Firstly, thank you for your dedicated service to our ward. Hymns are a truly special and important part of our worship.
The song of the righteous is a prayer unto me (D&C 25:12)
Hymns can help us commune with God in unique ways and make us feel the Spirit so powerfully. No dry eye can withstand a truly moving rendition of “Nearer My God to Thee.” None.
So thank you for facilitating that. Thank you for your strong Relief Society Arm and it’s waving salute to these gorgeous hymns.
However.
Sometimes it’s hard for us to have those fantastic experiences with the hymns.
Sometimes it’s because the kid in front of us is shooting cheerio projectiles from the pew in front of us.
Sometimes it’s because our “day of rest” is making our eyelids a little too heavy and your hymn becomes a lullaby.
Sometimes it’s because NO ONE HAS EVER SUNG THIS HYMN IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.
You might be the kind of musical genius who can sing any song at the drop of a hat, without prior practice or listening. I guess we should be flattered that you believe the same of us lowly pew-riders. We have OBJECTIVELY the best choir in the entire galaxy, but that doesn’t mean every member could be one of Sister Knight’s Pips. What it means is 200 people sheepishly humming half-heartedly, two beats behind the organ.
Are we sometimes guilty of becoming that Top 40 pop station that plays the same 10 songs over and over? Possibly. And there are plenty of beautiful, lesser-known hymns. But the first lesson of being a DJ is to avoid the deep tracks. And isn’t that what you are? Our Spiritual DJ? AND YOU’RE LETTING THE POWER GO TO YOUR HEAD.
It’s ok if we sing “The Spirit of God” every other week. We really do “Thank Thee O God For A Prophet” so why can’t we sing it all the time? Our pioneer heritage is too powerful to resist “Come, Come Ye Saints” when we have the option!
Please, Sister Relief Society Arm. Please.
Just play the hits.
I completely sympathize with you, but I would also like to point out that around the world there are different popular hymns in different countries. For example, in Sweden, we sang hymns that haven’t even been in the American LDS hymnal since the old “Deseret Sunday School Songbook”.
Like what John Crane said, what is considered “obscure” is relative. And my first reaction is to disagree with someone who says a hymn is obscure just because they happen to not have heard it before. When there are 300+ hymns to choose from, what’s “popular” can differ by how old you are, your nationality, what the organist you grew up with could play, or whether the composer/lyricist is in your congregation.
Sure, safe bets in every LDS ward everywhere are always the so-called “Hymns of the Restoration”, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But there’s a whole lot more in the hymn book to enrich our spiritual lives through music.
I have a solution: Just like Primary gets song time, we devote a portion of the 2nd and 3rd blocks to teaching the adults some awesome, not played as often, hymns. Then they don’t seem “obscure” anymore. I don’t think anyone can argue that people would opt for more lesson time in Sunday School if given the option to listen to some piano music and sing instead.