.  After careful consideration, the recommendation is to sing one hymn during worship and see how it goes.  Over time we may  be able to sing more.  The guidelines are simple and as follows.  If you would like to participate, you need to wear a mask while singing.  The hymn will be sung at the conclusion of the worship hour to minimize the time we spend in the space immediately following the singing.  As always, no one is compelled to sing and for those not singing – a mask is not required.  Our goal is to keep our congregation safe by keeping risk factors at a minimum. 

We will begin singing a closing hymn on Sunday, November 20th.

The last time we sang a hymn as a congregation was in early March of 2020.  It may seem like we’re doing something new because it has been so long.  Here’s how the Psalmist of old encourages us:

“O sing to the Lord a new song
for God has done marvelous things.”

- Psalm 98:1

This cautious approach makes sense.  I have really missed singing and many of you have as well, but out of love for each other and especially those with health concerns we want to continue to use an abundance of care and caution in our public worship.

I look forward to November 20th when we can begin singing together again – it promises to be a joyous and meaningful part of our worship that day.  As Ernie Campbell, a past Senior Minister of Riverside Church in NYC once observed,

“One good hymn can put you
in touch with more reality than
five hours of television.”

Here’s to doing it in a new way as we “come into God’s presence with singing.”  (Psalm 100:2)

Singing our hearts out…with the heart of  God,

Rev. Dr. David D. Young
Senior Minister

This piece originally appeared in The Wave on November 9, 2022