You may wonder how the music is chosen for each worship service. The worship/music team, which currently consists of our two musicians and me, meet every other month to plan two months ahead.

First, we choose a Communion Setting. This consists of the Kyrie, Hymn of Praise, Gospel Acclamation, the Sanctus (Holy, Holy) and the Lamb of God. Our hymnal has ten different settings, so we try and change them up pretty often. We have also made up our own setting from time to time using familiar hymns.

Then there are the hymns. We have a resource we pay for through the publishing company of the ELCA called Sundays and Seasons. All the content of our hymnal and several others is available to us online which makes choosing music and creating bulletins much easier. For each Sunday, there are music suggestions for that day. For example, this Sunday’s assigned readings are about being a servant. So, that is the theme in the music. For the Gathering Hymn, we try to choose something centering around praise. This hymn brings us into the presence of God as we begin worship. The Hymn of the Day which follows the sermon, is usually more contemplative. We try to choose a hymn that makes you think about what your just heard in the sermon. The hymn during Communion is usually something familiar as most people are waiting in line for communion and don’t have their bulletin with them. This hymn is also contemplative in nature. For the Sending Hymn, we try and choose something inspiring and joyful.

The team has received some feedback on our music choices lately, so, we are inviting any or all of you to come to our meeting this Sunday, October 17th at 10:30 am in the conference room. Grab a hymnal and join us as we choose music for November and December! The meeting will also be on Zoom, so if you’d like to join us that way, please let me know and I will send you the link.

See you Sunday!

Pastor Lu