Songs for Summer
Unbound text author Rev. Hannah C. Brown offers some suggestions and solutions for the challenges of summer: unpredictable choir attendance, waning staff presence, a shifting congregation, etc.
From mid-June through Labor Day weekend, the church community that I serve shifts. We have fewer congregants in town and an inconsistent staff presence as everyone seeks opportunities for vacation. It’s hard to innovate during this section of Ordinary Time, and it can be more difficult to learn new music with a smaller group of singers. It’s tempting to rely on old favorites, but that can sometimes feel stale.
One solution is to choose a new song to repeat over many Sundays so that by the time you reach September, it is well within your congregation’s repertoire and ready to be sung in fuller measure. Here are some other recent suggestions that, once learned, could offer good service throughout the church year:
Opening
Whoever You Are, Your Prayer is Welcome
Chris Shelton’s lovely text and tune invite us into the embrace of God and community.
This Is the Moment
What do we gather for and how does it change us? This hymn offers some suggestions set to Ben Brody’s lively tune.
For All Things Worth Praising
David Bjorlin’s text of praise somehow manages to feel both comfortably familiar and delightfully surprising. It can be paired with THE ASH GROVE or Ben Brody’s JACK ROWAN.
Prayer
We Will Rejoice in Love
This song holds the tension of all that love calls us towards in difficult times.
For You, My God, I Wait
Adam Tice’s interpretation of Psalm 130 has found new life with Kate William’s gentle, haunting tune.
Your Love is a Wider Love
Sally Ann Morris demonstrates her wonderful gift for short tunes in this song invoking the Holy Spirit.
Blessing/Sending
Sing a New World Into Being
Mary Louise Bringle’s wonderful text addresses essential issues of diversity and justice in a joyful way. For a more familiar tune, try NETTLETON.
Go in Peace, Go in Love
Sally Ann Morris and Mel Bringle collaborated on this affirming piece which could serve as a final hymn or a sung benediction.
Go Gently, Go Lightly
Ben Brody’s gentle tune for Shirley Erena Murray’s text is another wonderful option for a congregation to bless one another.
